The prime minister says Labor party elder Paul Keating's strident criticism of two cabinet ministers only serves to diminish the former leader, but did not call on him to apologise.
Mr Keating, who has previously been critical of the AUKUS deal, repeated that it was a mistake, that China did not pose a threat to Australia, and it was not the "old Soviet Union" that was seeking to impose its ideology on the world.
He was particularly scathing of Senator Wong, who he said had "compromised" herself by adopting policies that avoided political controversy. "Running around the Pacific Islands with a lei around your neck handing out money, which is what Penny does, is not foreign policy. It’s a consular task," Mr Keating said yesterday.Fronting the press this afternoon, Mr Albanese avoided answering whether Mr Keating should apologise for remarks against his ministers.Paul Keating is a big guy, I think he is entitled to put his opinion, on that point I think he’s wrong," Mr Albanese said.
"Paul Keating has his views, but in substance and in tone, they belong to another time," Senator Wong said.Mr Marles yesterday avoided making criticisms of Mr Keating. "Whatever Paul Keating says about myself, the foreign minister, the prime minister – you won't hear a bad word from us about him," he said.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Richard Marles hails Penny Wong as one of Labor’s ‘great foreign ministers’Defence Minister Richard Marles has hailed Foreign Minister Penny Wong for doing a “remarkable job” repairing Australia’s international relations. “We have never had a foreign minister who has placed the Pacific so centrally in terms of our engagement with the world, and that is profoundly important,” he said during a media conference on Thursday. “I think within a year of taking office, we can really say of Penny Wong that she is one of the great foreign ministers that we have had.”
Read more »
Paul Keating labels Aukus submarine pact ‘worst deal in all history’ in attack on Albanese governmentFormer Labor PM blasts ‘incompetence’ of his party for backing nuclear submarine agreement with US and UK
Read more »
‘Fundamentally disagree’: Albanese fires back at Keating over AUKUS, ChinaAlbanese accused his predecessor of diminishing himself by attacking two of the government’s most senior cabinet ministers, Penny Wong and Richard Marles.
Read more »
'Fundamentally disagree': Albanese breaks silence on KeatingAnthony Albanese has not backed down following a barrage of criticism from Paul Keating, with the Prime Minister declaring he “fundamentally” disagreed with his Labor predecessor’s remarks.
Read more »
‘Fundamentally disagree’: Albanese fires back at Keating over AUKUS, ChinaPrime Minister Anthony Albanese has fired back at Paul Keating, accusing his predecessor of diminishing himself by attacking the government’s most senior cabinet ministers and saying he “fundamentally disagreed” with Keating’s relaxed view of modern China.
Read more »