Peter Dutton has praised Donald Trump as a 'big thinker' in the wake of a proposal to 'take over' Gaza. The opposition leader says he is confident any moves by the US would accord with international law. The Albanese government is being more reserved in its commentary - saying it is prudent to wait for more detail to become clear, on what is actually being put forward.
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00:00It's taken a bit of time for really both sides of politics to digest exactly what Mr Trump
00:07is proposing here.
00:08And it's been made more challenging because, as we've heard, what's being proposed has
00:11been shifting rather rapidly over the past 24 hours or so, as White House officials walk
00:17back elements of what Mr Trump said at that press conference yesterday.
00:22But the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has been asked a few times for his thoughts on
00:26the proposal from Donald Trump.
00:28And he's avoided directly endorsing the idea of a US takeover of Gaza.
00:34But he's been keen to praise Donald Trump's broader approach to the Middle East, saying
00:39he is keen to see peace in the region and he should be taken seriously as both a dealmaker
00:45and a big thinker, in Mr Dutton's words.
00:49He says he's confident that whatever eventuates with the United States in the Middle East
00:54will see the US accord with international law.
00:57And he's also restated that the coalition does maintain its support for a two-state
01:02solution in the Middle East.
01:04That is a bipartisan position here in Canberra.
01:07Both the coalition and Labor support a two-state solution, saying there has to be an Israeli
01:12state and a Palestinian state in whatever future shape the Middle East takes.
01:17Here's Mr Dutton speaking on that Trump proposal at a press conference here in Canberra earlier
01:21today.
01:23I don't believe the Americans have any intent to act outside of international law.
01:28I don't think the president, from what I've seen, is talking about forcibly moving people.
01:34Or I would wait to see the detail of what is released as the discussions continue on,
01:42not just with the Israelis, but obviously with the new neighbours, Jordan and Egypt
01:47and others, in relation to what role they can play.
01:51I suspect President Trump rightly has an expectation that not just America, but that other countries
01:56will contribute to the reconstruction so that people can get their lives back.
02:01Lorna, government figures have been, I suppose, a bit more cautious in how they responded
02:06to the Trump proposal, not wanting to wade into the details of what's being put forward.
02:12And that's partly because they argue it is prudent to be cautious in responding to the
02:18statements of the Trump administration going forward.
02:21They've been keen to say they're not going to provide a running commentary on everything
02:25Donald Trump does, and have pointed out a few times now that that's partly because it
02:29can change so rapidly exactly what is being proposed.
02:33Here's the Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, speaking on this in Senate question time earlier today.
02:39We have seen overnight the discussions and clarifications.
02:43I think that this is a demonstration of why the Australian government doesn't immediately
02:48react to everything that is reported.
02:50I would say that the central players in these matters are the countries of the region, who
02:56will be in dialogue with the United States for some time on a range of proposals.
03:00I again say, as the Prime Minister has made clear, there is a bipartisan commitment in
03:06Australia to a two-state solution, a Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel, achieved
03:11in accordance with international law.
03:14OK, Tom, I want to talk about what's happened here today as well in terms of new hate laws
03:20passing Parliament, along with mandatory minimum sentences.
03:24Outline them for us.
03:25Yeah, so these moved through Parliament really quite swiftly today.
03:29They were voted on in the lower house this morning and in the Senate just around lunchtime
03:33as well, passing with support from both Labor and the Coalition, so really quite swiftly.
03:39The hate speech laws go to strengthening laws around urging violence against groups
03:44or members of groups based on their race, their sexual orientation, their nationality
03:49or a range of other factors as well.
03:52Also directly threatening violence is a new offence that's going to be included here too.
03:57But I suppose the more politically interesting side of this is the mandatory minimum sentences
04:04that have been included as part of these new laws as well.
04:07This was a proposal from the Coalition to introduce mandatory minimum sentences for
04:13terror offences and for displaying hate symbols too, something they've been advocating for
04:18for a few months now.
04:19Labor has traditionally been steadfastly opposed to the very idea of mandatory minimum sentences
04:26in really any context that's a part of Labor's national platform.
04:30But they have conceded to this idea from the Coalition, saying it is in this case the right
04:35approach and added it to this hate law bill that went through Parliament today.
04:41So a range of new mandatory minimum sentences for terror offences and for displaying hate
04:46symbols too.