Today the Greens moved to suspend Senate Standing Orders to insist Labor immediately reinstate essential, live-saving UNRWA funding to Gaza amid the genocide and worsening humanitarian catastrophe.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi is Greens Deputy Leader and spokesperson for International Aid and spoke to her motion (attached) in the Senate today:
"Catastrophic famine, hunger, starvation and disease loom large in Gaza, yet it's been 31 days since Labor suspended funding to UNRWA without seeing a shred of evidence on Israel's allegations and today they refused to restore it.
"Minister Wong on one hand admits that UNRWA does life-saving work and then on the other hand halts funding. No one is being fooled by this doublespeak.
"The anger, frustration and sense of betrayal in the community is palpable and rightly so.
"Labor's moral bankruptcy and utter hypocrisy on Palestine is inexcusable. People will not forget and forgive the murder of 30,000 Palestinians and the starvation of millions.
"If they can't show up for the community now, they shouldn't dare show up for photo shoots at our iftars next month.
"If there is a skerrick of humanity left in Labor, they should restore and increase funding to UNRWA."
