Labor MP erupts after party blocks his pro-Palestine debate - and shrugs off punishment fears: 'I don't give a s***'

By ANDREW BROWN FOR AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS and CAITLIN POWELL - NEWS REPORTER Published: 04:50, 25 July 2026 | Updated: 04:50, 25 July 2026 Federal Labor MP Ed Husic has said he doesn't care about retribution after criticising his party for not supporting a debate over including a stronger criticism of Israel in its platform. The Western Sydney backbencher sought to move debate on Israel and Palestine at Labor's national conference in Adelaide on Saturday.  His motion aimed to reinforce criticism of Israel's actions in Palestine and acknowledge what it described as a 'genocide' in the Gaza Strip.  However, the submission wasn't seconded, effectively blocking the debate from proceeding following a push from factional leaders. 'It's a big disappointment because we haven't had a chance to talk to an issue that means a lot not just to people inside that convention centre, but to party members who are outside,' Husic told reporters. 'I've seen some of the big debates and big issues of the time being discussed on the floor of the conference. 'I have been surprised at the extraordinary amount of energy that has been applied to stop this, as opposed to talking about this.' When asked whether he was worried that major party figures might punish him over his comments, he said: 'They can put me in the freezer, I don't give a s***.' Federal Labor MP Ed Husic has said he doesn't care about retribution after criticising his party for not supporting a debate over including a stronger criticism of Israel in its platform Protesters gathered outside the national Labor conference on Saturday to express anger over the government’s refusal to engage in a more hard line anti-Israel and anti-US foreign policy Husic said he was committed to remaining in the party despite the setback. 'Sometimes you'll be at the front and on your own, and suddenly find you've got a lot of people around you,' he said. 'It might take some time to get there. Change sometimes involves difficult conversations to bring people together.' Husic added that not being able to debate the draft position placed in the policy platform was unhealthy for the party. Labor MPs Josh Burns, who is Jewish, and Basem Abdo, who is of Palestinian heritage, will address the conference and endorse the party's platform.  The draft policy, which prompted criticism from Israel's embassy to Australia, called for Israel to comply with obligations as an occupying power. 'Labor opposes the annexation of Palestinian territory and wants Israel to bring its illegal settlement activity and the occupation to an end, to see security for Palestine, for Israel and for the region,' it said. 'Labor urges the government to prevent any support being given to illegal settlement activity or extremist settler violence, and to implement further action and sanctions as necessary.' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Labor was choosing 'unity rather than division, progress rather than protesting and outcomes rather than outrage' during the conference Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has not yet commented on Husic's statement. During an interview with Sky News, he said Labor was choosing 'unity rather than division, progress rather than protesting and outcomes rather than outrage'. Debate on the AUKUS submarine program, which has prompted criticism from rank-and-file members, also failed to make the conference floor. Protesters gathered outside the convention centre to express anger over the Albanese government’s refusal to engage in a more hard line anti-Israel, anti-US foreign policy platform. The threat of Pauline Hanson has dominated proceedings at Labor's triennial conference, with One Nation outperforming the government on a primary vote in several opinion polls. Former federal treasurer and party president Wayne Swan said One Nation and Hanson represented the party's latest political challenge.  'Let's not kid ourselves, the stakes are high,' he said at a dinner on Friday night where he was awarded a Labor life membership. 'As our friends across the globe have found, authoritarians can emerge in a flash. 'There are polls now suggesting the tide may be turning on Hanson... the tide has not turned. We are engaged in the battle.' Swan said the conservative mantle once taken up in his home state of Queensland by former premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen was now in the hands of Hanson. 'In Queensland, we know the shape of this fight,' he said. 'It runs through the late '80s with Joh, the original Pauline Hanson. We stopped his caravan rolling to Canberra when it looked like it had unstoppable momentum. 'It finds its expression today in the fight against Hanson herself.'