Australia’s Parliament reopened on Tuesday to the loud presence of hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators demanding sanctions on Israel over the war against Hamas in Gaza, according to the Associated Press.
Protesters gathered outside Parliament House in Canberra, calling on the government to go beyond individual sanctions against Israeli officials and impose broader penalties on the State of Israel itself.
Security blocked 15 demonstrators from entering the Senate gallery during a speech by Attorney-General Sam Mostyn, who represents Australia’s head of state, King Charles III.
Inside the chamber, Senator Mehreen Faruqi of the Australian Greens staged a silent protest, holding up a sign that read: “Gaza is starving, words won’t feed them, sanction Israel.”
Australia has so far issued financial and travel sanctions against specific Israeli officials, including government ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, but stopped short of broader action.
Social media influencer and activist Hillel Fuld saw his visa revoked in June, with the Australian government citing national security and public order concerns.
Tuesday’s protest followed Australia’s decision to join over two dozen other nations in a joint statement demanding an end to the war in Gaza.
Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke described the joint declaration as the government’s strongest language on the conflict yet.
“What we are watching on the other side of the world is indefensible. The hostages still need to be released, but the war needs to end,” Burke told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Senior Liberal Party lawmaker Jonathon Duniam called it “alarming” that Australia aligned itself with the statement, arguing that “there is more to this issue than this letter betrays.”
Labor holds 94 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives, securing the largest governing majority in nearly three decades.
Anthony Albanese became the first prime minister since John Howard to win consecutive terms, after years of political turbulence in Australia.
Albanese has remained tight-lipped on whether he’d implement any of the recommendations he commissioned concerning plans to fight an uptick in antisemitic incidents in the country.
Australia experienced a fourfold increase in 2024—the steepest rise among English-speaking countries with available data—according to a report published in May.
The tally of such cases rose from 495 in 2023 to 2,062 last year, according to a report by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ).
