Constituents have contacted me with serious concerns about the increasing use of disinformation, particularly online. Sometimes it seems that we are losing our collective sense of the truth. It can be hard for ordinary people to discern fact from propaganda or to determine whether a source can be trusted. It has only worsened with the increased use of social media, generative artificial intelligence, sophisticated photo editing and deepfake technology. When we cannot trust Kate Middleton with a family photo, we clearly have a problem.
We also live in a world marred by global conflict. Propaganda and misinformation have long been a tool of war. They have probably existed as long as conflict has. Even Mark Anthony and Octavian used propaganda against each other in the Roman civil war of 44 BCE. The Germans considered Britain's superior propaganda as a key factor in its defeat in World War I. Before and during World War II, the Nazis dedicated huge resources to Goebbels' propaganda machine, which was a crucial contributing factor to the tragedy of the Holocaust. More recently, we have seen the effect propaganda has had in the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Russia has been accused of running a sophisticated disinformation campaign to justify its invasion of a sovereign nation. The propaganda questions the legitimacy of Ukraine's statehood and spreads fake news that Ukraine is controlled by Neo-Nazis. The Russians have even blamed Ukrainians for attacks and atrocities they themselves committed.
The corrosive effects of disinformation in war are obvious. It is disappointing, then, that our Federal Government appears to have fallen victim to misleading information regarding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, more commonly known as UNRWA. UNRWA provides much needed aid and protection for Palestinian refugees. Since the horrendous attacks on Israel by Hamas on 7 October last year and Israel's response leading to the deaths of 30,000 Palestinians, the organisation has been at the forefront of the resulting humanitarian crisis. In late January Israeli officials made allegations that 12 UNRWA employees were involved in the 7 October attacks and that the organisation was connected to Hamas.
Along with other nations, Australia immediately pulled its funding for UNRWA. The decision came the day after the International Court of Justice [ICJ] ordered Israel to take serious measures due to the likelihood of a plausible genocide in Gaza. The UN special rapporteur for Palestine said that the decision to suspend funding could be a violation of the UN genocide convention and defied the ICJ's ruling. Either way, the decision to pull funding meant the UN agency—the primary organisation providing food in the area—would be unable to deliver aid to Palestinians as the crisis raged on, yet a month later the UN had still not received evidence from Israel that UNRWA employees were involved in the attacks.
In early March, multiple reputable media outlets reported that UNRWA employees had been detained and coerced by Israeli authorities, leading to false admissions under duress. After campaigning from community organisations, including many in my electorate of Leppington, Australia reinstated its funding to UNRWA on 15 March. I am pleased by that development, but I remain deeply concerned about the Federal Government's knee‑jerk reaction to the initial reports.
A single unsupported accusation by a combatant nation was enough to immediately trigger a cessation of funding to one of the only organisations providing relief to civilians during one of the greatest humanitarian crises in recent memory. It took months of investigation, campaigning and accusations of torture for it to finally be reversed. The presumption of innocence and natural justice are among the core values of our democracy, which we should apply to our engagement in international relations. I welcome the reinstatement of the Australian Government's funding to UNRWA and urge it to consider the historical lessons about the use of propaganda and disinformation during war, throughout this conflict and others into the future.
