Australia was among the 41 nations that abstained from a vote on whether the Palestinian territories should be granted observer status at the United Nations, defying US and Israeli pressure to vote against the resolution. The subject was raised during a meeting with a high-level trade delegation of the Australia Gulf Council, AGC, at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI). Saudi businessmen expressed their appreciation for Australia's stand and indicated that the Palestinian issue has always been a thorn in the diplomatic and trade relations between Arabs and countries in the West. They added that this new development could further trade and cultural relations between the Kingdom and Australia. Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr said that Australia is entitled to make foreign policy decisions which are different from America's. He said that the prime minister had shown strong leadership over the issue and that voting no would have indicated that Australia did not support Palestinian statehood in any context. He also said, “I saw a prime minister engaging with party opinion, listening to what people had to say from all over the nation, and from every corner of Labor Party opinion and doing what good leaders do, and that is speak for the whole party. This vote had become a referendum on the idea of a Palestinian state, and if we'd voted no it would be widely interpreted that we don't support Palestinian statehood.” A clear majority of countries supported the resolution; however abstaining put Australia in a different position to Israel, which opposes granting the territories observer status. We're a Labor government, and from time to time we'll have a difference with the United States,” Carr said. Earlier former foreign minister Gareth Evans briefing MPs, remarked that Israel had misread the situation by not recognizing that the best way to shore up the Palestinian National Authority was to support the resolution. “My very strong view was that to vote no on this resolution would be not to help the cause of peace, not to help Israel, and to be putting Australia absolutely on the wrong side of history in terms of our region and in terms of our capacity to be a credible and effective performer on the Security Council over the next two years,” he said. “I genuinely believed that this would be a foreign policy catastrophe and one of the worst decisions we could possibly make if we were to go down this particular path. A yes vote or an abstention vote were equally acceptable and would be equally understood internationally.
It's a no vote that would have created huge problems for us.” The Australian stand on the Palestine issue at the UN is a first step in recognizing that the Palestinian issue is part of Australia's foreign policy. Arab sources and political analysts believe that by adopting this position Australia can play a more positive role in Middle East negotiations. There are no standing issues between Australia and the Arab world and the GCC countries in particular.
On the contrary both sides can gain from each other through trade, finance and cultural cooperation. The AGC business delegation, led by Mark Vaile, former deputy prime minister of Australia and former minister for trade, included Anna Bligh, former Queensland premier, and Ahmed Fahour, the Australian special envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Bligh said she believes there is huge potential for improving business and commercial ties between Australian businesses and Saudi entrepreneurs. She said that there are approximately 12,000 Saudi students studying in Australian universities and about 72,000 family members are accompanying them. She hoped that research partnership and business relations would strengthen further in decades to come. She pointed out that prayer rooms have been included in Australian shopping malls and that Queensland often has signs in Arabic to welcome visitors. Fahour said Saudi citizens can obtain visit visas to Australia online within 48 hours. “We have provided this facility exclusively for Saudis under a special initiative,” he said, adding that applying online to obtain visas to Australia has become fast and quick since it can be done from home and work. Jonathan Herps, chief executive officer of the AGC, highlighted the objective of the AGC to facilitate increased two-way trade and investment by representing Australia's corporate partners and GCC countries at the highest level. Australia's two-way merchandise trade with Saudi Arabia has risen to 2.15 billion Australian dollars with major exports in 2011-12 including passenger motor vehicles, barley, wheat and meat. The business mission included chief and senior executives from automotive, agriculture, construction and engineering, education, financial services, food and beverage, transport, telecommunications and tourism. “We are all looking forward to building new opportunities to create new partnerships that will continue to foster our connections with this region,” Fahour said. He added that in order to create strong business links we need strong people-to-people links. On that basis we are saying that Australia will build an Islamic museum, which will be opening next year. It has good support from Saudi-based institutions, one of them being the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) based in Jeddah, he said. The AGC works closely with the Australian government and in particular the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and Austrade, which have been crucial in the establishment and operation of the AGC.
The AGC also works with Australian state government representatives in GCC countries. — Samar Fatany is a radio broadcaster and writer. She can be reached at [email protected]
