Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong was been forced to pause a speech following persistent heckling by pro-Palestinian activists during the Plimsoll Address on international relations at the University of Tasmania.
An organised campaign was arranged to purposely interrupt the speech on the evening of Oct. 15.
Promotional posters showed an altered photo of Wong holding up dripping, blood-red hands, with the headline, “Free Palestine, Picket Penny Wong.”
The poster leading up to the event accused Wong of being a “war criminal” and calls for Australia to cut ties with Israel and throw unconditional support behind Gaza.
Despite Wong expressing support for the safety of aid workers in Gaza and her hopes for a two-state solution in her speech, hecklers interrupted her, yelling on multiple occasions and stopping the minister from speaking.
The ABC reported Wong’s 45-minute speech was interrupted around 10 times by protesters calling for Australia to sanction Israel.
Hecklers also criticised the Australian government’s decision to pause funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
The move occurred after investigations revealed several UNRWA members were also found to be members of the terrorist organisation Hamas, responsible for the Oct. 7 attacks that precipitated the current war between Israel and Gaza.
“I'd say to you, we are a democracy and everyone’s voice matters ... but I don’t actually believe, and I have never believed, that we gain anything by shouting each other down,” Wong told the radical protestors.
Attempts by the minister and the university to settle the situation did not seem effective.
“Part of what I’m doing in this speech, to anybody else who wishes to speak but not listen, is actually try to lay out some of what we are doing in relation to what is happening in Gaza and what we are doing in relation to Lebanon,” Wong told the activists.
“So, it’s disappointing that people don’t actually want to hear some of the facts about what the government is seeking to do in this situation.”
Wong ultimately asked the hecklers if they wanted to listen or if all they wanted to do was shout at her, eventually forcing her to leave the stage.
Grassroots Action Network Tasmania were responsible for the action.
“Bang drums, placards, pots and pans, vuvuzelas and whatever else will help Penny feel that the people in Nipaluna (Hobart) don’t want her,” they wrote on Instagram.
The Epoch Times contacted the University of Tasmania and Wong’s office for comment.
