Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen has launched a fierce defence of Foreign Minister Penny Wong, branding an attack from Opposition Leader Sussan Ley as "pretty disgusting" political point-scoring in the wake of a national tragedy.
A Heated Exchange on National Radio
The sharp rebuke came during an interview on ABC RN, where Bowen was questioned about Ley's vocal criticism of the government. The federal opposition leader had specifically targeted Penny Wong, claiming she "had not shed a single tear" for the victims of the recent Bondi Junction massacre.
Bowen did not hold back in his response. "I thought that said more about Sussan Ley than it does about Penny Wong," he stated. He characterised the remarks as a "disgusting element of an increasingly partisan pile-on" following a crisis that has shaken the nation.
Breaking from a Tradition of Unity
The senior Labor figure drew a stark contrast with Australia's historical response to past tragedies. He pointed to moments of national unity after events like the Lindt Cafe siege and the Port Arthur massacre, where oppositions traditionally refrained from making political capital.
"This opposition is trying a different path," Bowen asserted, clearly framing the current Liberal-National coalition's approach as a break from established political decorum. He firmly rejected Ley's right to dictate how grief should be expressed, stating, "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."
A Call for Reflection and a Warning to the Coalition
Bowen concluded with a direct challenge to the Opposition Leader's conduct. "Sussan Ley, I think, needs to reflect on her behaviour yesterday," he said, reiterating his view that it was "pretty disgusting."
He issued a warning that such tactics would likely backfire with the Australian public. The attempt to score "political points out of an issue and a personal attack on someone like Penny Wong," Bowen argued, "will jar pretty badly with Australians." The comments, made just after 8:48 PM GMT, highlight the intense and deeply personal political divisions emerging in the aftermath of the Bondi tragedy.
