Richard Foley has hit back at claims he’s not being loyal to Wagga. Photo: Chris Roe.
Wagga councillor Richard Foley has accused a former colleague of “racially motivated mockery” after being labelled “Pho Lee” following his pitch to send a trade delegation to China.
At a council meeting in February, Cr Foley proposed that a local government delegation undertake a six-day visit to Kunming to explore investment and trade opportunities. Wagga has maintained a formal sister-city relationship with the southern Chinese city since 1988.
Former councillor and One Nation spokesman Paul Funnell criticised the idea in a Facebook post, saying Wagga councillors should “stop sucking up to China” and instead focus on “roads, rates and rubbish”.
In a subsequent post, Mr Funnell referred to Cr Foley as “Pho Lee” and accused him of being a Chinese Communist Party sympathiser.
Cr Foley responded in a statement released on Monday (9 March).
“My name is Richard Foley. I am of Anglo-Celtic Australian heritage. Mr Funnell knows this. The fabrication of an Asian-sounding name to associate me with a foreign identity is racially motivated mockery,” Cr Foley said.
He also told Region the comments were a “bad look” for the One Nation Party brand.
Mr Funnell said he did not intend the remark to carry racial overtones.
“I just thought he’d see the funny side of it. It really is just a bit of Australian larrikinism; have we gone so far that we can’t do that anymore?” he told Region.
Cr Foley also rejected Mr Funnell’s suggestion that his proposal showed loyalty to China over Wagga.
“The wider Riverina already conducts approximately $2 billion in existing trade with China. This is about exploring the possibility of opening up trade with these huge markets. Is China perfect? Absolutely not. But we benefit from opening up dialogue,” he said.
Mr Funnell remained unconvinced.
“We’ve been in the sister city relationship for many decades and there’s been no economic benefit for Wagga at all. The cities don’t even have anything in common. They’re just junkets. We’ve got so many issues here in Wagga that need to be addressed, yet we are wasting time on this,” he said.
Wagga City Council has not endorsed Cr Foley’s proposed trip, but councillors agreed to seek a report assessing the merits of the idea.
Cr Foley said any businessmen who took part in the delegation would fund their own travel expenses to China.
“I’ll pay my own way if I choose to go on this delegation, if it happens,” Cr Foley said.
The Wagga councillor has also invited Mr Funnell to participate in a formal public debate on Australia’s relationship with China.
In 2020, then-councillor Paul Funnell successfully moved a motion for Wagga to sever its sister-city ties with Kunming, citing concerns about the Chinese Government and its handling of the coronavirus.
The council reversed that decision a few weeks later, with then-mayor Greg Conkey apologising to the people of Kunming.
