Extract from ABC News
Australia has voted with nearly 160 countries for an "immediate, unconditional and permanent" ceasefire in Gaza.
In short:
Australia has supported a UN resolution calling for an "immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" in Gaza, the strongest language the country has supported to date.
Another resolution backed the aid agency UNRWA, but Australia voiced reservations about the wording of both resolutions saying they should have directly condemned Hamas's terrorist acts.
What's next?
The Coalition has criticised the shift, which saw Australia vote against the United States but with the UK, Canada and New Zealand.
Australia has supported a United Nations resolution for an "immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" in Gaza, joining most of the world in the strongest language Australia has adopted on the conflict to date.
Australia also backed a resolution defending the work of the UN relief agency UNRWA and rebuking Israel for obstructing its provision of aid in Gaza.
It was joined by more than 150 countries, including Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
The United States and Israel were among a handful of countries to vote against the resolution.
While Australia has supported an "immediate" ceasefire at the UN for a year, this resolution goes further with the words "unconditional and permanent".
Although it calls for the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages," it does not require Hamas to lay down its arms or condemn its actions.
Australia's permanent UN representative, James Larsen, said it should have done so and that Australia "does not agree with everything" in the resolutions, despite its support.
The shift in stance follows a hint from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier this week at a private Labor Party event that Australia would further upset Israel on Thursday.
'No change to Australia's position,' says PM
Asked about the votes on Wednesday during a press conference at the Sydney Jewish Museum, the prime minister said he was "not sure" what they were but that there was "no change to Australia's position".
"Australia's position is we support a two-state solution … Very clearly that cannot involve Hamas … There's no role for Hamas in any future Palestinian state," he said.
Mr Larsen reiterated that position in the window given to UN member countries to explain their votes, saying Australia had "certain reservations".
He said Australia supported the US-led proposal for a ceasefire, which has the backing of the UN Security Council and was alluded to in the motion, and which puts specific conditions on Hamas including that it lay down its arms.
"This reality should have been reflected in the resolution … Australia remains unequivocal in our condemnation for Hamas. This resolution should have done the same for their atrocities on 7 October … and all their acts of terror," he said.
Coalition accuses PM of 'gaslighting'
Coalition frontbencher James Paterson accused Mr Albanese of lying about the votes.
"We only knew this was coming because [he] was secretly caught, recorded at an event boasting," he said in a Sky News interview.
"When he was asked about this, he pretended not to know what the reporters were talking about…
"The prime minister was gaslighting the Australian Jewish community while standing at the Sydney Jewish Museum supposedly being concerned about anti-Semitism."
Senator Paterson linked Australia's vote on Israel to domestic anti-Semitism.
"When the Australian government abandons or even worse, vilifies Israel, anti-Semites take encouragement from that and that gives them licence and that's why it's a serious problem."
Labor minister Anne Aly said the government's position did represent "a shift," but that this reflected "a shift in the contexts in which the Israeli government is operating".
"I think the shift has been necessitated by the fact that the Israeli government has been found guilty by the International Court of Justice [ICJ], by the declarations that have been made by the ICC as well, and Australia as a good global citizen ... must uphold the laws," she told the ABC's News Breakfast.
"If the Israeli government flouts those laws, then we have a responsibility to act accordingly."
The ICJ has issued interim orders that there is a "real and imminent risk" of genocide in Gaza. A final judgement or any finding of "guilt" has not been made and is likely years away, and the charge, which is highly contentious, is denied by Israel. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Hamas and Israeli leaders on charges of violating international law.
Thursday's resolutions referred to the ICJ finding, but Mr Larsen told the UN Australia "continues to give careful consideration to the ICJ's conclusions in its Advisory Opinion [and] our vote is not determinative of Australia's position on all the conclusions in that opinion".
Vote to back UNRWA accuses Israel of misinformation
The second resolution backed the aid agency UNRWA and voiced "deep concern" about impediments to its operations in Gaza, criticising a recent law passed by the Israeli Knesset (parliament) to impose further restrictions.
The agency has been the source of controversy following Israeli government accusations its staff had been involved in the October 7 terror attacks.
Australia was one of several countries to suspend financial support to the agency while those accusations were investigated by the UN.
The agency stood down nine people it deemed "may have been involved" in the attacks but denied there was a broader problem. Australia has since expressed its confidence in its ability to continue operations and has resumed funding.
The UN resolution accuses Israel of a campaign of misinformation to "discredit" UNRWA and "demands that Israel respect the mandate of the agency".
Mr Larsen said Australia "does not agree with everything" in the resolution, saying it should have "unequivocally condemned" Hamas's October 7 terrorist atrocities and stated that "any affiliation or involvement with terrorist organisations cannot be tolerated".
But he said Australia believed "UNRWA must be allowed to continue its life-saving work" and was "the backbone of the humanitarian response to the ongoing catastrophic situation".
Israel's UN representative repeated the accusation that UNRWA "has become a haven for terror … [It] is not a neutral actor but an entity hopelessly infiltrated by Hamas".
Senator Paterson said UNRWA was "unreformable and unreformed" and repeated the Coalition's position that Australia should not fund it.
Jewish lobby groups have also expressed anger at Australia's vote on the resolution.
The Australia Israel and Jewish Affairs Council said the resolution was at odds with Australia's own policy, and that an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire would be "an outcome guaranteed to leave Hamas permanently in control over Gaza".
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry said it was an "immoral" resolution that effectively demanded "that Israel abandon the hostages to their fate, and allow the Hamas terrorists to re-establish themselves".
"If this resolution were to be put into effect, it would be a green light to Hamas to regroup, rearm and prepare for the next terrorist attack against Israel," the council's president said.
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