Senator Lambie's Motion Against Military Memorials' Vandalism Faces Greens' Resistance

Senator Jacqui Lambie's motion to denounce the vandalism of military memorials by pro-Palestinian protestors was met with strong resistance from the Greens.

On Monday, Senator Lambie moved to protest what she called a disrespectful act against Australia's military legacy when it was discovered that graffiti had been found on many war memorials in Canberra on Sunday.

Several politicians condemned the event, after pro-Palestinian graffiti was discovered along Anzac Parade. The Korean War, Vietnam War, Australian Army monuments and a wall between the memorials were found defaced, following which Lambie claimed that the graffiti disrespected the sacrifices made by those who defended the country, Sky News reported.

"Do these people really think that this helps their cause? Do they really think these disgusting acts of vandalism will bring about a ceasefire?" she said.

"I don't think these people have any idea what it's like to have to go to war and have to fight, to see your mates killed in front of you, or to come home with injuries that mean you will never be the same again."

The senators from the Green Party denounced the harm, but they chose not to back the motion out of concern that it would limit opposition to particular political viewpoints.

While talking about why his party was opposing the motion, Senator Jordan Steele-John said, "You can agree with it, you can disagree with it but it was inherently a political decision. ... And one of the reasons why we cannot support the motion brought by Senator Lambie today is that it frames the act of protest by way of interacting with a memorial of a commemorative space as something that is exclusive to those who support justice and freedom for Palestine and that is not true."

He also said no memorial was a "politically neutral" space. "The Australian Constitution contains no explicit commitment to freedom of speech," he said. "If we are to believe that the men and women of the ADF gave their lives in wars and conflicts to defend such freedoms, then you have to engage with the reality that protesting, that painting is a form of speech."

Meanwhile, Adam Bandt, the head of the Green Party, said that the party has always respected people who serve in the military, regardless of societal differences about Australia's military involvement.

"We might have differences of opinion about whether or not Australia should be going to war, but we always respect people who are sent to war," he told 7.30, according to ABC. "And we've also made it clear that when it comes to making people's voices heard, we want to see peaceful protests."

On Monday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the incident, saying the perpetrators should be "exposed publicly" and punished.

However, Albanese's comments were met with criticism from Bandt, who said the prime minister was more outraged over graffiti on war memorials than on the deaths in Gaza during what he called a genocide.