JOURNALIST: So, I wanted to quickly ask you about, obviously, Israel and Palestine. Do you know how many Australians are caught up in it at this point?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: No, and we obviously have a very disturbing report of one Australian who has lost her life. And our thoughts go out to her friends and family. We have got a consular assistance number that people can call, even if they live in Australia, if they're worried about family members or from overseas, and we can give you that phone number if you want to publish it.
We are obviously very concerned for any Australians who are in Israel at the moment, but the concern of the Australian Government goes beyond just our nationals who are there. This is a murderous attack that has no justification and should be condemned by the global community. It is an unexpected and shocking attack. And I am concerned as I'm sure all Australian parliamentarians are concerned for all the people who are suffering through this at the moment.
JOURNALIST: What about the situation Palestinians now find themselves in? There's a lot of people who are Palestinian who are in no way involved in Hamas’ attack who are now blockaded without food, water.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, of course, this is the shocking thing about Hamas launching this attack is innocent Israeli lives have already been lost and innocent Palestinians will also suffer because of the actions of Hamas.
JOURNALIST: Do you think that it's potentially going to affect Australia’s security situation?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, I hope that it doesn't. And we've seen some really quite disgusting behaviour here already. No one should be celebrating the loss of life, and – Hamas attacks – no one in Australia should be celebrating that. It is disgusting to do that.
And I would very clearly urge people to behave appropriately, de-escalate any violence here, respect the law. And well, just behave like a decent person. Think about the completely innocent people just going about their business, including children being killed, it’s a shocking situation.
JOURNALIST: New South Wales is planning to restrict protests, Palestinian protests, [inaudible] protests. Is that something that you would support?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: I think some of the behaviour at the protest, a couple of nights ago at the Opera House is really offensive. Not just offensive, but dangerous.
JOURNALIST: Given there are protests down in Melbourne, what are your thoughts about those?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: I think it's up to state governments to make decisions about those issues. But I would say that anybody celebrating the horror that is going on at the moment is doing the wrong thing. Clearly doing the wrong thing. And I think it's really important that the Australian community sends a very clear message that the celebration of this kind of violent behaviour or the chanting of anti-Semitic slogans is unacceptable. Completely unacceptable.
JOURNALIST: Just quickly on the Voice, you have repeated polling suggesting that the referendum [inaudible] that polling for the last Federal election [inaudible] accept the way the polling is going. Do you believe those?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: I know that even with the polling, there’s still a lot of focus on the next few days is talking to those undecided people reassuring that this is a really important step forward that we can take with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, more than 80 per cent of whom support the Voice and support the addition to the constitution. We know that what we've been doing to date hasn't worked to close the gap. We still have unacceptable gaps in life expectancy, employment, education, health. And what we've been doing to date hasn’t worked. A vote for No is a vote for more of the same. A vote for Yes is a vote for recognition and reconciliation and listening and better outcomes.
JOURNALIST: So, you haven't given up on it?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: I have not given up. I will not give up till the polls close on Saturday night because I do know there are people who have questions, and I want to be there to answer those questions.
JOURNALIST: Thank you.
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