Australia moves toward recognising Palestinian statehood

Department of Research, Studies and International News -11-08-2025

Australia has announced that it will formally recognise the State of Palestine this September, marking a significant break with the United States’ long-standing position of shielding Israel from international accountability. The move, declared by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday, is set to be officially announced during the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Albanese described the recognition as “humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East” and a step toward ending the destruction and starvation gripping Gaza under Israel’s siege. His comments follow months of mounting global outrage at Israel’s military assault, which has left tens of thousands dead and created a humanitarian catastrophe.

Australia’s shift comes as several other Western nations, including Canada, France, and the United Kingdom, prepare to recognise Palestinian statehood in the coming weeks. This growing divergence from Washington’s line reflects the widening cracks in the Western bloc’s approach to the Middle East.

The timing of the announcement is notable, arriving just a week after one of the largest pro-Palestine demonstrations in Australian history. Hundreds of thousands marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge demanding justice for Palestine, an end to arms sales to Israel, and concrete sanctions against Tel Aviv’s occupation regime.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong acknowledged the urgency of the situation, warning that “there is a risk there will be no Palestine left to recognise.” She reiterated that recognition was a question of “when, not if.”

Predictably, Australia’s pro-U.S. opposition Liberal Party condemned the decision, claiming it undermines Washington’s strategy and rewards Hamas. Opposition leader Sussan Ley argued that recognition should not occur while Hamas governs Gaza or while Israeli captives remain in underground tunnels, a stance that aligns closely with Israel’s talking points and ignores the root causes of the conflict.

The Australian Greens welcomed the recognition but criticised it as insufficient, saying that symbolic gestures without tangible action, such as sanctions and halting weapons exports, do little to stop Israel’s ongoing war crimes. Senator David Shoebridge stressed that “millions of Australians” have called for concrete measures to hold Israel accountable, yet the government continues to maintain lucrative defence trade ties with it.

The Australian Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) echoed this criticism, describing the announcement as a “political fig leaf” that allows Israel’s system of occupation, apartheid, and mass killing to continue unchallenged. The group noted that Palestinian rights are inherent and not “a gift to be granted by Western states” nor dependent on the approval of “their colonial oppressors.”

Prime Minister Albanese revealed that Australia’s recognition would be conditional upon commitments from the Palestinian Authority (PA), including reaffirming recognition of Israel, pledging demilitarisation, and holding long-delayed general elections. These stipulations reflect Canberra’s preference for engaging with the PA, widely criticised among Palestinians for collaborating with Israel in the occupied West Bank, while sidelining Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007.

New Zealand may soon follow Australia’s lead. Foreign Minister Winston Peters confirmed that his government will decide in September whether to extend recognition. He emphasised that New Zealand’s foreign policy is independent, despite pressure from allies, and that the decision will be guided by national principles and interests. Peters noted that recognition is a “matter of when, not if,” but cautioned that the issue remains politically sensitive.

Currently, 147 of the United Nations’ 193 member states, representing roughly three-quarters of the global population, recognise Palestinian statehood. The overwhelming international consensus underscores how isolated Washington, Tel Aviv, and a shrinking circle of their allies have become on this question.

The UN’s original 1947 partition plan had proposed allocating 45 percent of historic Palestine to an Arab state, but Israel’s military expansion and decades of occupation have made that vision all but unrecognisable. The latest moves by Australia and potentially New Zealand may signal a slow but significant erosion of the U.S.-Israeli stranglehold on the diplomatic narrative.

The announcement also came on the same day that Israel carried out a deadly attack in Gaza City, killing five Al Jazeera journalists. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to threaten a full-scale assault on the northern part of Gaza, even as international outrage over civilian deaths mounts.

According to Gaza’s health authorities, Israel’s war has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians. Almost 200 have died from starvation caused by Israel’s blockade, including nearly 100 children, a grim testament to the human cost of a policy defended and funded by Washington.

Australia’s decision represents a rare departure from U.S. dominance over its allies’ Middle East policy. Whether it signals a deeper shift in the Western world’s alignment, or remains a symbolic gesture without substantive consequences, will depend on whether Canberra follows recognition with real action to pressure Israel and uphold Palestinian rights.