MP’s "surprising" visit to UNSW triggers student criticism
The senior Cabinet Minister’s visit to Kensington campus attracted criticism over the Government’s actions around the conflict in Gaza.
On April 5th, a confrontation occurred between pro-Palestine student activists and Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy, The Hon. Chris Bowen MP, who attended an event in the Tyree building on UNSW’s Kensington Campus.
After receiving a student tip-off that the senior parliamentarian would be visiting, several members of UNSW Students For Palestine (SfP), a group claiming to campaign for "the rights and freedoms of Palestinians" took the opportunity to confront Mr Bowen over the Federal Government’s reaction to the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict, which at the time of publication has killed at least 33,000 Palestinians.
SfP member Gina Elias said of the protest, “We found out from a student studying in the Tyree Building, where he was visiting."
“It was secret, so we didn’t know it was happening. I think that’s because Chris Bowen knows his government is complicit in the genocide, which is one of the main stories at the moment in the news.”
Bowen engaged with protestors, seemingly attempting to defend the government’s actions, stating that the Federal Government had ‘voted for a ceasefire in the UN’. The individual who notified Noise of this incident stated the engagement by Bowen was surprising, drawing contrast to a previous visit from Pat Conroy, the Minister for Defence Industry, who avoided engaging with protesters while he was on campus earlier this year.
Bowen did not respond to further questions about the Australian Government’s alleged hypocrisy of claiming to support Palestine whilst continuing to financially and diplomatically support the state of Israel, including recently signing of a $917 million contract with Israeli military company Elbit Systems.
The visit and ensuing confrontation notably occurred just a few days after seven aid workers, including an Australian citizen Zomi Frankcom, were killed in an Israeli airstrike, causing international outrage. The Israeli military has since claimed the incident was the result of “misidentification”, and a “grave mistake”.
The purpose of Bowen’s intentions during this visit are unknown, as well as whether it was related to his ministerial portfolio.
