Commemorating Al‑Nakba and the Palestinian diaspora

Today Abigail spoke in Parliament about the ongoing human rights abuses against Palestine, in light of Al-Nakba.

Abigail spoke in support of a Motion commemorating Al-Nakba. Abigail said:

Ms ABIGAIL BOYD (17:31): On behalf of The Greens, I support the motion. I thank the Hon. Anthony D'Adam for moving it. There is a significant Palestinian community in Australia, with about 15,600 people identifying as having Palestinian ancestry during the most recent census, the majority of whom live in New South Wales. On behalf of The Greens, I am pleased to support the important work of community organisations like the Australian Palestinian Club in providing Palestinians in Australia with a community hub and point of connection. Commemorating Al‑Nakba, both in wider society and in Parliament, is important. On 15 May 1948, 75 years ago, a catastrophe for the Palestinian people occurred. With the declaration of Israel's independence, 75 per cent to 80 per cent of the Palestinian people were made refugees and the remaining 20 per cent to 25 per cent were internally displaced on their own lands.

The Palestinian people have thousands of years of connection to the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The formal dispossession of their land by the State of Israel following years of atrocities like massacres, bombings, looting, land confiscation and razing of Palestinian towns by Zionist militia is an atrocity that continues to be felt to this day. It is right to acknowledge Al‑Nakba in this place as an historical event, a painful commemoration for the Palestinian people and something that continues to be perpetrated by the State of Israel. The September 2022 report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 found:

… the occupation is not merely belligerent, but is settler-colonial in nature and that Israel has prevented the realization of Palestinian people's right to self-determination, violating each component of that right, wilfully pursuing the "de-Palestinianization" of the occupied territory.

In commemorating Al‑Nakba, The Greens also commemorate the ongoing human rights abuses against the Palestinian people. The people of Palestine deserve to live in peace and security within their own State, and the Palestinian diaspora across the world deserve the right of return if they choose. The Greens recognise that the State of Israel's ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territories and the expropriation of Palestinian land, water, air space and resources is illegal and must be opposed. We reaffirm the right of Palestinians and Israelis to each live in peace, security and equality, and call for freedom and statehood for the Palestinian people.

Read the full Hansard transcript here.

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NSW is missing out on tens of billions of dollars. By introducing a progressive coal royalty structure similar to the one in Queensland, we would have raised an extra $20 billion last year.

The NSW Government owns and controls, on behalf of the people of this state, the rights to the minerals and materials that naturally occur in NSW land.

Huge fossil fuel companies are only able to extract and sell these commodities with the consent of the State. It’s time they paid a fair price for that privilege.

The fossil fuel industry has made hundreds of billions of dollars out of their cosy relationship with governments. Granted permission to extract and sell coal, these large multinational fossil fuel corporations pay just over 7% in royalties back to the people of NSW – keeping the rest as mega-profits for themselves. These companies have a track record of taking more than their fair share and leaving communities suffering and stranded with poisoned groundwater, devastated landscapes and a stranded workforce when it suits their business models.

Globally, the hyper-inflation of fossil fuel prices driven by price-gouging opportunism and war profiteering from Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has delivered record windfall profits to these already obscenely wealthy corporations. In the last year, NSW coal exports totaled over $70 billion dollars, but the people of NSW will only see about 7 cents in every dollar, or about $6 billion dollars of that amount.

Rather than going toward schools, hospitals and public infrastructure, billions of dollars went into the pockets of multinational mining corporations. The Greens believe there should be more money for schools and hospitals and less for mining billionaires.

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Commemorating Al‑Nakba and the Palestinian diaspora

TAX SUPERPROFITS TO PAY WORKERS MORE

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