For decades, Australian politicians from both sides of the aisle have remained united on the need for a two-state solution in the Middle East.
Under that blanket of agreed position, years passed without either side formally moving to recognise Palestinian statehood, despite the end goal entailing two sovereign nations.
Australia, as the government has repeatedly noted, is not a major player in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
But a decision by Australia to recognise Palestinian statehood still carries weight, especially when made in tandem with other Western nations.
Which is exactly what happened on Monday, when after much-anticipation the Albanese government pledged to recognise a Palestinian state within months, breaking with the long-held bipartisan position.
After weeks of speculation, the government announced its plans to recognise a Palestinian state on Monday. (ABC News: Mark Moore)
“We can’t keep waiting for the end of a peace process that has ground to a halt,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said.
“We made clear we would recognise Palestine when it would best contribute momentum to peace. September is that time.”
The road to this moment has been decades in the making and paved with incremental shifts, even after the war that began almost two years ago added a new urgency to the discussions.
But when France, the United Kingdom and Canada announced they would recognise Palestine weeks earlier, suddenly Australia’s own imminent declaration appeared all but inevitable.
Over the course of months, spurred by a war without an end in sight, here’s how Australia came up with an answer to the 77-year-old question of a Palestinian state.
October 7, 2023
Terror group Hamas launched its surprise assault on Israel.
More than 1,200 were killed in the attack, and another 250 taken hostage, some of whom are still being held in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately declared his country was at war, launching air strikes into the territory.
In the initial aftermath, the Albanese government repeatedly noted that Israel had a right to defend itself against Hamas.
“Of course people are worried about escalation, but Israel has a right to defend itself and it will be doing so,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on October 8.
“This is an attack on Israel by Hamas that has no precedent for what is occurring here.”
December 19, 2023
After two months of conflict in Gaza, Mr Albanese urged the world not to “abandon hope” for a two-state solution involving sovereign Palestinian and Israeli nations.
But in the speech delivered for the Lowy Institute in Sydney, he also reiterated that every nation had the right to “be secure in its own borders and to determine its own future”.
“None of us should abandon hope in the ultimate goal: a two-state solution, with Israelis and Palestinians living securely and prosperously within internationally recognised borders,” he said.
“There can be no role for Hamas in the future governance of Gaza — and Gaza must not be used as a future platform for terrorism.“
April 9, 2024
The first signs of a shift came when Senator Wong told a conference at the Australian National University that recognition of a Palestinian state could help build “momentum towards a two-state solution” — the government’s stated end goal.
The comment suggested the government was not thinking about recognition as a result of that process, but a step along the way.
“We are now 30 years on from the Oslo Accords that put Palestinian statehood at the end of a process,” she said.
“The failures of this approach by all parties over decades — as well as the Netanyahu government’s refusal to even engage on the question of a Palestinian state — have caused widespread frustration.
“There are always those who claim recognition is rewarding an enemy. This is wrong.
“First, because Israel’s own security depends on a two-state solution. There is no long-term security for Israel unless it is recognised by the countries of its region.”
April 10, 2024
The day after she delivered the speech, Senator Wong made clear for the first time that Australia recognising Palestinian statehood was a matter of when, not if — a line government ministers repeatedly wheeled out more than a year later as momentum grew.
“Australia does support a two-state solution. It’s not a question of if we will recognise a Palestine state, it is a question of when,” she told the ABC.
The interview took place hours before a United Nations General Assembly meeting, at which Australia voted with 143 other nations in support of a resolution to expand the rights and privileges afforded to the Palestinian delegation. Nine countries voted against it, including the United States and Israel.
It did not, however, grant them full membership of the international organisation. While there is a Palestinian ambassador to the United nations, they are considered an “observer”.
May 11, 2024
Following the vote, the foreign minister clarified to reporters that Australia could recognise Palestinian statehood before a formal peace process between Palestinian authorities and Israel was complete, but did not give a hint of the timeline.
“We will do that when we think the time is right,” she said.
“What we would say, and what I do say, is Australia no longer believes that recognition can only come at the end of a peace process.
“It could occur as part of a peace process.”
She also stressed the vote was “not about whether Australia recognises Palestine” as its own state.
November 15, 2024
Australia voted in favour of a draft United Nations resolution to recognise Palestinian “permanent sovereignty” over the natural resources in their occupied territories, again breaking ranks with the United States and Israel.
A total of 159 countries voted in favour of the draft resolution, including Australia, the United Kingdon, New Zealand, France, Germany and Japan.
It called on the United Nations to recognise “permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources”.
It also demanded Israel stop destroying infrastructure, such as water, sewage pipelines and electricity networks, and to stop confiscating Palestinian homes and farms.
Palestinians carry aid supplies that entered Gaza through Israel in August. (Reuters: Mahmoud Issa)
July 21, 2025
Australia joined with 27 other countries to sign a joint statement demanding Israel lift restrictions on aid entering Gaza and an immediate end to the war.
The statement — signed by Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, Denmark and others — criticised what it called the “inhumane killing” of Palestinians and condemned the “drip feeding of aid”.
It came amid a growing flood of media coverage showing emancipated Gazans, with a slew of human rights and aid organisations warning of mass starvation in the strip.
“We are prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political pathway to security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region,” the statement read.
July 24, 2025
President Emmanuel Macron announced France will recognise Palestinian statehood at a United Nations meeting in September, becoming the first G7 nation to make the pledge.
It is also a permanent member of the powerful United Nations Security Council, and what the Australian government would call a like-minded nation.
“The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved,″ he said.
Mr Macron’s announcement began a fresh wave of momentum, with other key Australian allies joining France in the following days.
July 27, 2025
Just days after France’s decision, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told ABC’s Insiders that the government did not plan to recognise a Palestinian state “imminently”.
He instead used the appearance to accuse Israel of “quite clearly” breaching international law by withholding aid from civilians in Gaza.
On Palestinian recognition, Mr Albanese said he was open to doing so if there were appropriate guarantees about the viability of such a state, stressing that Australia would not do so as a “gesture”.
“You need to recognise a Palestinian state as part of moving forward. How do you exclude Hamas from any involvement there? How do you ensure that a Palestinian state operates in an appropriate way which does not threaten the existence of Israel? And so we won’t do any decision as a gesture, we will do it as a way forward if the circumstances are met,” he said.
“Is the time right now? Are we about to imminently do that? No, we are not … But we will engage constructively.“
July 30, 2025
With growing pressure on the government to outline its own timeline for recognition, Australia issued another joint statement with 14 countries that welcomed a series of previous commitments by the Palestinian Authority.
They included the authority’s calls in June for Hamas to disarm and release the Israeli hostages and its undertaking to hold fresh elections within a year — conditions for recognition the Australian government had previously identified.
Mr Albanese said the assurances were “a very significant step forward”, but once again remained coy on when they would move on recognition.
Palestinians inspect the rubble left behind by an Israeli strike in Gaza City. (Reuters: Mahmoud Issa)
“The timeline is not what we’re looking at. What we’re looking at is the circumstances where recognition will advance the objective of the creation of the two states,” he said.
“That’s my objective. Not making a statement, not winning a political point, but achieving that.”
The statement came as the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer revealed his country would join France in recognising a Palestinian state at the September United Nations meeting unless Israel took significant steps to end the war in Gaza.
July 31, 2025
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney revealed his country planned to recognise Palestine at the same meeting, putting him in lockstep with France and the United Kingdom.
Mr Carney said the decision was predicated on the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to reforms, including that it would hold an election in 2026 in which Hamas could play no part.
“The deepening suffering of civilians leaves no room for delaying coordinated international action to support peace, security and the dignity of human life,” he said.
In an interview with ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Foreign Minister Penny Wong appeared to leave the door open for Australia to join with its allies and recognise a Palestinian state in September.
She repeated the government’s line that such a decision had become a “matter of when, not if” while acknowledging a number of international developments, including the Arab League nations’ unprecedented step to call on Hamas to disarm and relinquish power in Gaza.
“This is something that we are thinking very carefully about,”
she said.
August 5, 2025
Mr Albanese spoke with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for the first time since the weeks after the Hamas terror attack on Israel.
The Palestinian Authority exercises partial control over the occupied West Bank and also governed Gaza until Hamas swept to power in a 2006 election.
According to a government-issued statement, Mr Abbas told the prime minister that Australia could play an “important role” in achieving peace by recognising a Palestinian state.
Earlier the same day, Senator Wong ramped up her language in an interview with the ABC, warning there would be “no Palestine left to recognise” if the international community didn’t move soon.
Days earlier it was also revealed that Mr Albanese had spoken to United Nations’ Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and had sought a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which was later confirmed to be held on August 7.
August 9, 2025
Foreign Minister Penny Wong joined with her counterparts in Germany, Italy, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to reject Israel’s plan to take over Gaza City.
The joint statement warned that the move would “risk violating international and humanitarian law”.
“It will aggravate the catastrophic humanitarian situation, endanger the lives of the hostages, and further risk the mass displacement of civilians,” it read.
August 10, 2025
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke flagged that there is precedent for recognising countries occupied by terrorist forces during an interview with Sky News, while maintaining that Hamas can play no role in a future Palestinian state.
“There have frequently been countries where part of that nation has been occupied by a terrorist group and we haven’t ceased to recognise the country,” he said.
August 11, 2025
Mr Albanese and Senator Wong announced Australia’s plan to recognise Palestinian statehood at the upcoming United Nations meeting, ending weeks of speculation.
At a media conference at Parliament House, the prime minister said the decision to support Palestinians having “a state of their own” was made as part of a “coordinated global effort building momentum for a two-state solution”.
It was also predicated on commitments the Palestinian Authority had made, including that Hamas have no role in the state and that general elections are held.
“The international community’s vision for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East always encompassed two states — living side-by-side with internationally recognised borders,” Mr Albanese said.
“I understand that on this issue, history casts a long shadow. Every generation has known failures and false dawns. Yet, the story of this struggle is also one of opportunities not taken.
“That is where the risk of trying is nothing compared to the danger of letting this moment pass us by.”