Modern Labor Is “Quite Comfortable” With the Trump-Netanyahu Agenda, Says Shoebridge

A common quip that does the rounds of the internet of late, has been that Australian foreign minister Penny Wong is “deeply concerned” following yet another catastrophic event on the global stage, whilst as for PM Anthony Albanese, when he’s questioned about Washington’s actions, he reiterates that he’s already stated that he won’t be commenting on everything the US president says.

Indeed, the Australian public is becoming increasingly aware that top ministers, like the PM, the foreign minister and defence minister Richard Marles, aren’t providing any solid comments about a truckload of human rights erasing matters involving the actions of our closest ally the United States and the state of Israel.

This lack of ability to comment that our top ministers are displaying in respect of addressing matters related to the controversial actions of especially the White House and the Netanyahu Knesset appears to have been on the increase since Donald Trump retook the US presidency last year, and it’s been especially evident since Pauline Hanson’s One Nation starting spiking in the local polls this year.

To top that all off, when the Israeli government recently took six Australians hostage, amongst 180-odd foreign nationals, off the coast of Greece, and detained and brutalised them for two days, the PM and the foreign minister once more stayed silent. And this has left much of the public considering that Albanese and Wong are too scared to speak out for fear of stepping out of line with Washington.

So, Sydney Criminal Lawyers spoke to Greens Senator David Shoebridge about what he thought about his colleagues in federal parliament appearing to have lost their tongues on speaking out against the US and Israel, especially when one of these nations just kidnapped Australian citizens off the high seas, and the senator outlined that the silence of these ministers has little to do with fear.

Australian politicians have always been reluctant to criticise United States policy, since the alliance began. But this appears to have become more extreme since the Trump administration came to power.

Albanese once quipped that he wouldn’t be providing a running commentary on everything the US president says, however since then, the PM applies this tagline to more serious matters that demand comment.

The same can be said for Israel. Even though federal Labor rushed to confirm Tel Aviv was defending itself in October 2023, there had still been some ability for it to criticise the Netanyahu government back then. Yet, this now appears to have completely dried up.

David, you have a bird’s eye view of all this inside the chamber, so how would you describe what’s been occurring in regard to our top minister’s ability to comment on certain matters in this drastically shifting global climate?

The world is going through a geopolitical moment of fracture, and the Albanese government’s response to it is to double down on an unquestioning, uncritical alliance with the United States.

Because that is an incredibly hard position to sell to the Australian public, who can see for themselves the reckless and dangerous nature of the United States, especially under Donald Trump, the Albanese government’s messaging response is to say as little as possible.

That is a fundamental lack of leadership. But it also speaks volumes, in its own quiet way.

This is a government that is failing to meet the moment. It doesn’t realise these huge geopolitical shifts, and how the United States is no longer a safe partner, and is in fact, a very dangerous and reckless partner, in an increasingly uncertain world.

Another aspect to this unwillingness to speak out about such matters happened a fortnight ago, when the Israeli state took six Australians hostage amongst a group of 180-odd foreign nationals and held them on a prison ship, applied violence towards them and subject them to tortuous conditions, before setting the Australians free two days later.

The PM and foreign minister failed to comment on this incident. However, the exact same thing happened before, in October last year, with Albanese and Wong then saying nothing as well.

But the scenario was worse this time, as the illegal detainment of the captives wasn’t close to Israel’s claimed territorial waters, but rather, it happened off the coast of Greece.

So, what does it mean for our top ministers to be staying silent when an ally is breaking so many laws to harm Australian citizens?

This outrageously illegal kidnapping of Australians by the Israeli government was in open breach of international law. This isn’t a marginal call.

This was the Israeli Defence Force reaching the better part of a thousand kilometres from their shore to attack, kidnap and imprison elements of the Gaza flotilla that included six Australians.

People are watching the Albanese Labor government and asking why they’re not critiquing this. “How can they be silent in the face of this crime against Australians?” And they’re assuming that they want to speak out but are somehow being silenced by pressures from Washington.

This misunderstands modern Labor. Modern Labor is quite comfortable with Israel behaving like this, with the solid backing of Washington.

They have signed onto a global project while Washington, its allies and proxies literally do whatever they like, wherever they like. This is part of modern Labor’s worldview of how the world works.

They are not willing to fight it. They are not willing to stand up against it on the basis of principle or even basic decency or in this case, to protect the welfare and lives of Australian citizens.

The reason is, they support and are a part of this project. And I find that an incredibly disturbing conclusion.

So, Labor is not just being dragged along, it is a willing partner? 

Labor sees the United States as their partner of choice. They support US power being used and applied across the globe, as a critical part of their thinking about how the world should work.

They are not horrified by the actions of Trump and his allies in Israel. They are literally cheering them on.

What does that mean for the relationship between the government and its citizens then? 

We have seen twice in just six months that when the Albanese Labor government has to choose between the rights and protections of Australian citizens or quietly bowing their head to Washington, they are literally kneeling before Trump, or, whoever Trump is supporting, which in this case is Benjamin Netanyahu.

This is a continuing theme, where, literally, the prime minister, the foreign minister and the defence minister cannot distinguish between the interests of the United States and the interests of Australians, and that is a gross breach of trust with the Australian public.

Australia has followed the US into more than half a dozen major wars since World War II. The nation is currently being asked by the Trump administration to join the Maritime Freedom Construct, which is Washington’s initiative to open the Strait of Hormuz.

However, there is a significant chance that the US-Israeli war on Iran will resume. There is already minor fighting going on. This means this is a request for potential participation in war.

So, what are your thoughts on how the nation is sitting at this point?

When you have someone like Donald Trump inviting people to a war and calling it a Maritime Freedom Construct, he’s following a well-trodden path of US presidents, that have had the US and its allies, enmeshed in war after war, based on public and private lies.

Australians should have no part of this so-called Maritime Freedom Construct and should be actively resisting efforts from the United States to enmesh us in their war of choice on Iran.

There is only one way to get the Strait of Hormuz open and that is for there to be peace, and for the war that Israel and the United States started to end, and that should be the focus of the Australian government, not only for the purposes of peace, but for our economic security to open up this important global lifeline.

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party is all of a sudden a significant political force in this country, with it outpolling the Liberals and having just taken out its first lower house seat ever, which was in NSW.

One Nation holds little seats and has little members compared to the majors. However, it has rising support, and it also vocally says yes to anything the Trump administration or the Netanyahu government asserts.

So, how do you consider this is affecting Labor’s positioning on vital matters in a manner that might challenge certain allied nations? And how serious should this country be taking this rise in support for Hanson and her politics?

When you are in the federal Senate and you are watching debates on defence, or Donald Trump or immigration, the thing that would most surprise many Australians is how the Labor Party, One Nation and the Coalition are so often on the same page.

They all agree on weaponising immigration and refugees for their political purposes. They all agree on an unquestioning commitment to the US and to our continued enmeshing in the US alliance.

They all agree on AUKUS. They all take multi-million-dollar gifts from the likes of Gina Rinehart, the fossil fuel industry and corporate Australia.

Labor isn’t going to fight One Nation on any of these policies. They largely agree on them.

It is disturbing to watch these three war parties – all backed in by multinational corporations and by domestic billionaires, like Gina Rinehart – pretend that they are having a policy fight. That is the most disturbing insight into the rise of One Nation.

One Nation is largely peddling Labor’s policies.

A growing number of the constituency is becoming aware that top ministers are no longer providing reasonable statements about global matters or even on the plight of the fate of Australian citizens. A lot of people are losing hope that these situations are going to improve.

So, should Australians be giving up hope here? What’s the way forward when the top ministers in a country have, or appear to have, lost their tongues?

We can’t give up hope. We just have to get organised. We have a government that is literally selling out our sovereignty to the likes of Donald Trump, that is failing to meet the moment and even contest the anti-immigrant policies of One Nation.

It is more important than ever to be politically active and organised.

I am a Greens Senator for a reason. I see our party as sending out a coherent alternative that puts people and planet first, and is fundamentally rooted in Australian values of decency, a fair go and protecting those who most need it.

This is going to be a really rugged next 18 months in federal politics, but one thing that is so clear to me is that the answer to One Nation isn’t One Nation-lite in the form of either the Labor Party or the Coalition.

The answer to One Nation is politics that puts the needs of ordinary Australians before either Gina Rinehart or Donald Trump, and I’m part of a party that I believe does that.