‘Can’t eradicate history’: UK Minister James Cleverly hits back at Penny Wong
UK Foreign Minister James Cleverly has pushed back at Penny Wong over her remarks on British colonialism in the Pacific at an address in London
Britain’s Foreign Minister James Cleverly has pushed back at Penny Wong over her views on British colonialism in the Pacific, saying: “You cannot eradicate or erase your history,” after Senator Wong’s outspoken remarks were discussed at the highest levels.
Mr Cleverly’s comment came after ministerial meetings of British and Australian foreign and defence ministers in Portsmouth on Thursday.
The AUKMIN meeting confirmed that Australia’s nuclear propelled submarine deal with Britain and the United States would be announced “soon”, possibly early next month when both Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak travel to Washington to see US President Joe Biden.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said having nuclear propelled submarines was such a “huge moment in our country’s history”, it would “change Australia’s international personality, it will dramatically build our capability and with that it will build our sovereignty”.
He added: “The significance of Britain and America working together to help us to have that technology is one which in international terms is also highly significant.”
He drew upon Australia’s “oldest relationship” with Britain and hailed it as being given “a contemporary expression”.
Such historic relationships were given prominence by Senator Wong, who had told the British in an important speech to Kings College, London earlier in the week that they should share “uncomfortable” stories of colonisation with Pacific nations, as that “gives us the opportunity to find more common ground than if we stayed sheltered in narrower versions of our countries’ histories’.’’
Mr Cleverly confirmed on Thursday at the conclusion of the two days of meetings that the colonisation issue was raised as one of the areas of conversation, but said the main discussion was about future joint work.
“We did touch upon the history of the UK in our relationship,’’’ he said. “It is about recognising that you cannot eradicate or erase your history so you need to be conscious of it.”
He added: ”I think it is incumbent upon the UK too, in our dealing with Australia or any other country with which were once a colonial power that we want to demonstrate that this is a modern partnership: different but equal, geographically separated but emotionally and historically bound”.
Mr Cleverly said there had been “no tension, no awkwardness, perhaps more than a bit of humour about how often our history is portrayed both in Portsmouth (where the First Fleet departed in 1787 to establish a European settlement in Sydney) and in London’’ during the meetings.
Senator Wong, standing beside Mr Cleverly, looked briefly frustrated that the issue had been raised as one of only four questions allowed by the media in the press conference.
She said: “The modern face of Australia and the modern face of Britain is apparent here in this room (where Senator Wong was born in Malaysia and Mr Cleverly, born and privately educated in London has a mother who came from Sierra Leone) in one of the ways in which we can make ourselves more stronger and more influential. In this time of strategic competition we have to make sure we are not being framed by others and that we frame ourselves.”
The four ministers had visited the 70 Australian troops who were training novice members of the Ukraine armed forces in southern England on Wednesday and then on Thursday enjoyed a private lunch on board HMS Victory, the flagship of Lord Nelson’s fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805. They spoke about “trust and openness” in the British-Australian relationship.
The four agreed in a communique issued later in the day to undertake a comprehensive refresh of the 2013 bilateral Defence and Security Cooperation Treaty.
“This will set the overarching conditions for our evolving defence relationship and enable increased engagement by the UK in Australia and across the region,’’ the statement said.
As well the ministers agreed on the importance of supporting resilience, security, and sovereignty in the Pacific and agreed to focus on regional priorities in maritime security, training and resilience.
Another agreed point was to work closely with Pacific partners with a view to identify training that could be provided by the UK under the Pacific Maritime Security Program.
They would also explore opportunities to embed UK military engineers and project managers in Australian Defence Force infrastructure projects in the Indo-Pacific.
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