Winston Peters raised the recognition of a state of Palestine at today's Cabinet meeting. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
New Zealand will make a decision on whether to recognise Palestine as a state over the next month, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed.
In a statement on Monday afternoon, Peters confirmed he spoken about the matter at Cabinet that day, and the government would formally consider the move - coming to a decision in September.
He will travel to the UN Leader's Meeting in at the General Assembly in New York in late September, and will present the government's approach to the UN at that time.
While the announcement does not change New Zealand's position on Gaza or Palestinian statehood, the deadline of next month suggests New Zealand may join other Western partners in moving forward with recognition.
Shortly after the statement, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed Australia would move ahead with recognising Palestinian statehood. This would be done at the UN General Assembly in September.
He said the decision had been reached after conversations with a range of other world leaders, including New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon who he met with over the weekend.
Albanese noted however that his government had made clear that Hamas could have no role in a future Palestinian state.
"Hamas is not just an enemy of Israelis, it's an enemy of the Palestinian people as well."
The story of the Gaza struggle was one of opportunities not taken, Albanese said.
"The risk of trying is nothing compared to the danger of letting this moment pass us by. The toll of the status quo is growing by the day and it could be measured in innocent lives."
He thanked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a "civil" and "long" discussion about the move, saying the arguments Netanyahu put forth were very similar to those put forward a year earlier.
Albanese said he wanted to see elections in Gaza as soon as possible, noting that it had been some time since an election was held by the Palestinian Authority.
It follows multiple other western countries signalling they intended to recognise Palestinian statehood, including France, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
Peters' statement said the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza was rightly at the forefront of the global agenda, and New Zealand "has been giving this issue careful, methodical and deliberate attention".
"New Zealand has long asked whether the pre-requisites for a viable and legitimate Palestinian state - in security, political, diplomatic and economic terms - exist. Fundamentally, we will need to weigh up whether sufficient progress is being made against these benchmarks in order to warrant New Zealand recognising a Palestinian state at this juncture," he said.
"We will be taking heed of the facts on the ground deteriorating rapidly, our close partners being divided on the issue of recognition, and a range of Arab states making clear Hamas must disarm and must have no future role in Palestinian governance.
"This is not a straightforward, clear-cut issue," Peters said. "There are a broad range of strongly held views within our government, Parliament and indeed New Zealand society over the question of recognition of a Palestinian state."
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