Just 24 hours after 90,000 people marched across Sydney Harbour Bridge demanding justice for Gaza, Australia pledges an extra $20 million in aid, taking its humanitarian commitment past $130 million.
In a dramatic political and humanitarian turn, the Australian government has announced an additional 20 million Australian dollars in emergency relief for civilians in Gaza—just a day after an unprecedented 90,000-strong protest flooded Sydney Harbour Bridge in a rain-soaked show of solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed the funds will focus on women and children caught in the escalating humanitarian disaster. This latest commitment brings Australia’s total aid to more than $130 million for civilians in Gaza and Lebanon since Hamas’s deadly October 7 attack triggered Israel’s ongoing military offensive.
Wong linked the decision to Israel’s recent opening of more humanitarian corridors into the besieged enclave, acknowledging the “dire humanitarian situation” facing Gaza’s residents.
The announcement followed a mass demonstration that saw families, elderly citizens, and activists chanting pro-Palestine slogans, waving PLO flags, and even banging pots and pans to amplify Hamas’s hunger narrative. Among the crowd, one protester brandished a large portrait of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, underscoring the deep geopolitical undertones of the rally.
Just last week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused Israel of breaching international law by blocking food deliveries to Gaza. “A one-year-old boy is not a Hamas fighter,” he declared, condemning the civilian death toll as “indefensible.” While maintaining Israel’s right to self-defense, Albanese warned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is losing international support—a message he says he has already delivered to Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Albanese cautiously welcomed Israel’s recent airdrop of aid and new UN convoy corridors, calling it “a start,” but stressed that “innocent lives must be protected” as the war grinds on.
