SOVEREIGN AUSTRALIA COMPARE — ISRAEL & PALESTINE

ISRAEL AND PALESTINE — THE FULL COMPARISON

The complete picture in three tables: all eight federal issues across the five parties; the six laws that govern foreign influence at home, and the gap in each; and where every state government stands. Positions are summarised from the public record — platforms, releases, legislation and votes — and each table carries its own notes and check date. The Sovereign Australia position in full is Memo 11 and the policy page.

Where the parties stand — federal

Checked July–August 2026

IssueSovereign AustraliaLaborCoalitionGreensOne Nation
Recognition and border
Federal
Recognised; border on the 1967 Green LineRecognised at the UN, September 2025, with conditionsOpposes; calls for reversal; only after a negotiated processSupports recognition; abandoned the two-state framing in 2023Opposes; none until Israel’s security is guaranteed
Gaza
Federal
Accepts the UN Commission finding of genocide; Israel to answer at the ICJCondemns conduct; does not itself attribute genocideRejects the characterisation; supports removal of HamasCalls it genocide; demands sanctionsDenies genocide; supports the campaign
Lebanon
Federal
Demands the same investigation in the same forumNo separate position beyond ceasefire callsHezbollah to surrender capabilityCondemns the strikesNo separate position
Gaza arrivals and displacement
Federal
No resettlement abroad; Palestinian status and right of return preserved; safe space inside a state on the Green LineVisas granted, then tightened; humanitarian intake maintainedCalled for arrivals to be pausedSupports humanitarian visas and permanent protectionDemands deportation of those who arrived
Settlements and annexation
Federal
Unlawful; no recognition beyond the Green Line; Israel to prosecute settler crimes; targeted sanctions until it does; settlement-goods labellingSettlements illegal; sanctions on some settlersTwo states by negotiation; opposes unilateral measuresSanctions; end settlement tradeNo detailed policy
Arms and components
Federal
Suspend everything — weapons, parts, sub-components, explosives, dual-use; publish the register; end-use test in lawStates it exports no weapons; remains in the F-35 chainMaintain defence tiesFull two-way arms embargoNo stated position
Australians who served
Federal
Full register of foreign military service; AFP investigate on credible evidence; Attorney-General’s veto removed; no safe havenNo specific measure; general law appliesNo stated positionEnforcement of existing atrocity-crime lawNo stated position
Foreign influence at home
Federal
Royal Commission into foreign influence, including Israel-aligned lobbying; close the FITS charity and domestic-funding gaps; full transparency of sponsored travel and donationsAdministers the FITS; 2025 donation caps and $5,000 disclosure threshold; no measure on Israel-aligned lobbyingJoined Labor to pass the 2025 donation caps; no measure on Israel-aligned lobbyingOpposed the 2025 caps deal as favouring the major parties; wants corporate donations bannedNo stated position

Positions summarised from party platforms, releases, statements and parliamentary votes as at July 2026. “No stated position” means none found on the public record, not indifference. One Nation’s positions are drawn from speeches and Senate interventions rather than a published platform. Labor’s and the Coalition’s are government and opposition positions respectively and may move. This table states each party’s position, not this party’s characterisation of it.

The law as it stands

Checked August 2026

InstrumentWhat it doesThe gap
Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Act 2018Public register for anyone acting on behalf of a foreign principal to influence Australian politics; not registering is a criminal offenceRegistered charities exempt (s29C); domestically funded advocacy for a foreign state’s interests falls outside the scheme
Criminal Code — foreign interference offences (2018)Criminalises covert or deceptive interference on behalf of a foreign principalOpen, declared advocacy is untouched
Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 — foreign donation ban (2018)Bans political donations from foreign donorsAustralian citizens and companies advocating a foreign state’s cause are domestic donors; their money is lawful
Electoral Reform Act 2025Caps donations and campaign spending; disclosure threshold cut to $5,000; faster disclosurePassed by a Labor–Coalition deal; commences 2026–27; under High Court challenge
Register of Members’ and Senators’ InterestsMPs must declare sponsored travel, gifts and hospitalityDisclosure only — no limit on sponsored travel; this register is where the Israel-trip data comes from
Register of Lobbyists and Lobbying Code of ConductThird-party professional lobbyists must register before contacting governmentIn-house lobbyists and advocacy organisations are not covered

Sponsored-travel record, from analyses of the parliamentary interests registers: Israel was the top destination for privately sponsored MP travel — 18 per cent of all sponsored trips, June 2018 to April 2022 (APAN), consistent with ASPI’s 2010–2018 finding — with AIJAC the largest single private provider of all-expenses-paid overseas travel. Israel accounts for 0.1 per cent of Australian exports. Law stated as at August 2026; the Electoral Reform Act 2025 is under High Court challenge and AEC guidance on commencement spans 2026–27.

Where the state governments stand

Checked August 2026

IssueNSW (Labor — Minns)Victoria (Labor — Allan)Queensland (LNP — Crisafulli)WA (Labor — Cook)SA (Labor — Malinauskas)Tasmania (Liberal — Rockliff)
Premier’s stated position
State
Publicly pro-Israel; has framed the state’s task as fighting antisemitismFrames all measures as confronting antisemitism and restoring social cohesion after the Adass Israel synagogue arsonPublicly pro-Israel; laws presented as answering “clear calls from the Jewish community”Condemned the October 2023 attacks; warned Western Australians against travelling to the Middle East to take up armsCondemned the October 2023 attacks and lit Adelaide landmarks in solidarity with Israel; later said the civilian toll in Gaza should “never be acceptable as a strategy in any armed conflict”Condemned the October 2023 attacks; after Bondi, published an open letter naming the antisemitic terrorist attack and backing the National Cabinet firearms review
Protest law since the Bondi attack
State
Dec 2025 law lets police refuse or ban protest marches across whole areas for up to three months after a declared terror incident; invoked in central Sydney for the Herzog visitPolice and Other Matters Act, Dec 2025: police can order masks removed, lock-on devices banned, new offences around religious assemblies, terror-symbol offences2026 Act: up to five years for hate symbols or harassing worshippersNo new protest legislationNo new protest legislationNo new protest legislation
Banned phrases and hate-speech offences
State
2025 hate-speech offences; a parliamentary inquiry recommended banning “globalise the intifada” used with malicious intent; government waiting on the Queensland challengeCriminal anti-vilification offences in force from late 2025First state to criminalise two phrases — “from the river to the sea” and “globalise the intifada” — up to two years’ jail; protesters arrested; under High Court challengeNo new offencesNo new offencesNo new offences
Cultural sphere
State
Police removed Palestine-flag observers from the state Labor conference entranceSite of the largest protests, including during the February 2026 Herzog visitPremier urged writers’ festivals to exclude a Palestinian-Australian authorNo comparable intervention foundAdelaide Writers’ Week excluded a Palestinian-Australian author; most authors withdrew and the 2026 festival was cancelledNo comparable intervention found

Foreign policy is a Commonwealth power; states act through police powers, criminal law, and cultural institutions — those levers are what this table records. Context: the 14 December 2025 Bondi Beach attack killed 15 people at a Hanukkah celebration and triggered a national legislative response, including a Royal Commission. Positions summarised from legislation, government statements and press reporting as at August 2026. “None found” means none found on the public record, not indifference. Constitutional challenges are live: Queensland’s phrase ban is before the High Court, and a NSW places-of-worship protest provision was earlier struck down in court. This table states each government’s position and record, not this party’s characterisation of it.

v681 · 11 Aug 2026