Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2025-2026
Mr REBELLO (McPherson) (19:08): There was a time when Australia's voice on the world stage was steady and clear. We stood for peace built on strength, principle, mateship with our allies, and decency towards those who shared our values. Today that voice has grown uncertain, and our nation feels smaller for it.
Across the world, the lights of democracy are flickering. A terrorist movement slaughters innocents in the Middle East, an autocrat wages a brutal war in Europe, and in the Pacific our region grows more contested by the day. And when clarity is needed most Australia's foreign policy has lost its compass.
It began with the decision that defied reason and betrayed principle. In recognising a Palestinian state outside a proper peace process, the Albanese government broke a longstanding bipartisan position grounded in common sense: recognition must follow peace, not precede it. And who celebrated this decision?
Hamas, a listed terrorist organisation responsible for the horrors of 7 October, including the murder, rape and kidnapping of men, women and children. The fact that Australia's foreign policy is being applauded by terrorists is a damning indictment of the government's judgement. Did the Prime Minister consider how such a move would embolden extremists and undermine peace?
While our allies work to end the war and secure the release of hostages, the Prime Minister drew moral equivalence between a democracy defending itself and a terror movement sworn to its destruction. Did the Foreign minister consult our allies before breaking with decades of bipartisan wisdom? We all want the suffering in Gaza to end, but peace cannot be built on the foundation of terror.
Meanwhile, our most important alliance, with the United States, drifts like a ship without a captain. For nearly a year the Prime Minister could not secure a substantive meeting with the president. What did we get instead?
A selfie. No plan, no policy, no progress. I ask: what message does it send when our closest ally cannot find a moment for the Australian prime minister?
While the cameras flashed, Australian industries were left to fend for themselves against tariffs on pharmaceuticals, copper and film. And when it came to Iran, the government's delay was dangerous. The coalition-led Senate committee warned in early 2023 to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.
Why did the government ignore that warning, and how many Australians were put at risk in the meantime? Only after threats intensified and antisemitic violence spread did they act. They did the right thing, but far too late.
In matters of national security, hesitation is not caution; it's weakness. And then there's Russia. While Putin wages his brutal war on Ukraine, Australians unknowingly fill their cars with fuel refined from Russian crude—$3.7 billion worth, generating over $2 billion in tax revenue for the Kremlin's war machine.
How could this government allow such a loophole? This disgraceful oversight saw Australian consumers unwittingly help bankroll aggression against a sovereign democracy, every litre a blow against the free world and this government's delay a stain on our moral clarity. Our relationship with China must be one of strength—firm, respectful and clear eyed.
Yet, when a former Albanese aligned Labor premier attended a Chinese Communist Party military parade, standing alongside Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, this government said nothing. Why the silence? Did the government or the PM warn Mr Andrews not to attend?
China is a vital partner but also a strategic competitor. With Chinese military activity increasing near our shores, why has the government said nothing? Why hasn't there been a statement of reassurance to the Australian people or to our Pacific partners?
When your allies see hesitation, they question your conviction. And when your adversaries see hesitation, they test it. The story of this government's foreign policy is not one of strategy or strength.
It's a story of drift, confusion, delay and misplaced priorities. At every turn, they have chosen symbolism over substance and weakness over principle. And so I ask: when will Labor place Australia's interest at the heart of our foreign policy?