350 Public Servants from ‘Stolen Land’ Urge Albanese to Address Concerns About Israel Weapons
Both Defence Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong have denied that Australia exports military equipment to Israel.
More than 350 taxpayer-funded Australian public servants have written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese from “stolen land” with a range of demands amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The public servants, from state, federal, and local governments from around Australia, are calling on the government to immediately end all “military exports to Israel.”
However, both Defence Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong have previously denied exporting arms to Israel.
The letter to Mr. Albanese and all other members of the government states the term “Israel” throughout the letter refers to the “settler state” that has been “conducting genocide in historic Palestine since 1948.”
“We, the undersigned public servants, employed in local, state and federal government, write to you from stolen land, land that was never ceded by First Nations peoples who are still engaged in the struggle for liberation,” the letter claims.
“As public servants whose work is to serve our communities, it is our obligation to voice our deep concern that you are leading Australia to be complicit in an additional genocide, an additional colonial project, staining this nation with more war crimes—even more than it lays claim to already—and, in negligence of the public we serve, these war crimes are again in the service of foreign powers.”
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Further, the staff called on the Federal government to take swift and decisive action to end support for “genocide, ethnic cleansing” and “illegal occupation of Palestine by ending ”all military exports to Israel.”
However, Defence Minister Richard Marles has previously said Australia does not export any arms to Israel.
“First, to be clear, there are no exports of weapons from Australia to Israel and there haven’t been for many, many years. Australia’s defence export control regime is one which is thorough and detailed as it applies to defence exports or dual-use items, to anywhere in the world. And in short, the application of that process takes time,” Mr. Marles said in a press conference in February.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in November there is a lot of “misinformation” on social media in relation to the provision of weapons.
“I again say what the Deputy Prime Minister has said; Australia has not supplied weapons to Israel since the start of the Hamas-Israeli conflict,” she said during a press conference on the subject six months ago.
“And people, when reading some of the information on social media, should remember that the Minister for Defence and the Deputy Prime Minister has made that clear.”
The Epoch Times has contacted the Albanese government for comment in relation to Israeli weapons.
Hamas launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7 killing 1,200 people and leading to the capture of 250 hostages. Since then, more than 36,000 people have died in Gaza according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry.
Offensive Graffiti Sprayed At Melbourne School
Meanwhile, the words “Jew die” were graffitied on Melbourne’s largest Jewish school on the weekend, prompting widespread condemnation from across the political spectrum.
The graffiti was sprayed at the entrance of Mount Scopus Memorial College.
Victorian Police said there is no place at all in our society for antisemitic sentiments or behavior.
“Victoria Police takes any reports of racial or religious-based crime extremely seriously,” the police said.
Coalition Shadow Education Minister Sarah Henderson visited the school and reassured students and staff about the incident.
“The hateful graffiti attack at the school’s entrance has been replaced by the Star of David and the Australian flag,” Ms. Henderson said.
“… I was honored to address students and staff and reiterate the Coalition will not allow antisemitism to divide our community and our country.”
Labor Federal MP Josh Burns said there is no excuse for targeting Jewish schools, businesses, or institutions.
“This unacceptable graffiti at Mount Scopus College has no place in Australia. Everyone and every leader must call this out for what it is—blatant anti-Semitism,” he said.
Foreign Minister Calls For Humanitarian Ceasefire
Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has called for a humanitarian ceasefire after the deaths of civilians in Rafah. Ms. Wong weighed in on the conflict, saying, “We reiterate to the government of Israel, this cannot continue.”
“Israel’s strikes have had horrific and unacceptable consequences. Australia has been very clear that Israel must not proceed with its operation in Rafah—where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are sheltering,” she said in Senate Estimates,” Ms. Wong said.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed more than a million have been evacuated from Rafah and described the incident as a “tragic mishap.”
Meanwhile, Liberal Senator Dave Sharma said Israel’s Rafah airstrike has no connection to Jewish Australians.
He also noted that potential hostages are still being held in Rafah and described it as a challenging war environment. Mr. Sharma visited Israel last week.
Mr. Sharma expressed that people should not suggest Jewish Australians are vicariously responsible for the actions in Rafah, as doing so could lead to civil strife and conflict.
“We can have whatever views we want about Israel’s government and the conduct of their war and I appreciate there are different views about this,” he said on Sky News.
