Opposition leader Sussan Ley accuses Penny Wong of overstepping in ‘unprecedented’ Israeli minister sanctions

Opposition leader Sussan Ley has accused the Albanese Government of overstepping by slapping “unprecedented” sanctions on two Israeli Government ministers.

She accused Penny Wong of acting “unilaterally” in imposing Magnitsky-style sanctions on National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

The Albanese Government joined the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Norway to sanction the pair, accusing them of “inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank”.

“It is unprecedented to, as a government, take actions, sanctions on members of a democratically elected government. It appears that Penny Wong acted unilaterally on this,” Ms Ley told Sky New on Thursday.

“The Magnitsky sanctions were never designed to be used in this way, but to take action against terrorist regimes and bad actors.”

The Magnitsky legislation allows governments to impose targeted sanctions, such as asset freezes and travel bans, on foreign individuals responsible for serious human rights abuses or corruption.

Australia has only selectively deployed the sanctions, mostly on Russian individuals, since they first came into effect in December 2021 with the first set handed down in March 2022.

The Foreign Minister and Labor colleagues have defended the measure, with Ms Wong saying the duo had “extremist rhetoric” including “appalling and dangerous” calls for the forced displacement of Palestinians and the creation of new Israeli settlements.

Former Labor defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon also openly labelled them “extremists.”

However when asked whether the Government had “overstepped the mark”, Ms Ley bluntly responded: “Yes we do. Yes we do”.

Ms Ley’s criticism of the collective move was echoed by her Coalition team on Thursday, with many calling for a briefing on the decision which they warned could have broader implications.

“We want to understand more deeply the rationale behind the government’s decision making,” Nationals Senate Leader Bridget McKenzie said on Thursday.

“I think these sanctions do go against the intent of the Magnitsky sanction regime.”

Opposition legal affairs spokesman Julian Leeser has warned if the standard for triggering Magnitsky sanctions had been weakened it could impact Australia’s standing abroad.

“This is a very serious step. When you read the government’s statement, it suggests that it’s actually lowered the threshold for applying sanctions,” he told the ABC on Thursday.

“Because these sanctions are being applied because of public comments of the two Israeli ministers and the big question here is whether this is a new standard that will be applied to the public comments of officials from other countries.”

Shadow foreign minister Michaelia Cash called the sanctions a “very serious development” and said they should meet “a very high threshold.”

While backing the sanctions and defending them as “carefully considered”, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said he hoped Australia and Israel would “continue our friendship”.

“I mean we want to continue our friendship with Israel, let me be clear about that,” he said.

“We’ve worked very carefully in relation to taking this step over a period of time.

“We’ve done this in combination with the United Kingdom in combination with Canada and with other nations.”

His shadow counterpart Angus Taylor went as far to question whether Ms Wong’s call teamed with Labor’s refusal to lift the defence budget after US pressure had prompted the Trump Administration to review the AUKUS partnership.

But Marles hit back at his “breathless press conference” and said the Coalition needed to “take a breath” on the AUKUS probe which he downplayed as a “natural” decision of any new government.

Former Liberal politician and ex-US ambassador Arthur Sinodinos also rejected any link, noting Marles had publicly said he’d been aware a review was coming for weeks.

Both sides of politics have said ultimately they wanted to see a ceasefire and long-term end to the Gaza conflict.