Latest news with #PennyWong
Economist
an hour ago
- Business
- Economist
The new private jet pecking order
Asia | When first class isn't good enough Illustration: Owen D. Pomery Jul 24th 2025 | Mumbai | 5 min read L ife for Asia's super-rich has its ups and downs. One industry, more than any other, provides a bird's-eye view on their fortunes: the mind-boggling market for private jets. In recent years the number of posh private aircraft registered in China has dropped like a stone, in part because the Communist Party has taken umbrage against lavish displays of wealth. These days it is India's rising rich who are snapping up sleek personal planes. E-rickshaws are overrunning Bangladeshi cities The long-time ruling party takes an electoral beating The energetic leader is tapping into young people's frustration and shaking up the country's politics There is more to Singapore's sister city than a stroll down memory lane Penny Wong speaks with The Economist New clues suggest Indian errors and Chinese arms may both be to blame
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Labor and Greens unite to condemn One Nation senators for snubbing acknowledgment of country
Labor and the Greens have united to condemn One Nation senators for turning their back on parliament's acknowledgement of country statements, describing them as 'incredibly childish' and 'hurtful' stunts. One Nation's leader, Pauline Hanson, stood in the chamber as the Indigenous affairs minister, Malarndirri McCarthy, government Senate leader, Penny Wong, and Greens leader, Larissa Waters, all made statements criticising the rightwing minor party's 'deliberate acts of disrespect'. 'Whether it is for attention or for clickbait, whether it is to cause offence, whether it is to stoke division, these senators have made a deliberate decision to disrespect First Nations Australians,' McCarthy said. 'You'd think that they'd have heard the clear message from the Australian people in May, the politics of culture wars were rejected. The politics of disrespect and nastiness were rejected. The politics of punching down on First Nations people were rejected.' Hanson doubled down on the stance, telling her Senate colleagues the acknowledgements and welcome to country ceremonies left her feeling 'disenfranchised'. 'We don't want this division in our nation. So it's the steps that I've taken to speak up on behalf of those Australian people that don't want this division. I don't want to have to do this,' Hanson said. The Greens leader, Larissa Waters, also stood up to condemn Hanson, who she accused of being 'entirely blind to her own privilege'. Just the day prior, Waters' colleague, Mehreen Faruqi, was sanctioned for holding up a sign protesting against Israel's war on Gaza during the governor general's address. While holding a prop in the Senate – as Faruqi did on Tuesday – is a breach of the standing orders, turning your back to an acknowledgment of country is not. Sign up: AU Breaking News email 'It's a bit rich to get a lecture on First Nations culture from the likes of Senator Hanson and it's also a bit rich to get a lecture about not wanting division from the likes of One Nation,' Waters said. 'It is not welcome to countries and acknowledgement of countries that is dividing the nation. It's racism.' The former shadow Indigenous affairs minister, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who is a known critic of acknowledgment ceremonies, said was 'absolutely done with the virtue signalling that takes place'. Price acknowledged the significance of the conduct by One Nation senators but supported their underlying intention. 'I am of the belief that it is not necessary to have an acknowledgement, because we are all Australians. Every single one of us, including the Ngunnawal and the Ngambri, are Australians, and we are here to serve all Australians equally in this country. Not praising or acknowledging one group above others,' she said. Penny Wong rose to her feet to offer a short statement: 'Senator Hanson speaks of division, but it is she who peddles in division. Senator Hanson speaks of respect, but it is she who peddles disrespect.' In her short time as opposition leader, Sussan Ley has delivered an acknowledgment of country at her National Press Club address and attended Parliament's opening welcome to country ceremony earlier in the week, describing it as a reminder that 'parliament doesn't begin in isolation'. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Wong said she hoped Ley's more supportive approach to the protocol might 'set the tone' and that 'the opposition would reflect on the words of their own leader in relation to welcomes to country'. 'I would just end on this: decency and respect cost us nothing, but it goes a long way to building a sense of unity. And if you want to see what grace and respect look like, perhaps remember what Senator McCarthy said just a few moments ago,' she said. The opposition's new Senate leader, Michaelia Cash, launched into an animated defence of Price, accusing Wong of pontificating on the issue. 'I will stand by and respect Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who, every day, has lived and breathed reconciliation in this country,' Cash said. 'Her father is white, her mother is black, so please don't ever come into this place again and pontificate to us like you've just done.' Days before Australians went to the polls, the former opposition leader, Peter Dutton, declared welcome to country ceremonies were 'overdone' and should be limited to major events such as the opening of parliament, after a small group of neo-Nazis booed a ceremony at an Anzac dawn service in Melbourne. Advance, which Price was formerly an official spokesperson for, has launched campaigns urging an end to welcome to country ceremonies and the use of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags in official government backdrops. In an email to supporters in June, the rightwing group encouraged followers to 'speak up and take on' welcome to country ceremonies, criticising them as a 'tool to indoctrinate' children. 'And if you and I don't stop it, they'll go further,' the email said.
Sydney Morning Herald
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Overkill in Gaza: Penny Wong was right to call out Israel
This week's joint statement signed by Penny Wong and more than two dozen other foreign affairs ministers calling for an end to the war in Gaza was notable for its directness. It reflects the growing frustration of the Australian and other governments with how Israel is prosecuting the war. The disconnect between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's unreconcilable twin aims of destroying Hamas, while at the same rescuing the hostages, is becoming increasingly apparent with the death of every civilian and the lack of hostages being returned. Revenge for the 1200 people Hamas slaughtered in October 2023 should by now have been achieved, and Hamas' military capabilities have been dealt a grievous blow. There is no argument that Hamas had to pay a heavy price for its terrorist attack, and the brutal reality is that the civilians among whom they hide would suffer as a result. But there are limits to such suffering, and the principles of military necessity and proportionality are supposed to guide and constrain the use of military force. For some time now, there has been a growing international consensus that Israel is exacting far too heavy a toll on all Gazans for the sins of Hamas. And it is also increasingly apparent that the Israeli government lacks any coherent plan for post-conflict Gaza. Canberra knows that on its own it has little clout with Israel, so it has used a multinational approach to call for an end to the fighting. It was also notable that the letter co-signed by Wong focused first on Israel's aid delivery model, a privatised version designed to tie the location and provision of humanitarian aid to military goals and to sideline professional international humanitarian organisations. The Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was controversial from the start – its original executive director, US military veteran Jake Wood, resigned before the first meal was delivered, citing his personal concerns that 'it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence'. Boston Consulting Group issued a public apology once it was revealed that two of its partners were involved in the scoping and planning for what was to become the GHF. The opaque funding sources for the foundation are concerning, as is the fact that the executive chairman is an evangelical preacher with close personal ties to US President Donald Trump. The security, provided by masked US private security contractors at the distribution points and the Israeli military in the area surrounding those sites, has been equally controversial. Reports of hundreds of aid-seekers being killed during the operation of the centres is alarming. Even if only partially true, nobody should die trying to feed their families.
The Age
9 hours ago
- Politics
- The Age
Overkill in Gaza: Penny Wong was right to call out Israel
This week's joint statement signed by Penny Wong and more than two dozen other foreign affairs ministers calling for an end to the war in Gaza was notable for its directness. It reflects the growing frustration of the Australian and other governments with how Israel is prosecuting the war. The disconnect between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's unreconcilable twin aims of destroying Hamas, while at the same rescuing the hostages, is becoming increasingly apparent with the death of every civilian and the lack of hostages being returned. Revenge for the 1200 people Hamas slaughtered in October 2023 should by now have been achieved, and Hamas' military capabilities have been dealt a grievous blow. There is no argument that Hamas had to pay a heavy price for its terrorist attack, and the brutal reality is that the civilians among whom they hide would suffer as a result. But there are limits to such suffering, and the principles of military necessity and proportionality are supposed to guide and constrain the use of military force. For some time now, there has been a growing international consensus that Israel is exacting far too heavy a toll on all Gazans for the sins of Hamas. And it is also increasingly apparent that the Israeli government lacks any coherent plan for post-conflict Gaza. Canberra knows that on its own it has little clout with Israel, so it has used a multinational approach to call for an end to the fighting. It was also notable that the letter co-signed by Wong focused first on Israel's aid delivery model, a privatised version designed to tie the location and provision of humanitarian aid to military goals and to sideline professional international humanitarian organisations. The Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was controversial from the start – its original executive director, US military veteran Jake Wood, resigned before the first meal was delivered, citing his personal concerns that 'it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence'. Boston Consulting Group issued a public apology once it was revealed that two of its partners were involved in the scoping and planning for what was to become the GHF. The opaque funding sources for the foundation are concerning, as is the fact that the executive chairman is an evangelical preacher with close personal ties to US President Donald Trump. The security, provided by masked US private security contractors at the distribution points and the Israeli military in the area surrounding those sites, has been equally controversial. Reports of hundreds of aid-seekers being killed during the operation of the centres is alarming. Even if only partially true, nobody should die trying to feed their families.
Sky News AU
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘They think laws don't apply to them': Wong slammed for not suspending Mehreen Faruqi
Shadow Attorney-General Julian Leeser says Foreign Minister Penny Wong should have taken on Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Michaelia Cash's advice that Greens Deputy Leader Mehreen Faruqi should have been suspended for an anti-Israel act. Ms Faruqi has had sanctions placed on her because of the act, but Mr Leeser says the Labor government 'could've gone further'. 'It was a sign of a lack of leadership that Penny Wong has displayed that she didn't back Michaelia Cash's call to suspend her,' Mr Leeser told Sky News host Steve Price. 'I think a suspension is the right sort of thing. 'What we see again and again from the Greens is a sense that the laws and the conventions of our society don't apply to them.'
