MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s Parliament resumed Tuesday for the first time since the center-left Labor Party won one of the nation’s largest-ever majorities in the May elections. The day was largely ceremonial, with reminders of conflict in the Middle East.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside Parliament House on Tuesday, calling for the government to impose sanctions on Israel after Australia joined another 27 countries in issuing a joint statement, saying the war in Gaza “must end now.”

Security guards prevented 15 demonstrators from entering the public gallery of the Senate while Attorney-General Sam Mostyn, who represents Australia’s head of state King Charles III, was giving a speech to lawmakers on Tuesday afternoon, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

But Sen. Mehreen Faruqi, deputy leader of the minor party Australian Greens, made a silent protest by holding up a sign in the chamber during Mostyn’s speech that said: “Gaza is starving, words won’t feed them, sanction Israel.”

Australia has imposed financial and travel sanctions on individual Israelis, including government ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. But the Australian government has not imposed wider sanctions on the state.

Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi holds a placard as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese walks in the Senate chamber for the opening of the 48th Federal Parliament at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP) Photo:

Joint statement sparks debate

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke described the joint statement as the strongest words his government had used on the conflict in Gaza.

“When you can make a statement together with so many other significant powers, then we’re all hoping that there’ll be something that will break this,” Burke told ABC.

“What we are watching on the other side of the world is indefensible. The hostages still need to be released, but the war needs to end,” Burke added.

But senior opposition lawmaker Jonathon Duniam described Australia joining 27 other nations in signing the statement as “alarming.”

“There is more to this issue than this letter betrays and I think it is a sad turn of events for our government to have joined with other countries in signing this letter,” Duniam said.

Australia’s 48th Parliament was opened with Indigenous ceremonies in Parliament House on a day that was otherwise steeped in centuries of British Westminster political tradition.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese thanked the traditional owners of the national capital, Canberra, at a Welcome to Country ceremony. He noted that such ceremonies performed by Indigenous people to welcome visitors to their traditional land at the start of a new parliament had been introduced by a Labor government in 2007.

“In the 48th Parliament, we write the next chapter. Let us do it with the same sense of grace and courage that First Nations people show us with their leadership,” Albanese said.

Biggest Australian government majority since 1996

Labor won 94 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, where governments are formed. Labor’s majority is the largest since Prime Minister John Howard’s conservative coalition won 94 seats in 1996, when the lower chamber had only 148 seats.

Howard stayed in power for almost 12 years, and Albanese is the first prime minister since then to lead a party to consecutive election victories, following an extraordinary era of political instability.

The main opposition Liberal Party has elected its first woman leader, Sussan Ley, after one of the party’s worst election results on record.

Her conservative coalition holds 43 seats in the House, while independent lawmakers and minor parties that are not aligned with either the government or opposition hold 13.

No party holds a majority in the 76-seat Senate. Labor holds 29 seats and the conservatives 27 seats. The Australian Greens hold 10 seats, which is the next largest bloc.

The government will likely prefer to negotiate with the conservatives or Greens to get legislation through the Senate, rather than deal with multiple minor parties and independents.

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Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi holds a placard as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese walks in the Senate chamber for the opening of the 48th Federal Parliament at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP)

MELBOURNE – Australia’s Parliament resumed Tuesday for the first time since the center-left Labor Party won one of the nation’s largest-ever majorities in the May elections. The day was largely ceremonial, with reminders of conflict in the Middle East.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside Parliament House on Tuesday, calling for the government to impose sanctions on Israel after Australia joined another 27 countries in issuing a joint statement, saying the war in Gaza “must end now.”

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Security guards prevented 15 demonstrators from entering the public gallery of the Senate while Attorney-General Sam Mostyn, who represents Australia’s head of state King Charles III, was giving a speech to lawmakers on Tuesday afternoon, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

But Sen. Mehreen Faruqi, deputy leader of the minor party Australian Greens, made a silent protest by holding up a sign in the chamber during Mostyn’s speech that said: “Gaza is starving, words won’t feed them, sanction Israel.”

Australia has imposed financial and travel sanctions on individual Israelis, including government ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. But the Australian government has not imposed wider sanctions on the state.

Joint statement sparks debate

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke described the joint statement as the strongest words his government had used on the conflict in Gaza.

“When you can make a statement together with so many other significant powers, then we’re all hoping that there’ll be something that will break this,” Burke told ABC.

“What we are watching on the other side of the world is indefensible. The hostages still need to be released, but the war needs to end,” Burke added.

But senior opposition lawmaker Jonathon Duniam described Australia joining 27 other nations in signing the statement as “alarming.”

“There is more to this issue than this letter betrays and I think it is a sad turn of events for our government to have joined with other countries in signing this letter,” Duniam said.

Australia’s 48th Parliament was opened with Indigenous ceremonies in Parliament House on a day that was otherwise steeped in centuries of British Westminster political tradition.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese thanked the traditional owners of the national capital, Canberra, at a Welcome to Country ceremony. He noted that such ceremonies performed by Indigenous people to welcome visitors to their traditional land at the start of a new parliament had been introduced by a Labor government in 2007.

“In the 48th Parliament, we write the next chapter. Let us do it with the same sense of grace and courage that First Nations people show us with their leadership,” Albanese said.

Biggest Australian government majority since 1996

Labor won 94 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, where governments are formed. Labor’s majority is the largest since Prime Minister John Howard’s conservative coalition won 94 seats in 1996, when the lower chamber had only 148 seats.

Howard stayed in power for almost 12 years, and Albanese is the first prime minister since then to lead a party to consecutive election victories, following an extraordinary era of political instability.

The main opposition Liberal Party has elected its first woman leader, Sussan Ley, after one of the party’s worst election results on record.

Her conservative coalition holds 43 seats in the House, while independent lawmakers and minor parties that are not aligned with either the government or opposition hold 13.

No party holds a majority in the 76-seat Senate. Labor holds 29 seats and the conservatives 27 seats. The Australian Greens hold 10 seats, which is the next largest bloc.

The government will likely prefer to negotiate with the conservatives or Greens to get legislation through the Senate, rather than deal with multiple minor parties and independents.

Australia’s Parliament resumes with pro-Palestinian protests and calls for Israel sanctions

MELBOURNE, Australia: Australia’s Parliament resumed Tuesday for the first time since the center-left Labour Party won one of the nation’s largest-ever majorities in the May elections. The day was largely ceremonial, with reminders of conflict in the Middle East.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside Parliament House on Tuesday, calling for the government to impose sanctions on Israel after Australia joined another 27 countries in issuing a joint statement, saying the war in Gaza “must end now.”

Security guards prevented 15 demonstrators from entering the public gallery of the Senate while Attorney-General Sam Mostyn, who represents Australia’s head of state King Charles III, was giving a speech to lawmakers on Tuesday afternoon, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

But Sen. Mehreen Faruqi, deputy leader of the minor party Australian Greens, made a silent protest by holding up a sign in the chamber during Mostyn’s speech that said: “Gaza is starving, words won’t feed them, sanction Israel.”

Australia has imposed financial and travel sanctions on individual Israelis, including government ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. But the Australian government has not imposed wider sanctions on the state.

Joint statement sparks debate

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke described the joint statement as the strongest words his government had used on the conflict in Gaza.

“When you can make a statement together with so many other significant powers, then we’re all hoping that there’ll be something that will break this,” Burke told ABC.

“What we are watching on the other side of the world is indefensible. The hostages still need to be released, but the war needs to end,” Burke added.

But senior opposition lawmaker Jonathon Duniam described Australia joining 27 other nations in signing the statement as “alarming.”

“There is more to this issue than this letter betrays and I think it is a sad turn of events for our government to have joined with other countries in signing this letter,” Duniam said.

Australia’s 48th Parliament was opened with Indigenous ceremonies in Parliament House on a day that was otherwise steeped in centuries of British Westminster political tradition.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese thanked the traditional owners of the national capital, Canberra, at a Welcome to Country ceremony. He noted that such ceremonies performed by Indigenous people to welcome visitors to their traditional land at the start of a new parliament had been introduced by a Labor government in 2007.

“In the 48th Parliament, we write the next chapter. Let us do it with the same sense of grace and courage that First Nations people show us with their leadership,” Albanese said.

Biggest Australian government majority since 1996

Labor won 94 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, where governments are formed. Labor’s majority is the largest since Prime Minister John Howard’s conservative coalition won 94 seats in 1996, when the lower chamber had only 148 seats.

Howard stayed in power for almost 12 years, and Albanese is the first prime minister since then to lead a party to consecutive election victories, following an extraordinary era of political instability.

The main opposition Liberal Party has elected its first woman leader, Sussan Ley, after one of the party’s worst election results on record.

Her conservative coalition holds 43 seats in the House, while independent lawmakers and minor parties that are not aligned with either the government or opposition hold 13.

No party holds a majority in the 76-seat Senate. Labor holds 29 seats and the conservatives 27 seats. The Australian Greens hold 10 seats, which is the next largest bloc.

The government will likely prefer to negotiate with the conservatives or Greens to get legislation through the Senate, rather than deal with multiple minor parties and independents.

The statement described as “horrifying” the recent deaths of over 800 Palestinians who were seeking aid, according to the figures released by Gaza’s Health Ministry and the U.N. human rights office.

The foreign ministers of countries also including Australia and Canada said “the suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.” They condemned “the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food.”

LONDON (AP) — Twenty-eight countries including Britain, Japan and a host of European nations issued a joint statement Monday saying the war in Gaza “must end now” — the latest sign of allies’ sharpening language as Israel’s isolation deepens.

“The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,” the countries said. “The Israeli government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable. Israel must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law.”

Israel and US reject the criticism

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Israel’s Foreign Ministry rejected the statement, saying it was “disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas.” It accused Hamas of prolonging the war by refusing to accept an Israeli-backed proposal for a temporary ceasefire and hostage release.

“Hamas is the sole party responsible for the continuation of the war and the suffering on both sides,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein posted on X.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also rejected the statement from many of America’s closest allies, calling it “disgusting” in a post on X and saying they should instead pressure the “savages of Hamas.”

Germany was also notably absent from the statement.

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German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul wrote on X that he spoke with Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar on Monday and expressed the “greatest concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation” in Gaza as Israel’s offensive widens. He called on Israel to implement agreements with the EU to enable more humanitarian aid.

A worsening humanitarian crisis

Gaza’s population of more than 2 million Palestinians is in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, now relying largely on the limited aid allowed into the territory. Israel’s offensive has displaced some 90% of the population, with many forced to flee multiple times.

Most of the food supplies Israel has allowed into Gaza go to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an American group backed by Israel. Since its operations began in May, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in shootings by Israeli soldiers while heading to the sites, according to witnesses and health officials. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots at those who approach its forces.

Israel’s 21 months of war with Hamas have pushed Gaza to the brink of famine, sparked worldwide protests and led to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel has brushed off previous criticism

Allies’ criticism about Israel’s actions has had little clear effect. In May, Britain, France and Canada issued a joint statement urging Netanyahu’s government to stop its military operations in Gaza and threatening “concrete actions” if it didn’t.

Israel rejects criticism of its wartime conduct, saying its forces have acted lawfully and blaming civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants operate in populated areas. It says it has allowed enough food in to sustain Gaza and accuses Hamas of siphoning off much of it. The United Nations says there is no evidence for widespread diversion of humanitarian aid.

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The new joint statement called for an immediate ceasefire, saying countries are prepared to take action to support a political pathway to peace in the region.

Israel and Hamas have been engaged in ceasefire talks but there appears to be no breakthrough, and it’s not clear whether any truce would bring the war to a lasting halt. Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is defeated or disarmed.

Speaking to Parliament, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy thanked the U.S., Qatar and Egypt for their diplomatic efforts to try to end the war.

“There is no military solution,” Lammy said. “The next ceasefire must be the last ceasefire.”

Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Tuesday the hostages needed to be released and the war must end, but the images of destruction and killing coming out of Gaza were “indefensible.”

“We’re all hoping that there’ll be something that will break this,” Burke told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Hamas triggered the war when militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Fifty hostages remain in Gaza, but fewer than half are thought to be alive.

Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says more than half of the dead are women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas government, but the U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.

Associated Press writers Geir Moulson in Berlin and Joseph Krauss in Ottawa, Ontario, contributed to this story.