Q: Has it taken too long to get to this point, Tony Burke? Because there’s been many, many months of evidence of mass atrocities, allegations of war crimes. Why has it taken us this long to issue a statement of this kind?

Burke:

Well, some of what this statement refers to is referring to recent events as well, with the shifts that have happened in how aid’s being managed into the area, and also, you know, the increasing sight of people being killed on their way simply to get food and water. So it deals with the most recent events. But let’s not lose sight of the fact that, you know, we’re in 2025, we’re going back to October of 2023 when this started and even in 2023, we were calling for ceasefire, we were voting for ceasefire. It’s… Yes, this is a very strong statement, but we should not pretend that it’s only begun today.

Q: Israel has responded immediately, refuting the statement, and given Israel appears increasingly hostile to the calls from its allies, what’s our next step from here? Because the statement foreshadows what it calls further action. What would that be?

Burke:

Look, I think at the moment, you let the statement speak for itself. It’s been worked out with other countries to be precisely in the terms that it is. And I don’t think it’s helpful for me to be clarifying or adding to the words. It’s a powerful statement. It’s got countries, powerful countries, from all around the world, saying the same thing. The slaughter has to end.