Q: Tony Burke, is this Australia’s strongest statement we’ve issued since the beginning of the conflict?

Burke tells the ABC:

It would be. There’s been a series of very strong statements that we’ve made. What we’ve been making sure of is that whenever we make a statement of this nature that we’re bringing as many other countries along with us at the same time. On our own, Australia’s not a loud voice or a decisive voice on the other side of the world. But when you can make a statement together with so many other significant powers, then, you know, we’re all hoping that there’ll be something that will break this.

We’ve seen too many images of children being killed, of horrific slaughter, of churches being bombed, the images that we’ve seen have been pretty clear that so much of this is indefensible and as that statement referred to, you know, aid being drip-fed in. None of this changes the fact that the hostages need to be released. Of course that needs to happen. But what we are watching on the other side of the world is indefensible. The hostages still need to be released, but the war needs to end.