Australia's Labor party faction in push for resolution to recognize Palestine

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Tuesday 28 Apr 2015 - 14:03 Makkah mean time-9-7-1436 (File image) New South Wales, (IINA) - The New South Wales right faction of the Australian labor party ALP is contemplating bringing a stronger motion recognizing Palestine at the party’s national conference following Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s declaration that there would be no Palestinian state on his watch, The Guardian reported. It is expected that Tony Burke, the opposition finance spokesman and a prominent member of the NSW right, will move the resolution. Labor figures met at the start of this week to consider the shape of the draft national platform and to identify points of dispute before the July conference. Party sources say internal discussion has opened around a motion that was passed by the NSW state Labor conference in 2014. That motion was drafted by the former NSW Premier and Federal Foreign Minister Bob Carr. The Carr motion called on a future Labor government “to consult like-minded nations toward recognition of a Palestinian state”. It backed the two-state solution Labor’s longstanding policy position on the Middle East while noting the lack of current progress; and recognized explicitly that “a Middle East peace will only be won with the establishment of a Palestinian state”. The Carr motion noted if there was no progress towards meaningful peace, “and Israel continues to build and expand settlements, a future Labor government will consult like-minded nations towards recognition of the Palestinian state.” Earlier this week, the shadow treasurer and Burke’s NSW right faction colleague, Chris Bowen, told the National Press Club the ALP needed a foreign policy that included “practical steps” to achieving a two-state solution in the Middle East not just words. SM/IINA