News Corp newspapers have been accused of including racist overtones in their headline about Labor MP Penny Wong.

The Daily Telegraph story was titled How did it all go wong for Penny? accused Labor’s leader in the senate of being petulant during the election campaign and suggested she may have been a contributing factor to the opposition’s shock loss at the federal election.

During the election campaign Senator Wong refused to shake the hand of Liberal senator Simon Birmingham after a heated debate around foreign policy and China.

It’s not the first time the newspaper have made fun of the senator’s family name and the challenge many people of Asian descent have in pronouncing the letter r. Last year they included a story titled Treasury says Labor in wong on budget papers. 

Asked if she had plans to resign Senator Wong had a one word answer – “No.”

As Labor looks for a new leader to replace Bill Shorten many in the party are bemoaning the fact that Wong is not eligible to content the leadership because she is in the senate, not the House of Representatives.

Senator Wong has previous commented saying she has no interest in seeking the top job – and is happy in her role in the senate.

OIP Staff