Nick Squires
James Cleverly Penny Wong Britain Australia Ukraine soldiers training Russia invasion war
Penny Wong Australia James Cleverly Britain UK Foreign Secretary diplomacy
“It is wrong because regurgitating Britain’s past does nothing to equip us to deal with the present challenge of an aggressive China.”
Richard Marles, Australia’s defence minister who also visited the UK, defended his colleague, saying: “It’s really important for all countries to think about their past in terms of providing a gateway for meaningful engagement in the future.
“We want to see a Great Britain which is engaged in our region and they certainly seek to be that because if Britain engaged in the Indo-Pacific, it will help provide stability in the Indo-Pacific and that’s really important.”
Ms Wong added: “I was making a point about histories and talking about who we are. If we are able to speak about that multi-faceted history, that does give us greater capacity to engage with the countries of our region.”
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Wed, 1 February 2023
Penny Wong Australia James Cleverly Britain UK Foreign Secretary diplomacy - Stefan Rousseau/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
Australia’s foreign minister has said that Britain must come to terms with its “uncomfortable” colonial past in Asia and the Pacific.
Penny Wong faced criticism in Australia for “rude and self-indulgent” diplomacy after she said that the British must confront past wrongdoing in order to find “more common ground” with the countries they once governed.
Ms Wong, who was born in Malaysia and is of Chinese and British descent, said that colonial powers such as Britain must not remain “sheltered in narrower versions” of their pasts when it came to engaging in the region.
She said: “Such stories can sometimes feel uncomfortable – for those whose stories they are, and for those who hear them. But understanding the past enables us to better share the present and the future.”
Ms Wong, from Australia’s Left-wing Labor government, made the remarks in a speech at King’s College London on her first visit to the UK since becoming foreign minister.
Wed, 1 February 2023
Penny Wong Australia James Cleverly Britain UK Foreign Secretary diplomacy - Stefan Rousseau/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
Australia’s foreign minister has said that Britain must come to terms with its “uncomfortable” colonial past in Asia and the Pacific.
Penny Wong faced criticism in Australia for “rude and self-indulgent” diplomacy after she said that the British must confront past wrongdoing in order to find “more common ground” with the countries they once governed.
Ms Wong, who was born in Malaysia and is of Chinese and British descent, said that colonial powers such as Britain must not remain “sheltered in narrower versions” of their pasts when it came to engaging in the region.
She said: “Such stories can sometimes feel uncomfortable – for those whose stories they are, and for those who hear them. But understanding the past enables us to better share the present and the future.”
Ms Wong, from Australia’s Left-wing Labor government, made the remarks in a speech at King’s College London on her first visit to the UK since becoming foreign minister.
James Cleverly Penny Wong Britain Australia Ukraine soldiers training Russia invasion war
Ben Birchall/Pool via Reuters
Her own family had painful memories of the British colonial past, said the foreign minister, who moved to Australia as a child.
She said that while her great-great-grandparents on her mother’s side were British and settled in south Australia, the other part of her family had had “a very different” experience of the British Empire in North Borneo.
“My father is descended from Hakka and Cantonese Chinese,” Ms Wong recalled. “Many from these clans laboured for the British North Borneo Company in tin mines and plantations for tobacco and timber. Many worked as domestic servants for British colonists, as did my own grandmother.”
Australia had come a long way from its white, British colonial origins, the minister said.
The country is now home to “people of more than 300 ancestries and the oldest continuing culture on earth”, she said, referring to the 60,000-year-old civilisation of Aboriginal people.
Australia now sees itself as “being in the Indo-Pacific, and being of the Indo-Pacific”.
Ms Wong did acknowledge that having Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister, as well as ministers of black African and south Asian heritage, meant that Britain had changed since its imperial heyday.
Her own family had painful memories of the British colonial past, said the foreign minister, who moved to Australia as a child.
She said that while her great-great-grandparents on her mother’s side were British and settled in south Australia, the other part of her family had had “a very different” experience of the British Empire in North Borneo.
“My father is descended from Hakka and Cantonese Chinese,” Ms Wong recalled. “Many from these clans laboured for the British North Borneo Company in tin mines and plantations for tobacco and timber. Many worked as domestic servants for British colonists, as did my own grandmother.”
Australia had come a long way from its white, British colonial origins, the minister said.
The country is now home to “people of more than 300 ancestries and the oldest continuing culture on earth”, she said, referring to the 60,000-year-old civilisation of Aboriginal people.
Australia now sees itself as “being in the Indo-Pacific, and being of the Indo-Pacific”.
Ms Wong did acknowledge that having Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister, as well as ministers of black African and south Asian heritage, meant that Britain had changed since its imperial heyday.
Penny Wong Australia James Cleverly Britain UK Foreign Secretary diplomacy
- Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire/Pool via Reuters
However, back in Australia, Ms Wong was criticised for embarrassing the country by “lecturing” one of its most important allies with an overly “woke” message.
The speech was “rude and self-indulgent,” said James Macpherson, a Sky News Australia presenter.
“If Penny Wong has issues about her past, she should deal with those privately. But the national stage is not a stage for her to deal with her own personal issues. She is representing the country,” he added.
However, back in Australia, Ms Wong was criticised for embarrassing the country by “lecturing” one of its most important allies with an overly “woke” message.
The speech was “rude and self-indulgent,” said James Macpherson, a Sky News Australia presenter.
“If Penny Wong has issues about her past, she should deal with those privately. But the national stage is not a stage for her to deal with her own personal issues. She is representing the country,” he added.
“It is wrong because regurgitating Britain’s past does nothing to equip us to deal with the present challenge of an aggressive China.”
Richard Marles, Australia’s defence minister who also visited the UK, defended his colleague, saying: “It’s really important for all countries to think about their past in terms of providing a gateway for meaningful engagement in the future.
“We want to see a Great Britain which is engaged in our region and they certainly seek to be that because if Britain engaged in the Indo-Pacific, it will help provide stability in the Indo-Pacific and that’s really important.”
Ms Wong added: “I was making a point about histories and talking about who we are. If we are able to speak about that multi-faceted history, that does give us greater capacity to engage with the countries of our region.”
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