Penny Wong welcomes Iraqi government’s decision to allow engineer to leave Baghdad but Pether’s team criticise timing of media statement Get our new political email , free app or daily news podcast Advisers to Australian Robert Pether have expressed concern about the timing of a statement from the foreign minister announcing his departure from Iraq, saying it was issued at a sensitive period while the engineer was still transiting through Turkey.

Also readMelbourne Islamic leader silent on centre’s alleged Flydubai hijacker links in Facebook video

Penny Wong’s office issued a statement on Monday announcing that Pether had been allowed to leave Iraq after five years trapped in the country, including a four-year stint in jail that his family feared would kill him. Continue reading...

Also read‘Absolutely senseless’: Boy, 13, charged with murder after man stabbed to death in Sydney’s west