Labor MPs were privately alarmed by the Albanese government’s immediate response to the bombing of Iran by the United States and Israel, including a statement offering unreserved support for the legally questionable attack that sparked the war.
Guardian Australia can reveal the concerns were raised during a meeting of Labor’s left faction after the first attacks on Iran in February, which sparked the conflict that has since spread across the region.
Details of the meeting have not been reported so far after the Labor group quickly lined up behind Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defense Minister Richard Marles.
Ten days into the war, the federal government announced Tuesday that it would send specialized surveillance aircraft and stockpiles of air-to-air missiles to help defend the United Arab Emirates from retaliatory attacks by Iran.
Albanese said Australia would not be part of offensive action against Iran and would not deploy troops to the Middle East, as the Greens expressed fears Australia could be “totally dragged into another US forever war”.
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Australia was one of the first countries to publicly support the US and Israeli attacks through a statement by Albanese, Wong and Marles on the afternoon of Saturday 28 February, a matter of hours after the attack.
“We support the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent Iran from further threatening international peace and security,” the statement said.
Guardian Australia has confirmed that the statement caused distress among several Labor MPs, who privately questioned why the government was rushing to back strikes that were likely to breach international law.
The omission of any reference to international law, the rules-based order or explicit recognition that Iran was being bombed confused some MPs, who raised concerns with senior ministers, including Wong.
The government’s decision to immediately back the strikes contrasted with its response to the U.S. bombing of three Iranian nuclear facilities in June last year, when it waited nearly 24 hours before publicly backing it.
About 48 hours after last month’s strikes began, members of Labour’s left faction had what sources described as a “robust” debate about the government’s position at their regular weekly meeting.
Wong was not present at the March 2 meeting, but sources confirmed that Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy answered questions on his behalf.
Guardian Australia confirmed details of the meeting with six Labor sources, all of whom requested anonymity to discuss confidential internal discussions.
As the conflict unfolded last week, Albanese, Wong and Marles continued to endorse the attacks, while maintaining that it was up to the United States and Israel to explain whether the attacks were consistent with international law.
A group of international law experts, including United Nations Special Rapporteur Ben Saul, have argued that the attacks were a violation of the UN Charter.
Concerns about the government’s willingness to publicly support Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu’s attacks on Iran are not limited to Labour’s left faction.
Members of Labour’s right faction, who will not speak on the record for fear of being seen as troublemakers, say they are concerned about how quickly Labor rallied to support the US administration’s decision.
The revelations of angst among MPs come as the party’s grassroots anti-war group, Labor Against War, plans to circulate a motion between the NSW and Victorian branches condemning the US-Israel war against Iran as an “unlawful act of aggression against a sovereign nation”.
The group, which openly opposes Aukus and has proposed sanctions against Israel, told its followers in a bulletin on Tuesday that the war was “concrete proof that Aukus is forcing Australia to support American military adventurism.”
“It is the view of this branch that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s decision to support the war is a serious mistake that violates the fundamental principles and policies of the Australian Labor Party as set out in the ALP Constitution and National Platform,” the motion reads.
“This decision contrasts with the principled position taken by the Australian Labor Party to oppose the illegal war against Iraq in 2003, which was also based on false claims about weapons of mass destruction.”
Labor Against War organizers hope the motion will gain traction in the coming weeks and months ahead of the Labor Party’s national conference in Adelaide in July.
While not binding on state or federal Labor MPs, local branch motions represent one of the most effective ways for grassroots members and unions to influence party policy.
Labor Friends of Palestine have previously drafted motions urging greater Labor support for Gaza following Israel’s post-October 7 attack on the strip.
At the party’s Victoria state conference last year, members voted in favor of immediate recognition of Palestine, less than 10 days before the federal government officially adopted the position.
