The short journey from principle to pragmatic: whatever happened to Penny Wong?

This is a time when Australia should project the confidence of a middle power with a clear sense of its own interests. Instead, it just rubber stamps the decisions made by others.

In 2022, Penny Wong entered government with a reputation for strong character and a parliamentarian based on principle: this was the Senator who sparred forensically in opposition, who then went on to be the foreign minister who strategically and carefully reset relationships with Beijing after they were severely damaged by the Morrison government, and the tirelessly worked to put Australia back into the centre of Pacific diplomacy.

This aura, however, has been dulled by the politics of Israel–Gaza and the wider Middle East region. As civilian casualties in Gaza have risen over the past 20 months, and as the Trump administration continues to override international law in Iran, amongst other places, Wong – normally unafraid of clear and tough language – began to speak in abstract and obtuse language. She would not label the unfolding catastrophe in Gaza as a genocide, nor would she accept that the United States had breached international law and protocols, or explain how Australian interests were served by silence on these key issues. In the space of 18 months, one of Australia’s most articulate foreign minister has drifted towards joining the “unprincipled greats” of Australian diplomacy.