Windsor Office of Federal MP Susan Templeman Vandalised

Federal Member for Macquarie Susan Templeman has referred the spraying of her office in Windsor Saturday night with pro-Palestine graffiti to the Australian Federal Police but has reasserted her long-standing support for the Palestinian people.

Templeman’s is the latest in a string of Federal Labor MP’s offices to be targeted with graffiti as well as others which have had fake dead bodies dumped on their doorsteps.

“I understand Australian communities are in pain, felt most acutely in Jewish and Palestinian communities. There is a long, complex and disputed history – unfathomable trauma – deeply felt and close to the heart of many,” Templeman told the Hawkesbury Post

Federal MP Susan Templeman’s Windsor office was vandalised overnight.

Templeman has long stated her advocacy for the for recognition of Palestine and she travelled there and discussed peace with the Palestinian leadership in 2017

‘The conflict in Gaza is having a devastating impact on Palestinian people. It is impossible to absorb the harrowing images from the conflict with anything less than distress and horror.I too feel profoundly saddened by what continues to unfold.

“I know Australia has a role in ending this conflict and I believe we are doing all we can. Australia has five core priorities in this crisis: to keep our country unified and to assist Australians abroad; to work with countries that have influence in the region to help protect and support civilians, to help prevent conflict from spreading, and to reinforce the need for a durable peace that all of us want,” she said.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong reinforced this week that the Albanese government supports international efforts towards a sustainable ceasefire. Assistant Foreign Minister, Tim Watts, is travelling to the Middle East this week, to Qatar, Egypt, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. 

“We have from the start and we will continue to, so that this conflict ends,” Templeman said.

The Parliamentary Friends of Palestine group chairs, Labor MP’s Maria Vamvakinou and Fatima Payman, Nationals MP Mark Coulton and Greens members, made a statement calling for an end to the violence in November. 

”As a member of that group, I endorsed that statement on the day it was released. The temporary ceasefire that has occurred allowed for support to be provided and for hostages and prisoners on both sides to be released, but it was not enough and, sadly, ended too soon,” Templeman said.

“Having been to Palestine, I could list serious rules and actions that profoundly impact the rights of Palestinians, including the unequal legal system and the illegal settlements on the West Bank.  In 2018 and again in 2022 at our National Conference, we committed a Labor government to support the right of Palestine and Israel to exist as two states within secure and recognised borders. Labor remains committed to that course and I spoke about this, and the reasons why it was so important, at our most recent national conference earlier this year.

“We have consistently called for Hamas to release all remaining hostages. Some 1,200 Israelis were killed by Hamas on 7 October, the biggest loss of Jewish life on any day since the Holocaust. More than 200 Israelis and foreign nationals were taken hostage. We condemn these terrorist attacks unequivocally: they cannot and should not be justified.”

In Israel’s response to those attacks, more than 15,000 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 6,000 children, as reported by the United Nations. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens by the day. 

“I will continue to do all I can to support Australia’s active engagement in international forums trying to bring an end to both the conflict and the situation for Palestinians in both Gaza and the Occupied Territories. As Australians who treasure our peaceful community and aspire to ever greater unity as a nation, we mourn every innocent life which has been lost in this conflict,” Templeman said.