Penny Wong

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Senator The Honourable
Penny Wong
Penny Wong May 2012.jpg
Senator for South Australia
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 July 2002
12th Minister for Finance and Deregulation
Incumbent
Assumed office
14 September 2010
Prime Minister Julia Gillard
Preceded by Lindsay Tanner
Minister for Climate Change, Energy Efficiency and Water
In office
3 December 2007 – 13 September 2010
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
Julia Gillard
Preceded by position created
Succeeded by Greg Combet
Personal details
Born Penelope Ying-yen Wong
(1968-11-05) 5 November 1968 (age 44)
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Nationality Australian
Political party Australian Labor Party
Domestic partner Sophie Allouache
Children Alexandra
Residence Australia
Alma mater University of Adelaide
Occupation Politician
Barrister
Religion Uniting Church in Australia
Website www.financeminister.gov.au

Penelope "Penny" Ying-yen Wong[1] (born 5 November 1968), an Australian senator representing South Australia, is the Commonwealth Minister for Finance and Deregulation. Wong is a member of the Labor Party and member of the Australian federal cabinet and the Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate.

Wong was the first Australian Minister for Climate Change and Water. Her appointment was amended on 26 February 2010, by the Prime Minister, to the Minister for Climate Change, Energy Efficiency and Water. This change in the Government's cabinet was brought about by the controversy of the Home Insulation Program (HIP).[2] On 13 September 2010, she was sworn in as Minister for Finance and Deregulation in the Gillard Labor cabinet.[3] She has been a member of the Australian Senate since 2002, representing South Australia.

Wong is the first Asian-born federal minister, as well as the first openly lesbian member of the Australian cabinet.[4][5] Before entering Parliament, Penny Wong was a barrister and solicitor in Adelaide, South Australia and an adviser to the Carr Government in New South Wales.[6]

Contents

Early life [edit]

Wong was born in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia to a Malaysian Chinese Hakka father and an Australian mother.[7][8] She moved to Adelaide, South Australia at the age of eight with her mother and younger brother Toby after her parents separated. Toby went on to become a chef in Adelaide

Wong gained a scholarship to Scotch College where she studied chemistry, physics and mathematics and was accepted into the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery at the University of Adelaide.[9] After spending a year on exchange in Brazil,[10] Wong found she had an aversion to blood. She then studied and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Jurisprudence and a Bachelor of Laws with Honours at the University of Adelaide and completed a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice at the University of South Australia.[9][11][12]

When she was 18, Wong took over the control of the Adelaide University Labor Club.[13] While at university, she worked part-time for the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union. Wong also became involved in political activism at university, winning a position on the National Executive of the National Union of Students. Wong has been a delegate to the South Australian Labor Party State Convention every year since 1989, with the exception of 1995.[14] Her time at university was one where a substantial number of contemporaries became Australian politicians. Former senator Natasha Stott Despoja was a contemporary, along with current Premier of South Australia, Jay Weatherill, whom Wong dated while at university.[9][10]

Career [edit]

Wong graduated from university in 1992. She continued her association with the CFMEU as an industrial officer. She was admitted to the South Australian Bar in 1993.

During 1995 and 1996, Wong acted as an advisor to the timber union and the newly-elected New South Wales state government, specialising in the area of forest policy in the middle of the fierce 1990s environmental battles over logging in NSW.[15]

On returning to Adelaide, Wong began practising law, working as a solicitor at the firm Duncan and Hannon between 1996 and 1999. From 1999 to 2002, Wong worked as a legal officer with the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union. During this time, she also won a position on the ALP's state executive.

During her legal career (between 1996 and 2002), Wong appeared 11 times before the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, 15 times before the South Australian Industrial Relations Court, 8 times before the South Australian Industrial Relations Commission, 3 times before the South Australian Workers Compensation Appeal Tribunal and 10 times before the South Australian Workers Compensation Tribunal.[16]

Wong ran for pre-selection for the Senate in 2001, and was selected for the top position on the Labor Party's South Australian ticket. Wong is a member of EMILY's List Australia, the support network for Labor women, and sat on a number of Senate committees, primarily those related to economics.

In June 2005, Wong was appointed Shadow Minister for Employment and Workforce Participation and Shadow Minister for Corporate Governance and Responsibility. Following the reshuffle in December 2006, she became responsible for the portfolios of Public Administration and Accountability, Corporate Governance and Responsibility, and Workforce Participation.

In December 2007, in the wake of the Labor Party victory in the 2007 election, Wong was appointed Minister for Climate Change and Water. As a result of this promotion, she is the highest ranked politician representing South Australia. She accompanied then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to Bali for the international climate change talks. Wong led final negotiations as Chair of the United Nations Working Group in the closing days of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December 2007,[17] shortly after her appointment as Minister for Climate Change and Water.

In September 2010, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced Wong had been promoted to succeed Lindsay Tanner as Minister for Finance and Deregulation.[18][19] In February 2013, Wong was appointed as the Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate, following the resignation from the Ministry and Cabinet by Chris Evans, the former Government Leader in the Senate.

Personal life [edit]

Penny Wong is lesbian, and was the first sitting member of the Australian Labor Party to come out while still in parliament.[20] Her partner, Sophie Allouache, a public servant and former University of Adelaide Students' Association president, attended her swearing-in ceremony along with Wong's mother, Jane Chapman. Although her father remains overseas, they keep in touch.[10] In December 2011, Allouache gave birth to their first child, Alexandra,[21] after announcing the IVF-assisted pregnancy using donor sperm in August 2011.[22]

In 2010, Wong was selected by readers of samesame.com.au as one of the 25 most influential lesbian Australians.[23] Wong is a practising Christian,[10] attending Pilgrim Uniting Church in Adelaide.

See also [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Penny Wong

References [edit]

  1. ^ traditional Chinese: 黃英賢; simplified Chinese: 黄英贤; Mandarin Pinyin: Huáng Yīngxián; Jyutping: wong4 jing1 jin4
  2. ^ "Garrett pays price for insulation debacle". ABC News (Australia). 26 February 2010. Retrieved 30 September 2010. 
  3. ^ White, Cassie (11 September 2010). "Gillard unveils major frontbench shake-up". ABC News (Australia). Retrieved 30 September 2010. 
  4. ^ Farouque, Farah (10 June 2006). "Why, oh why can't I have a civil union?". The Age (Australia). Retrieved 23 May 2007. 
  5. ^ "Australia's Rudd sworn in as PM". BBC News. 3 December 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2007. 
  6. ^ "The Hon. Penny Wong Lecture on Climate Change". Faculty of Law. Queensland University if Technology. Retrieved 30 September 2010. 
  7. ^ "Profile". Asian Currents (Asian Studies Association of Australia). August 2004. Retrieved 3 December 2007. 
  8. ^ Grattan, Michelle (25 September 2007). "Labor voice inspired by the fight for idea s". The Age (Australia). Retrieved 3 December 2007. 
  9. ^ a b c "Kitchen Cabinet: Episode 3 Penny Wong". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2012. 
  10. ^ a b c d "Freakish powers of a formidable operator". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 December 2007. Retrieved 22 June 2008. 
  11. ^ "ALP personal profile". Alp.org.au. Retrieved 2012-07-30. 
  12. ^ "Australian Parliament personal profile". Aph.gov.au. Retrieved 2012-07-30. 
  13. ^ Gordon, Josh (5 July 2008). "Can Wong Avoid Carbon-Fuelled Train Wreck?". WA Today (Australia). Retrieved 30 October 2009. 
  14. ^ "Senator Penny Wong: Biography". Australian Labor Party. 
  15. ^ Taylor, Lenore (23 May 2009). "Racism driving force for Penny Wong". The Australian. Retrieved 15 August 2011. 
  16. ^ Figures from AustLII, accessed at http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinosrch.cgi?query=%22P%20Wong%22;results=50;submit=Search;mask_world=;mask_path=;callback=on;method=auto;meta=%2Fau;view=database-natural;offset=0.
  17. ^ Topsfield, Jewel (30 November 2007). "Garrett Stripped of Climate Change Role". The Age (Australia). Retrieved 30 October 2009. 
  18. ^ "The Gillard ministry". The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 September 2010. Retrieved 12 September 2010. 
  19. ^ Gillard, Julia MP (11 September 2010). "Prime Minister announces new Ministry" (Press release). Retrieved 12 September 2010. 
  20. ^ Johnson, Carol (2004). "The Politics of Signs: Gay and Lesbian issues in Comparative Perspective". Australasian Political Studies Association Conference: 18. 
  21. ^ Murphy, Katharine (14 December 2011). "Wong's joyous vote for new parenthood". The Age (Australia). Retrieved 14 December 2011. 
  22. ^ Kenny, Mark (9 August 2011). "Baby joy for Finance Minister Penny Wong and partner Sophie Allouache". AdelaideNow (Australia). Retrieved 9 August 2011. 
  23. ^ "Samesame 25: The 25 Most Influential Gay and Lesbian Australians 2010". samesame. Retrieved 31 March 2011. 
Political offices
Preceded by
New position		 Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency
2007–2010		 Succeeded by
Greg Combet
Preceded by
Lindsay Tanner		 Minister for Finance and Deregulation
2010–present		 Incumbent
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