Senator HILL (Minister for Defence) (4:06 PM) —The government opposes the suspension of standing orders. It does not believe that now is the time to debate this motion. However, in the spirit where I notice that others have made some comment on the content of the motion and on the issue, there are a few points that I want to make. In my view the motion is unbalanced, it is inflammatory and it would be highly unhelpful to pass it in its current form. If there were to be a serious and considered debate on this issue, then it would call for substantial amendment to the motion.

The government strongly supports Israel's right to defend itself from terrorism. Hamas is a terrorist organisation, and I do not see that acknowledged within the motion. On 21 December 2001, the government listed it as a proscribed organisation for the purposes of asset freezing and, on 9 December 2003, it proscribed the Hamas military wing under separate criminal legislation which makes membership of that organisation illegal. Hamas has used suicide bombers to target and murder many innocent Israelis. Sheikh Ahmed Yassin supported these actions. In December 2002 he told 40,000 Hamas followers:

Jihad will continue, and martyrdom operations—

which of course we know to be suicide bombings—

will continue until the full liberation of Palestine.

He therefore was an advocate of violence and violence against innocent individuals in order to seek a political objective. In such circumstances, it is the view of the government that one can understand the response of Israel.

Having said that, we nevertheless regret the use of targeted assassinations. We are concerned that the killing of such a high-profile Palestinian leader will also lead to further violence and loss of innocent life. We urge calm and call on both sides to exercise maximum restraint. In the view of the government, violence will not settle the Middle East dispute, and the long-term interests of both sides lie in a resumption of negotiations under the internationally endorsed road map.

If the motion had been drawn in those terms then at an appropriate time we might well have been able to support it. We think it would be very counterproductive for Australia, in making a positive contribution towards peace and stability in that region, to engage in debate in these terms or to support the motion that Senator Nettle has advocated. In those circumstances we do not support the suspension of standing orders.