Latest news with #Burnie
Sky News AU
5 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Australian Israel and Jewish Affairs Council labels Anthony Albanese's Gaza statement 'disappointing'
The Australian Israel and Jewish Affairs Council has labelled Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's strengthened stance on the war in Gaza "disappointing" but "not unexpected". The Prime Minister on Friday issued his most firm statement yet on the conflict in the Palestinian enclave, amid growing international concerns of a starvation crisis in the Gaza Strip. Mr Albanese called on Israel to "comply immediately with its obligations under international law" as Gaza is "in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe". The Prime Minister further claimed Israel's "denial of aid and the killing of civilians, including children, seeking access to water and food cannot be defended or ignored". Speaking to Sky News Australia on Friday night, Australian Israel and Jewish Affairs Council executive manager Joel Burnie criticised Mr Albanese over his latest remarks. "Obviously it's disappointing, but it's not unexpected, and it's been a continuation of the policy since essentially October 7 of 2023," Mr Burnie told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio. "The first is that we all know that Hamas is watching. Hamas commented on the 28-member statement from Monday." Earlier this week, Australia joined 27 other countries in issuing a joint statement to demand a ceasefire in Gaza, while also accusing Israel of "drip feeding aid" into the area. The Albanese government has since come under fire for the move, with Ambassador of Israel to Australia claiming the joint statement "sends the wrong message to Hamas". Mr Burnie expressed a similar sentiment, saying Hamas' role in the conflict cannot be denied. "Hamas is a key and central player in the ending of this humanitarian catastrophe that's in Gaza. We cannot deny Hamas' role in this," Mr Burnie said on Friday. "I will say … this war could have come to an end with the putting down of their arms and the surrendering of the hostages. "It could have happened on October 8, 2023. It can happen today. So in terms of that, Hamas is in complete control as to the end of this conflict." Mr Burnie claimed the Prime Minister's statement also failed to address the latest setback in ceasefire negotiations. The United States and Israel recalled their negotiating teams from talks on Thursday, with Washington accusing Hamas of not acting in good faith. Shadow Cabinet Secretary and Liberal MP Andrew Wallace claimed the Prime Minister's comments also "fundamentally misplaces the fact that Hamas started this war in the first instance". "I think this latest statement by the Prime Minister is misplaced because it fails to recognise that Hamas is the problem," Mr Wallace told Sky News Australia on Friday night. "Hamas are the ones that killed 1,200 innocent Israelis, they took 250 hostages, 50 of whom are still in captivity, and they seem to be unwilling to hand them over until their demands are met." Mr Wallace acknowledged the current scenes in the war-torn enclave are "heartbreaking". "Anybody with any kind of humanity would feel a great sense of sorrow and loss when we see what is going on," he said. Earlier, Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Michaelia Cash launched a blistering rebuke of Mr Albanese's statement, saying it "fails to place any blame" on Hamas for delays in aid into Gaza. "Any moral outrage about the situation in Gaza should be directed at Hamas. Hamas and its allies have tried to disrupt the flow of aid into Gaza and have stolen humanitarian aid for their own purposes," Ms Cash said in a statement. "This war began because of Hamas's abhorrent attack on Israeli civilians, where over 1,200 were murdered in cold blood, and they bear responsibility for the continuation of this conflict. "Hamas are a listed terrorist organisation who have made it clear they do not believe Israel has the right to exist. "Hamas could end the suffering of the people of Gaza by freeing the remaining Israeli hostages and laying down their weapons." Ms Cash said the Coalition acknowledges the "delay in aid entering Gaza is unacceptable" and the Israeli government "needs to urgently work with international bodies to allow aid to flow freely to those that need it". "However, the right system must be in place so that it can be distributed without Hamas intervening in the process," she said. In recent weeks, both Israel and the United Nations have traded blows over who is at fault for delays in aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip, while Hamas has also rejected stealing the essential supplies, according to Reuters. About 1,200 Israelis were killed while a further 251 others were taken hostage by Hamas when the terror group stormed into the Jewish state on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Gaza's health ministry has claimed more than 58,000 people have been killed since Israeli launched its retaliatory strikes.
Sky News AU
5 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Potential worsening of Australia-Israel relations as Albanese releases statement
Australia and Jewish Affairs Council's Joel Burnie comments on the Australia-Israel relationship, claiming Israel has a 'very close affinity with Australia' despite the Albanese government's recent condemnation. 'The good thing on that front is that the Israelis have had a very close affinity with Australia ever since its establishment,' Mr Burnie told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio. 'The relationship between Israel and Australia is far deeper than that; it's a friendship, it's a deep and warm relationship where Israelis love Australians, they love what Australia means to them.'
ABC News
6 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Beachside hotel, conference centre and apartments part of Tasmanian developer's latest plans
A Tasmanian developer has laid out his plans for a suite of new projects across the state, including a beachside hotel, apartment buildings, a conference centre and even a childcare centre. Errol Stewart, the businessman behind the Stewart Group and car dealership JMC, launched the plans — totalling more than $100 million in potential investment — in Launceston this week. But he foreshadowed the possibility of "significant delays" in the planning stages and said he would not pursue plans local communities oppose. The proposals include a $35 million hotel and apartment complex on the foreshore at Camdale, near Burnie, and residential apartment buildings in Hobart and Launceston, as well as a convention centre at Invermay in Launceston. Mr Stewart said the Burnie project was the "major" announcement of the suite of proposals. He said his company bought 3 hectares of coastal land from the Burnie City Council in 2024, where he intends to build the Strait Hotel. The land is directly across the Bass Highway from an existing JMC car dealership, which he said would also soon undergo a $3 million redevelopment. But, Mr Stewart said, the company was seeking feedback and engagement from the community before pressing ahead with the plans. "We'll be saying to the community, 'Do you think this is a good thing, do you really support it?'," he said. "And if the answer was a strong 'no', we'd have to revise it. Concerns are already being raised about the Strait Hotel, which would be built on a site which is known little penguin habitat. Penguin ecologist Perviz Marker said the Camdale penguin colony was a "good news story" as its population had grown by five times in the past 30 years. "I think this is a fantastic opportunity to leave it as a restored, rehabilitated site." Mr Stewart said he intended to leave half the site dedicated to the penguin colony, but Dr Marker said that would not be suitable as it was "still a loss of 50 per cent of the penguin habitat". The site is currently zoned for environmental management, and Mr Stewart said the company would be requesting a planning scheme amendment if the project received positive community feedback. In a post on Facebook, Burnie mayor Teeny Brumby said Mr Stewart's plans were "exciting". "Of course, there's still a body of work to be done including permits, rezoning, council applications, and environmental considerations," she said. "But the concept plans released yesterday offer a glimpse into something quite special for our city." Launceston Chamber of Commerce chief executive Alina Bain said Mr Stewart's plans outlined a "level of confidence in Tasmania and his optimism for the future". She said the proposal for a conference centre was exciting, as it would generate visitor numbers to the city, something particularly needed during the winter. Enthusiasm for a new conference centre in the city has been growing in recent years, and a demand study prepared for tourism body Visit Northern Tasmania earlier this year noted a shortage of accommodation and facilities in Launceston. Mr Stewart said his company would commit $10 million to such a conference centre, but estimated it would be a $25 million facility that would need government support. Ms Bain said it was great to see Mr Stewart "stepping up". "But we absolutely need to see all three levels of government to come together to develop this project," she said. "It would be a game-changer for the city, and we know that the figures support this." She said other facilities such as the Launceston airport would need to be upgraded, and that more hotel offerings in the city would also need to be developed. Mr Stewart's suite of plans includes residential apartment buildings across the state, including in Launceston and Burnie, but he believes demand is greatest in Hobart. There his plan is for the City Scape Towers — two five-storey apartment buildings on Campbell Street costed at $20 million. He said he expected demand would "ripple" throughout the state if the AFL stadium at Macquarie Point was realised. "We'll do our Hobart project irrespective of the outcome of the stadium, for sure, providing we can get a permit," Mr Stewart said. He said a possible development boom could be likened to the tourist lure Hobart's Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) had proved to be. "When MONA got going, everybody came down and said, 'We want to go to MONA,'" he said. "Then they jumped in their car, and they drove north and south and all over the place. And it was just [a] MONA effect that just rippled through the island. "And that'll be exactly the same … when and if we get the stadium up." But Mr Stewart said he was concerned about how the state's current "planning quagmire" may present challenges to his ambitions. He said he was hopeful that whichever party forms government next would cut red tape to allow for greater "development potential".
Sky News AU
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘When will it stop?': Jewish community urges government to ‘get to work' on finding solutions
Australia and Jewish Affairs Council Joel Burnie says the Australian Jewish community has been under 'intense siege and barrage' from the wider community as the consistent attacks keep 'ripping the fabrics of Australia's social cohesion'. 'There has been a distained campaign against a very proud community that has given all that it has given to this great country of ours,' Mr Burnie told Sky News host Peta Credlin. 'There has to be an endpoint where the authorities and the government take it upon themselves, instead of listing that they've done and tried to do, it's obviously not working, so get to work on finding out the solution to the problem and fix it quickly.'
Sky News AU
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Jews fed up by ‘artificial meaningless words' from Jacinta Allan
Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council Joel Burnie says Australia has gone 'crazy' and 'loopy' with the antisemitic attacks occurring. 'Nothing is more jarring to the ears of a Jewish person in this country than to hear a political leader or a leader say there is no place for antisemitism in this country,' Mr Burnie told Sky News host Peta Credlin. 'This is a formulated construct of artificial words with poor syntax that are essentially meaningless to the people that have been under consistent siege for the past 21-22 months. 'When is the immediacy of this matter going to come to the floor?'
