Chris Bowen criticises Liberal leader’s attack on Penny Wong, saying ‘Sussan Ley is not the arbiter of grief or mourning’
Opposition leader Sussan Ley and senator Bridget McKenzie speak at a heated press conference about the Bondi shooting on Monday.Opposition leader Sussan Ley and senator Bridget McKenzie speak at a heated press conference about the Bondi shooting on Monday.
Chris Bowen criticises Liberal leader’s attack on Penny Wong, saying ‘Sussan Ley is not the arbiter of grief or mourning’has accused opposition leader Sussan Ley of “disgusting” conduct and politicising the Bondi antisemitic shooting, claiming the Coalition was seeking partisan point-scoring over national unity in the wake of Australia’s worst terror attack.for the terror attack, defended her personal sledge on foreign minister Penny Wong for not having “shed a single tear” over the Bondi attack. But Bowen said Ley was “not the arbiter of grief” and not get to dictate how other people mourned the shooting. “I thought that was a disgusting element of an increasingly partisan pile-on in the wake of a national crisis,” the energy minister told the ABC. “Australia has in the past come together at moments like this, whether it be the Lindt cafe or Port Arthur, and oppositions have chosen not to make political points. This opposition is trying a different path.”on Monday. That came during a press conference where shadow minister Bridget McKenzie – without evidence – alleged Labor’s recognition of a Palestinian state, and Wong’s failure to visit certain sites of Hamas’ 7 October massacre in Israel, had “brought this upon us”. Wong on Monday had strongly condemned antisemitism and the Bondi attack, and called “to turn the temperature down” in Australia’s national debate. Ley, raising her voice and slamming her hand on a lecturn, harshly criticised Wong for not attending funerals of the shooting victims or visiting the Bondi memorial site. “I make no apology for my passion on that occasion and my ongoing passion for Australians, for Jewish Australians and for this hideous act of terrorism,” Ley told Channel Nine’s Today on Tuesday. “I’ve been down there. The prime minister has hardly been there. Penny Wong has not been there at all. Her calls to take the temperature down were totally inappropriate.” Albanese visited Bondi beach the day following the attack and attended the memorial there on the one week anniversary.. On Channel Seven’s Sunrise, she again demanded a federal royal commission, suggesting twice that the government was “hiding” by not calling one. “Were there warnings that they didn’t heed? We have this growing list of judges, of top silks, of Sir Peter Cosgrove this morning, of people across this country who know that this is the next important step that this government needs to take. My question is, why not? Why not, prime minister?” Labor sources have been privately furious at the Coalition’s politicising of the Bondi attack, contrasting the opposition’s abandonment of any national united bipartisan approach to how oppositions of the past have supported governments of the day through previous terror attacks, the Covid pandemic and the Port Arthur massacre. Former Liberal treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who is Jewish, last week claimed Anthony Albanese In responding to attacks that Labor had been slow to act on antisemitism, government sources noted the Coalition had voted against Labor’s anti-doxxing legislation in November 2024, and had not taken stronger action on banning Nazi symbols during their time in government. That frustration boiled out in public on Tuesday when Bowen claimed Ley’s Coalition had prioritised partisan politics, especially in its attack on Wong. “Sussan Ley is not the arbiter of grief or mourning, and she does not get to decide how people express that mourning and that grief…. it said more about”Sussan Ley, I think, needs to reflect on her behaviour yesterday. It was pretty disgusting. And I think as it shows, that she is choosing to make political points out of an issue and a personal attack on someone like Penny Wong, I think, will jar pretty badly with Australians.”, noted senior members of the Coalition had previously argued for weakening laws in a long-running debate about section 18c of the Race Discrimination Act. “They spent their entire time trying to water down those laws. Now they say they should be stronger. I mean, we didn’t seek this partisan argument, but if they want to have a partisan argument, then the facts will be laid out as well,” Bowen said.said he was avoiding “partisan comments” after the Bondi shooting, but rubbished the Coalition’s allegations that the terror attack was influenced by Labor’s recognition of Palestine or the itinerary of Wong’s Israel trip, as McKenzie had claimed. “This was an ISIS-inspired attack… These people weren’t shy about their motivation, and it is there for people to see. And I think that people should look at those facts which are there,” he said.
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Opposition Leader Slams Foreign Minister Over Bondi Terror Attack ResponseSussan Ley criticizes Penny Wong’s absence from Bondi events and funerals, highlighting the government’s handling of the terror attack and the rise of antisemitism.
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Coalition Politicians Link Labor’s Palestine Recognition to Bondi Attack, Criticize WongSenior Coalition figures, including Sussan Ley and Bridget McKenzie, criticized the Labor government’s stance on Palestine, linking it to the Bondi terror attack and attacking Penny Wong’s response. They demanded a royal commission and made controversial statements about government policies and Islamic extremism.
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‘Haven’t seen Penny Wong’: Sussan Ley crucifies Foreign Minister in blistering rebukeOpposition Leader Sussan Ley has ferociously rebuked Penny Wong’s response to the Bondi Beach terror attack, claiming the Foreign Minister has not ‘shed a single tear’ or attended any funerals of the victims.
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