2024-06-21
The Victorian Greens have obtained documents highlighting the Victorian Labor Government’s determination to support Israeli defence objectives.
The documents acquired under Freedom of Information (FOI) expose that the true intention of Victorian Labor’s secret MOU with the Israeli Defence Ministry was to “support greater collaboration on defence industry objectives” and “capture opportunities” from increased militarisation overseas, despite the Premier’s claim that it was about creating jobs.
The MOU itself remains secret as Labor has refused to be transparent about its contents. The Guardian, who have also obtained internal documents relating to the MOU, have reported today that the version of the MOU they were provided was ‘redacted in full’.
The Greens say that these documents reveal that Victorian Labor is in bed with the Israeli Defence Ministry and that despite the Premier’s claims, it’s clear Labor has directly supported Israeli’s military objectives.
Quotes attributable to the Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell:
“It’s very clear from these documents that Victorian Labor is in bed with the Israeli Defence Ministry.
“These documents expose that Labor signed an MOU to ‘capture opportunities’ from increased tension and militarisation overseas.
“I think Victorians would be pretty disgusted to know that the Labor Government could be seeking to profit or gain from war and killing overseas.
“The Greens are calling on Labor to immediately rip up its MOU with the Israeli Defence MInistry and end all military ties with Israel.”
Quotes attributable to Greens MP for Richmond, Gabrielle de Vietri:
“Documents acquired by my office confirm that Victorian Labor is supporting Israel’s military who have continued to bomb Palestine, displacing and killing tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, yet Labor refuses to rip up their MOU with them.
"The Victorian Government is clearly far more invested in Israel’s military project than they are admitting to. The Victorian public will no doubt have a lot of questions around what exactly is in this MOU now that we know it wasn’t about creating jobs like the Premier claims.”