Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash
Shadow Minister For Foreign Affairs
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
Senator for Western Australia
23 SEPTEMBER 2025
ALBANESE’S COMMENTS AT UNITED NATIONS OFFENSIVE
The Coalition condemns Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for drawing a deeply flawed and offensive parallel between the Jewish people’s struggle for a homeland and the current bid for Palestinian statehood.
Speaking at the United Nations in New York, Mr Albanese claimed that the Palestinian cause mirrors “the same hope that sustained generations of Jewish people.”
Mr Albanese has shown appalling judgement. By equating Israel’s legitimate historic struggle with a terrorist-led movement, he has insulted Jewish history and betrayed Australia’s values.
In doing so, he has diminished the unique historic plight of the Jewish people and given legitimacy to extremists who openly reject Israel’s right to exist.
The Jewish peoples’ fight for a homeland was one of survival in the face of relentless persecution.
It culminated in international recognition through the 1947 UN Partition Plan and the creation of the modern State of Israel after the Holocaust.
Mr Albanese insults the memory of those who suffered to secure a safe homeland for the Jewish people and undermines the moral foundations of Israel’s existence.
Around six million Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime and its collaborators, alongside millions of other innocent victims.
By the end of the war in 1945, Europe was left with roughly 11 million displaced people -Holocaust survivors who had lost their homes and families, together with millions more uprooted by the devastation of war.
The grim reality Mr Albanese ignores is that Gaza is ruled by Hamas, a listed terrorist organisation.
Hamas’s charter explicitly calls for the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews.
Its record is one of massacre, suicide bombings, indiscriminate rocket fire, and the ongoing use of civilians as human shields.
This is not the pursuit of peace. It is the pursuit of annihilation. Equating this with Israel’s path to statehood is both dangerous and offensive.
Mr Albanese’s embrace of the Palestinian Authority ignores the fact that it has not held an election in nearly 20 years.
The PA is widely regarded as corrupt, illegitimate, and unable to speak for Palestinians as a whole. It does not control Gaza and has failed to demonstrate any capacity to deliver peace or security.
Recognising such a body on the international stage, without addressing its lack of legitimacy or accountability, only entrenches division rather than advancing peace.
Rewarding terrorists while hostages languish in captivity sends exactly the wrong signal, that violence and kidnapping are pathways to international recognition.
The Coalition remains clear:
• Israel’s birth was based on legitimacy, survival, and international recognition – not terrorism.
• Hamas is a terrorist organisation dedicated to Israel’s destruction and must never be legitimised.
• The Palestinian Authority lacks democratic legitimacy and credibility.
Mr Albanese’s speech rewards bad behaviour, distorts history, and risks damaging Australia’s standing as a principled voice for peace.
Mr Albanese has shattered decades of bipartisanship by unilaterally recognising a Palestinian state before any peace process has been secured, rewarding terrorists while hostages remain in Hamas tunnels.
Real peace requires responsible partners. Right now, Palestinians are led either by terrorists or corrupt authoritarians, not by peacemakers.
Australia must never legitimise terror.
ENDS
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