By Will Nicholas in Canberra

Removing anti-Semitic textbooks and stopping payments to martyrs’ families has helped satisfy the federal government that Palestine is on the road to reform, even as question marks hang over delayed elections and governance issues.

Australia officially recognised Palestine in September 2025, but the government has said maintaining formal diplomatic relations, including establishing an embassy, would mean conditions would need to be met.

They included that the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the West Bank, needed to implement substantial reforms, including holding elections, demilitarising, terminating payments to prisoners, and enacting education and governance reforms.

The conditions also state Hamas can have no role in the state’s future governance.

The federal government on Wednesday indicated it was satisfied with the authority’s progress on payments and schooling, but expressed “deep disappointment” over postponed elections and other stagnant reform areas during Senate estimates hearings on Wednesday.

The authority’s president Mahmoud Abbas in September delayed elections slated for November 2026 to September 2027, more than two decades after Palestinians last went to the polls.

Mr Abbas has held power since 2005 and now rules by decree, having dissolved the state’s legislative council in 2019.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong defended Australia’s diplomatic actions more than a year ago during Wednesday’s hearings, despite lingering concerns.

“There is no Palestine left to recognise if we just wait,” she said.

“We cannot simply sit back and wait and watch the reality of a Palestinian state be removed.”

Ms Wong rejected the assertion the Palestinian Authority had no motivation to clean up its act because there was no risk of Canberra withdrawing recognition.

“We want to see those commitments delivered … because we want to see progress towards two states.”

“We are all grappling with the Netanyahu government’s policies, in particular on this issue in the West Bank, which are inconsistent with the prospect of two states.”

Department representative Ralph King said Palestine had ceased so-called “pay for slay” laws that dished out money to the families of prisoners and martyrs.

Palestine was working with the European Union to inject UN standards into their school curricula, which have historically been criticised as anti-Semitic.

But Canberra was also being forced to rely on the work US auditors after its representatives were booted from the Palestinian city of Ramallah in August 2025.

“We believe it’s a reliable source document,” Senator Wong said.

The department did not update senators on the Palestinian Authority’s progress on demilitarisation and governance.

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