Australia has voted in favour of a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and an immediate and unconditional release of all hostages in an emergency session of the United Nations general assembly.
In a shift in position, Australia joined 152 other nations in voting in favour of the resolution on Wednesday morning. Canada and New Zealand also voted in favour.
Support for the humanitarian ceasefire was overwhelming, with only ten nations, including the United States, voting against and 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, abstaining.
Aid groups backed the Australian government’s decision, but the Coalition opposition condemned the government for what it labelled an “incredibly weak” stance.
The new UN vote follows Australia’s decision in late October to abstain from casting an affirmative vote on a similar motion. At the time, the Albanese government argued the language was was “incomplete” because it did not mention Hamas as the perpetrator of the 7 October attack.
As well as championing a humanitarian ceasefire, the new motion expresses grave concern over “the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population”. It says Palestinian and Israeli civilian populations “must be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law.”
Australia’s ambassador to the UN, James Larsen, said human suffering in Gaza was “widespread and unacceptable”. He characterised the vote as an evolution of Australia’s position.
“Australia welcomed the humanitarian pause agreed by the parties in November and brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar,” Larsen said.
“This resolution, calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, is the world urging these pauses be resumed, so urgent humanitarian aid can flow. Australia is part of that call and we support this resolution.”
Larsen said Australia saw such pauses as “critical steps on a path to a sustainable and permanent ceasefire”.
He said Australia had supported amendments proposed by the US and Austria “because we believe this resolution should have gone further, by unequivocally condemning Hamas as the perpetrators of the 7 October attack on innocent Israeli civilians”.
But Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, criticised Canberra’s decision.
Maimon wrote: “I find it difficult to understand how Australia can support Israel’s right to defend its people from terrorist aggression, while also voting in support of a ceasefire that will embolden Hamas and enable it to resume its attacks on Israelis.”
The opposition’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Simon Birmingham, told 2GB: “If Israel just adopts the ceasefire that Anthony Albanese has now voted for, it will just give Hamas opportunity to rearm, regroup and repeat the terrorist atrocities all over again.”
The Coalition’s home affairs spokesperson, James Paterson, accused Labor of a “shameful abandonment of Israel” while the defence spokesperson, Andrew Hastie, said “weakness is provocative”.
The Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said the UN general assembly vote was “a collective statement about the need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire” with broad support from like-minded partners and was “not a unilateral decision by Australia”.
She added: “Hamas is dedicated to the destruction of Israel and to harming the Jewish people. Hamas has no place in the future governance of Gaza.”
The leader of the Greens, Adam Bandt, welcomed the vote as a sign of progress but said it came “way too late and not enough”.
“It shouldn’t have taken Labor nearly 20,000 deaths and 67 days to finally vote for an immediate ceasefire at the UN,” Bandt tweeted.
“To everyone who has rallied, called their MPs, organised, posted: you made this happen. Keep going.”
The chief executive of Oxfam Australia, Lyn Morgain, said it was “clear that this carnage has gone on for far too long” and that “civilians including children should never be punished for crimes committed by their leaders”.
“For months now, Australians in their many thousands have been taking to the streets, signing petitions and actively campaigning for our leaders and government to do what it can to put an end to this senseless humanitarian catastrophe,” Morgain said.
Caritas Australia’s humanitarian emergencies lead, Sally Thomas, said: “The departure from human dignity and human rights in Gaza has now escalated to such a degree that a lasting ceasefire is the only way to stem the tide of suffering.”
The UN vote follows a joint statement from Albanese as well as the prime ministers of New Zealand and Canada calling for a sustainable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and an end to the “continuous suffering” of its citizens.
The three governments recognised Israel’s right to defend itself but said civilians and civilian infrastructure “must be protected”.
There was “no role for Hamas in the future governance of Gaza”, the leaders said while opposing “the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, the re-occupation of Gaza, any reduction in territory and any use of siege or blockade” and backing a two-state solution.
“We condemn rising antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab sentiment in our countries and around the world and remain firmly committed to combatting prejudice, hatred, and violent extremism,” the three prime ministers said.
The assistant minister for health and aged care, Ged Kearney, welcomed the UN vote. She said: “The unfettered destruction and loss of life in Gaza is unacceptable. It’s also heartbreaking. The prime minister has called time and time again for this suffering to end.”
• Josh Butler and Australian Associated Press contributed to this report
