{"id":55589,"date":"2026-07-22T01:37:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T01:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/55589\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T01:37:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T01:37:07","slug":"penny-wong-demands-justice-for-bianca-jones-holly-morton-bowles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/55589\/","title":{"rendered":"Penny Wong demands \u2018justice\u2019 for Bianca Jones, Holly Morton-Bowles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has demanded \u201cjustice\u201d while confronting her Lao counterpart over Laos\u2019 response to the deaths of Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles.<\/p>\n

The Australian teens were among six backpackers who died after drinking methanol-laced alcohol at a hostel in Vang Vieng in late 2024.<\/p>\n

Little has come from the lengthy local investigation, with 10 people handed suspended sentences or $185 fines and the owner of the distillery involved in the mass poisoning facing charges with a maximum penalty of four years.<\/p>\n

\u201cHolly and Bianca\u2019s families deserve justice,\u201d Senator Wong said after her meeting on Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made clear that Australia expects the Lao government to ensure this investigation fully reflects the seriousness of this tragedy and that those responsible are held properly to account.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur advocacy for Holly and Bianca\u2019s families is not over.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to pursue this matter with the Lao government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lao Foreign Minister Thongsavanh Phomvihane did not comment on the meeting.<\/p>\n

Lao authorities last week announced charges against the distillery owner at a press conference that denied access to foreign reporters.<\/p>\n

The charges included the sale of food products harmful to health and operating an illegal business, according to Denmark\u2019s foreign ministry, which has been tracking the investigation because two Danish women were also killed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe charges carry a penalty ranging from three months to four years\u2019 imprisonment, as well as a fine,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n

The victims\u2019 families were furious when they learnt of the charges last week, with Ms Jones\u2019s father saying he was lost for words.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have words for the disgust that I have with what the Laos authorities are suggesting is meant to be justice for the deaths of six tourists,\u201d he told the ABC.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m calling on the Australian government to do all they can to intervene.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also speaking to the national broadcaster, Ms Jones\u2019s mother said the charges showed \u201ctheir lives didn\u2019t even matter\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just really appalled by it all,\u201d Michelle Jones said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were just going over to have a bit of fun and doing the rite of passage that every child or teenager does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia has since classified Laos a level 2 risk for tourists.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lao legal system may not provide transparency or justice, particularly in criminal cases,\u201d the government-run Smartraveller website said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAuthorities may apply the law inconsistently. Several foreign nationals, including Australians, died of methanol poisoning through consuming alcoholic drinks.\u201d<\/p>\n

It also urged Australians to avoid consuming Tiger Vodka and Tiger Whisky due to concerns about the products being a health risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cTravellers have been assaulted after accepting spiked food or drinks. Some have died from drug-related incidents. Never accept food or drinks from strangers,\u201d Smartraveller warned.<\/p>\n

A higher level 3 \u201creconsider your need to travel\u201d warning is in place for the Xaisomboun Province, east of Vang Vieng, due to the high risk of armed attacks.<\/p>\n

Read related topics:Penny Wong<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Foreign Minister Penny Wong has demanded \u201cjustice\u201d while confronting her Lao counterpart over Laos\u2019 response to the deaths…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55590,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[53763,44015,53751,40509,53720,53719,53738,53730,36519,43319,53758,53717,53773,52825,39267,41552,21187,53775,40351,53746,44712,53759,22,23,7458,21,43100,39790,8005,38042,13750,47105,44725,32203,53728,53723,18571,53772,53722,53750,53749,37991,38155,48149,1849,53740,37055,53761,44652,39791,6968,3198,53769,53774,53760,22777,37392,53768,44952,44650,53752,53726,2054,53739,53744,470,31458,53743,12333,53767,53757,53753,53741,53737,53735,53755,53733,53716,39660,48240,53748,40412,37024,41017,53745,53754,53729,53732,53756,41012,53727,53771,53747,34680,53766,53731,53725,38585,53736,41591,53724,43721,53765,50986,44662,53721,43160,52128,36687,53734,53762,53742,19449,53770,30103,36985,53718,44653,39789,12740,5716,44692,44794,53764],"class_list":["post-55589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-s-families","tag-s-father","tag-s-foreign-ministry","tag-s-mother","tag-s-top-diplomat","tag-s-vow","tag-185-fines","tag-10-people","tag-a-bit","tag-a-fine","tag-a-health-risk","tag-a-hostel","tag-a-level-2-risk","tag-a-maximum-penalty","tag-a-penalty","tag-a-press-conference","tag-access","tag-account","tag-afternoon","tag-alcoholic-drinks","tag-an-illegal-business","tag-armed-attacks","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australians","tag-austrlia","tag-authorities","tag-bianca-jones","tag-charges","tag-concerns","tag-criminal-cases","tag-demands","tag-denmark","tag-drinks","tag-drug-related-incidents","tag-every-child-or-teenager","tag-families","tag-food-or-drinks","tag-food-products","tag-foreign-minister-penny-wong","tag-foreign-reporters-the-charges","tag-four-years","tag-fun","tag-fury","tag-health","tag-her-lao-counterpart","tag-her-meeting","tag-higher-level-3","tag-holly-and-bianca","tag-holly-morton-bowles","tag-imprisonment","tag-justice","tag-lao-counterpart","tag-lao-foreign-minister","tag-lao-foreign-minister-thongsavanh-phomvihane","tag-laos","tag-last-week","tag-late-2024-little","tag-methanol-poisoning","tag-methanol-laced-alcohol","tag-michelle-jones","tag-ms-jones","tag-newswire-politics","tag-our-advocacy","tag-passage","tag-penny-wong","tag-place","tag-poisoned-teens","tag-response","tag-senator-wong","tag-several-foreign-nationals","tag-six-backpackers","tag-six-tourists","tag-smartraveller-warned-a","tag-spiked-food","tag-strangers","tag-suspended-sentences","tag-teen-deaths","tag-the-abc","tag-the-australian-government","tag-the-australian-teens","tag-the-charges","tag-the-country","tag-the-deaths","tag-the-disgust","tag-the-distillery","tag-the-distillery-owner","tag-the-government-run-smartraveller-website","tag-the-high-risk","tag-the-investigation","tag-the-lao-government","tag-the-lao-legal-system","tag-the-laos-authorities","tag-the-law","tag-the-lengthy-local-investigation","tag-the-mass-poisoning","tag-the-meeting-lao-authorities","tag-the-ministry","tag-the-national-broadcaster","tag-the-owner","tag-the-products","tag-the-response","tag-the-rite","tag-the-sale","tag-the-seriousness","tag-the-xaisomboun-province","tag-their-lives","tag-this-investigation","tag-this-matter","tag-this-tragedy","tag-three-months","tag-tiger-vodka-and-tiger-whisky","tag-tourists","tag-transparency-or-justice","tag-travellers","tag-tuesday","tag-two-australian-teens","tag-two-danish-women","tag-vang-vieng","tag-victims","tag-warning","tag-wong","tag-words","tag-your-need"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}