Health Minister Mark Butler says that, in the event of a request made of Australia to contribute to peacekeeping efforts in Gaza, the process of consideration by the government would be “based on our national interest and our ability to make a contribution”.
“We’ve got a very proud history of peacekeeping, going back to the beginning of those operations in the 1940s. We’ve got peacekeepers in the region at Operation Taliban, which has been going, really, since the end of the first 1948 war. We were there on the Sinai Peninsula for many years after the end of the Israel-Egypt conflict. So this is a very proud part of our contribution to global peace and security,” Butler told Seven’s Sunrise this morning.
Health Minister Mark Butler.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“But of course, I speak about what requests might be made, and the process of consideration would be careful, it will be based on our national interest and our ability to make a contribution. Obviously, this is a pretty live debate around the world, though, as everyone looks on with such hope that the Gaza peace plan that [US] President [Donald] Trump has delivered will be successful.”
Appearing alongside Butler was Liberal senator Jane Hume, who cautioned against sending Australian troops into “a place of great danger”.
“That peace process in the Middle East is still very fragile indeed. We wouldn’t want to see Australians put in the middle of harm’s way while it is still such a volatile situation. I’m very pleased that the ADF is concentrating on its preparedness. That’s always important. But we would not support the ADF going into a place of great danger at this point in time, we’d like to see it progressed a little further,” she said.
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