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ANGE:

From Schwartz Media, I’m Ange McCormack. This is 7am.

As images of the Gaza ground invasion continue to dominate the news, many Australians are distressed and grieving.

Meanwhile, divides are emerging among our politicians about the conflict - and not just between the major parties, but within them.

Today, columnist for The Saturday Paper, Paul Bongiorno, on how bipartisanship has been lost over conflict in the Middle East and the fault lines between friends and colleagues.

It’s Friday, November 3rd.

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ANGE:

Paul, the office of the Deputy PM Defence Minister Richard Marles was occupied by protesters this week. Why was the government and Richard Marles specifically being criticised?

PAUL:

Yeah, well, and this was well, you'd have to say something of an unusual protest. It was a group of anti-Zionist Jewish protesters and they occupied the Geelong office of Richard Marles, as you say. They were calling for the Australian Government to withdraw diplomatic, economic and military support for Israel.

Audio excerpt – Reporter:

“Protesters have taken over the office of Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles. The anti-Zionist Jewish activists have used bicycle locks to secure themselves in the reception and refused to leave the group.”

PAUL:

The protesters physically locked themselves in the office before police asked them to move on. Five of them were arrested for trespassing.

Audio excerpt – Police officer (to protesters):

“Please leave the building! Please comply with our reasonable request of leaving the building.”

PAUL:

You know, and we are seeing a lot of pain and frustration across the community about this war. There's also grave fears about anti-Semitism being inflamed here in Australia. I spoke with one of Labor's three federal Jewish MPs, Josh Burns. He holds the Melbourne seat of McNamara and he told me there's a growing hostility to the Jewish community as the war progresses. The community is really on edge, he said, and he's never seen it this bad.

Audio excerpt – Josh Burns:

“There's a lot of online abuse, a lot of hate being directed at the Jewish community as there is a lot of hate being directed at the Islamic community.”

PAUL:

Burns said he was concerned by both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia spreading and was growing increasingly concerned about misinformation and hate speech spreading here in Australia.

Audio excerpt – Josh Burns:

“People are pointing fingers. People are talking at each other. People are directing, you know, anger and misinformation at one another. And they are trying to hold their own and stand together in amongst all of that noise. But it is really difficult.”

PAUL:

And these kinds of social fault-lines are very difficult for the government to navigate. Broadly, Labor says it supports Israel but at the same time is calling for the protection of civilian lives. And it's very carefully wording these calls. For example, it hasn't asked for a ceasefire explicitly, it's calling for a pause and it's never accused Israel of committing war crimes. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had a phone call with Benjamin Netanyahu early on Wednesday. Israeli media said Netanyahu brought him up to date with the situation and the Prime Minister's office has not released a briefing note. But this week, Penny Wong, the Foreign Minister, has been largely fronting the Government's response to this conflict.

ANGE:

Yeah, right. And how has Penny Wong approached the topic of this war as Foreign Minister?

PAUL:

Well, Penny Wong was interviewed this week on ABC Radio. She said that it was a dreadful, tragic conflict.

Audio excerpt – Penny Wong:

“We are seeing civilians on both sides have been murdered.”

PAUL:

And that's a very interesting word used by the Foreign Minister because murder connotes killing of innocents. And Labor, since this war began, has often condemned the barbarity of the Hamas slaughter of Israelis and has said that Israel has a right to defend itself. But this week, the Foreign Minister added an important line to the end of that, saying that while Israel has the right to defend itself, the way it defends itself matters.

Audio excerpt – Penny Wong:

“In affirming Israel's right to defend itself after the horrific attacks by Hamas on the 7th of October. We, along with many other countries, emphasised that the way it exercises that right matters.”

PAUL:

Wong was really calling for Israel to take this message seriously.

Audio excerpt – Penny Wong:

“When Israel's friends urge Israel to protect civilian life as we have, it is critical that Israel listens.”

PAUL:

The Foreign Minister said the United Nations vote in the General Assembly this week shows that the international community will not accept continuing civilian deaths.

ANGE:

And Paul, as you mentioned, there's quite a big split in the Australian community about this war. Are we seeing some of those same tensions play out within the government itself?

PAUL:

Well, no one's quite breaking from Penny Wong's hymn sheet as Foreign Minister or a couple of her Cabinet colleagues have gone close in the broad, although all of them have attacked the atrocity and the barbarity of Hamas. But opinion on this conflict doesn't break down neatly across communities or even left right lines. The Industrial Relations Minister, Tony Burke, is also leader of the House, very senior in the government. He's one with deeply held convictions and his western Sydney electorate has a significant Muslim population.

Audio excerpt – Tony Burke:

“Everybody in, if I go through the suburbs across from Belmore, Lakemba where I live in Punchbowl through to Bankstown, pretty much everybody knows somebody who has lost someone.”

PAUL:

In an interview the other week on Radio National, while he was careful never to depart completely from Labor's official position. He was pretty candid, but the Foreign Minister's office wasn't all that happy that he didn't condemn the use of the word apartheid or genocide when it comes to what was happening in Gaza.

Audio excerpt – Tony Burke:

“We can't say we only grieve for certain people who are slaughtered.”

PAUL:

But did make a plea saying as Australians, we can't engage in what he called competitive grief. And this is the idea that somehow if you express sympathy for Palestinian deaths, you're denying the pain of Israeli and Jewish families.

But Ange, just at a time when there's such pain across the Australian community and risk of division. Peter Dutton gave an incendiary interview last weekend and he attacked Tony Burke. He went on the sky agenda and he falsely accused the Leader of the House of not condemning Hamas and of using a soft form of words.

Audio excerpt – Peter Dutton:

“Tony Burke to his great shame is playing to his constituency within his own electorate when he should be acting in the national interest.”

PAUL:

The Opposition Leader said the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was weak for not pulling Burke into line.

You know, and it does pose the question as to what constituency Dutton is playing to with these comments and why he's injecting such harsh rhetoric into a moment when so many Australians are so distressed.

ANGE:

After the break – are our leaders starting to play politics with war?

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ANGE:

Paul, we've been talking about the divides we're seeing here as a result of the war in Gaza, both personal and political divides. And you were talking about some of Peter Dutton's rhetoric on this. What is he trying to achieve here?

PAUL:

Well, senior Labor people tell me that they believe that Peter Dutton is dog whistling to latent Islamophobia, which is fanned whenever Islamist terror groups like Hamas strike. And it's interesting that just two weeks after the Hamas attack, Dutton showed much more statesmanship. He worked with Anthony Albanese on a comprehensive 16 part parliamentary motion, standing with Israel and recognising its right to defend itself, while noting, quote, all sides are suffering as a result of the attacks by Hamas and the subsequent conflict. But it appears Dutton's willingness to stay in step with the government on this and continue the convention of bipartisanship on Foreign Affairs is taking second place to wanting to score political points.

On Monday, Penny Wong gave her most direct assessment of the situation following the weeks of graphic TV coverage and a mounting death toll. Asked whether she believed bipartisanship had broken down on Israel, she agreed and said it wasn't a good time for Mr. Dutton to be playing politics. You know, if Dutton is hoping to replicate his success in politicising the Voice by breaking ranks on the Middle East, a couple of developments now should give him pause for thought.

The Morgan poll, which last week suggested he was on a winner opposing the referendum, well, it dramatically flipped this week. Labor reverted to a six point lead two party preferred. The pollster suggests it was due to Albanese's successful Washington trip. And then there are the serious warnings from Mike Burgess, the head of ASIO, Australia's domestic intelligence agency.

Audio excerpt – Mike Burgess:

“While the events are a long way from Australia, they are resonating here and ASIO is carefully monitoring the implications for domestic security.”

PAUL:

Burgess didn't criticise anyone or direct his call to anyone in particular, but I think it was interesting that he made a rare public statement the other week urging leaders to safeguard social cohesion amid bloodshed in the Middle East, warning that inflamed language may fuel community tensions.

ANGE:

Yeah right. That's interesting. So why would ASIO bring itself into this public debate about the war in Gaza?

PAUL:

Well, you're right. It's rare for the head of ASIO to make public statements like this, but I think that it speaks to the agency's concerns. While Burgess made it clear the threat of a terror attack in Australia has not risen since October seven, he is worried that community tensions and anger could lead to something.

Audio excerpt – Mike Burgess:

“ASIO is not seeing evidence of planned violence, although the likelihood of opportunistic violence remains real, particularly if tensions, protest, and rhetoric increase.”

PAUL:

And Burgess said words matter. He urged all parties to consider the implications for social cohesion when making public statements. The other week at Senate Estimates, Greens Senator David Shoebridge put to Burgess that all communities in Australia should feel the same level of respect and protection from ASIO, and the security Chief actually completely agreed with that sentiment.

ANGE:

And finally, Paul, I want to ask what all this domestic politics in Australia means for the war in Gaza and the people there. What is Australia doing right now and what influence is our policy having?

PAUL:

Well, Australia has upped its humanitarian aid to Gaza to $25 million dollars and it's urging a pause in hostilities so much of it can get through. At the same time Albanese echoes Wong when he says it's important to recognise that Israel has a right to defend itself, but how it does it matters. And this very line was used by our representative at the United Nations in the debate over a ceasefire. Australia, of course, is a close ally of the United States. It supports President Joe Biden and agrees with him, earmarking a further $14 billion dollars in military and other assistance to the war effort.

Of course, what gives this latest Middle East tragedy particular force in our country is we are home to significant Jewish and Muslim communities with relatives and friends suffering on the front line. In the Australian Jewish community, many of the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors who see in Hamas's extermination fanaticism a revival of those horrors. Well, the Palestinians fear that Israel's relentless bombardment of Gaza is also a present threat to their very existence. You know, Ange, there's only deep pain here.

ANGE:

Paul, thanks so much for your time today.

PAUL:

Thank you, Ange. Bye.

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ANGE:

Also in the news today,

49-year-old Erin Patterson, who cooked a lunch containing poisonous mushrooms in July that resulted in the deaths of three people, has been arrested by Victoria police.

Police have concluded an extensive search of her Leongatha home using technology detector dogs and say their investigation is not over yet.

And,

US President Joe Biden has called for a humanitarian ‘pause’ of the conflict in the Middle East.

The President’s comments depart slightly from his previous remarks, where he hasn’t dictated how Israel should conduct itself in the war.

7am is a daily show from The Monthly and The Saturday Paper.

It’s produced by Kara Jensen-Mackinnon, Zoltan Fecso, Cheyne Anderson, Yeo Choong and Sam Loy.

Our senior producer is Chris Dengate. Our technical producer is Atticus Bastow.

Our editor is Scott Mitchell. Sarah McVeigh is our head of audio.

Erik Jensen is our editor-in-chief.

Mixing by Andy Elston, Travis Evans, and Atticus Bastow.

Our theme music is by Ned Beckley and Josh Hogan of Envelope Audio.

I’m Ange McCormack, this is 7am. We’ll be back next week.

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