Bishop says Carr “has blundered”
Minister for Foreign Affairs Senator Bob Carr has made the extraordinary decision to vote against a Coalition motion condemning Hamas for launching rockets and mortars into Israel.
But the Foreign Minister has taken issue with the criticism.
The motion sough to reaffirm Israel’s right to defend its people against these attacks and called on Hamas to immediately cease them.
Senator Carr has blundered yet again by choosing to use this issue for domestic political grandstanding by voting down the Coalition motion then introducing an alternative motion.
This risks sending the message to Hamas that the Australian parliament does not condemn the actions of a proscribed terrorist organisation that is seeking to kills Israeli civilians.
A spokesperson for Senator Carr told J-Wire: “The Government and Opposition both moved similar motions on this issue today. The text of the Government motion is below.
Obviously the Government prefers its wording, and the Opposition prefers its own.
But both sides of politics agree that the rocket attacks on Israel must cease, and that Israel has the right to defend itself against external attack.
To suggest otherwise is both false and offensive.
This is not an appropriate subject for party political press releases of the kind being issued in Ms Bishop’s name.”
Senator Scott Ryan put the following motion to the Senate
That the Senate—
(a) condemns the repeated rocket and mortar attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip;
(b) supports Israel’s right to defend itself against these unacceptable and indiscriminate attacks;
(c) calls on Hamas to immediately cease the rocket and mortar attacks on Israel;
(d) notes that Australia has listed the military arm of Hamas as a terrorist organisation; and
(e) expresses concern over pro-Hamas rallies in Australia.
Carr likes the sound of his own voice and appears full of self-importance. He speaks too quickly and often too soon on all sorts of complex matters. He speaks with authority on issues he appears to have only superficial knowledge of, and all in all he’s a very poor choice as Foreign Minister. He’s also disconcertingly inconsistent with which Australians he chooses to give assistance to when they’re in trouble overseas, e.g. Assange hardly rates a mention except in the most cold and formal terms, and a string of Chinese Australians being held in Chinese prisons are also, it seems, expendable; whereas the Australian woman lawyer in Libya who got herself into trouble dealing with Gaddafi’s son was feted with an almost emotional soap opera approach. Add to this his clunky attempt to make political mileage out of the coalition motion condemning Hamas, which ran the risk of confusing the matter, and his lack of suitability becomes even more pronounced. I think he just doesn’t have the depth or appropriate experience for the job.
It is simply a matter of wording.
The intent to condemn Hamas is basically the same.
You are right Rita. Carr revealed himself when he snarled at the Jewish leadership which called on him not to present the Sydney Peace Prize to Hanan Ashrawi. That cased the leaders to collectively soil their trousers and to bicker among themselves about how foolish we had been to upset a FRIEND, a Premier no less!
But Bishop is wrong to assert that Carr has blundered. Julia Gillard blundered in making Carr our FM and she blundered in not cleaning out DEFAT. Until the elite careerists with their concerns for advancing the national interest at any cost and imbued with a distaste for the Jewish state and possibly for Jews are not replaced by people who value principles, the world’s Carrs and curs will always throw Israel under the bus.
Rita you simply don;t get it . This is the Liberal’s trying to play politics.They will stop at nothing.
I made up my mind when Carr went out of his way to appease the Muslim community here and award Hanan Ashwari Palestinian activist a Sydney Peace award. From there it has been all down hill with Carr and Israel. When he went to Israel last he condemned Israel’s treatment of underage Palestinian terrorists or thugs in Israeli Jails and made no public criticism of Palestinian behavior ,intransigence , human rights abuses against Israel or their own people or their lack of trying to seriously negotiate a peace treaty . Bob Carr is their man in Canberra .
I predict he will vote Australia on the side of the Palestinians on the 29 th Nov at the UN.
I’m holding my breath. How long till Bob gets named at ICAC. His sudden departure from NSW politics was never satisfactorily explained.
Am I the ony one to think that Carr is simply not on the side of Israel or the Jewish people?
I think Julia may well rue the day she chose Carr as Minister for Foreign Affairs
A quote from former Prime Minister Paul Keating best describes Senator Carr “ä piece of unelected repesentative swill .