Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

A couple of Senators have called for a debate on the Middle East. I disagree with Senator Norris that it would be useful to have the debate in the absence of the Minister for Foreign Affairs. I am as critical as anyone else of Israeli policy but I do not agree that it is wrong for Mr. Netanyahu to mention the Holocaust because it is uniquely tied to Israel's existence and need for security. We must keep that in mind while asking that the state of Israel act, and particularly that it implement its own Supreme Court decision on the wall. The focus has moved away from conflicts in other parts of the world which are equally, if not more important. One such conflict is in Sudan where wide scale ethnic cleansing is taking place and considerable numbers of young men and boys have been killed. That is one issue we should prioritise in terms of having a debate with the Minister for Foreign Affairs early in the next term.