Penny Wong
Encyclopedia
Penelope "Penny" Ying-yen Wong (born 5 November 1968), is an Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 senator for South Australia and the Federal Minister for Finance and Deregulation. Wong was the first Australian Minister for Climate Change and Water
Minister for Climate Change and Water (Australia)
The Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency is Greg Combet. Penny Wong was the first minister with this title, appointed on 3 December 2007 and amended on 26 February 2010. The Minister administers his portfolio through the Department of Climate Change and Energy...

. 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
Energy Efficient Homes Package
The Energy Efficient Homes Package was an Australian government program implemented by the Rudd Government and was administered by the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts...

 (HIP). On 13 September 2010, she was sworn in as Minister for Finance and Deregulation in the Gillard Labor cabinet. She has been a member of the Australian Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...

 since 2002, representing South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

.

Wong is the first openly gay member of the Australian federal cabinet, and the first Asian-born federal minister. Before entering Parliament, Penny Wong was a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...

 and solicitor in Adelaide and an adviser to the Carr Government
Bob Carr
Robert John "Bob" Carr , Australian statesman, was Premier of New South Wales from 4 April 1995 to 3 August 2005. He holds the record for the longest continuous service as premier of NSW...

 in New South Wales.

Early life

Wong was born in Kota Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu , formerly known as Jesselton, is the capital of Sabah state in East Malaysia. It is also the capital of the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the northwest coast of Borneo facing the South China Sea. The Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park lies on one side and Mount...

, Sabah
Sabah
Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...

, Malaysia to a Malaysian Chinese Hakka
Hakka people
The Hakka , sometimes Hakka Han, are Han Chinese who speak the Hakka language and have links to the provincial areas of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan and Fujian in China....

 father and an Australian mother. She moved to 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, South Australia.

After spending a year on exchange in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, Wong studied Arts/Law at the University of Adelaide
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...

. When she was 18, she took over the control of the Adelaide University Labor Club. While at university, she worked part-time for the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union
Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union is Australia's main trade union in construction, forestry and furnishing products, mining and energy production....

. She also became involved in political activism at university, winning a position on the National Executive of the National Union of Students
National Union of Students of Australia
The National Union of Students is the peak representative body for Australian university students. Most student unions in Australian campuses are affiliated to NUS...

. Wong has been a delegate to the South Australian Labor Party State Convention every year since 1989, with the exception of 1995. Her time at university was one where a substantial number of contemporaries became Australian politicians. Former senator Natasha Stott Despoja
Natasha Stott Despoja
Natasha Jessica Stott Despoja AM is an Australian former politician and former leader of the Australian Democrats. She was a Democrats senator for South Australia from 1995 to 2008...

 was a contemporary, along with her former boyfriend Jay Weatherill
Jay Weatherill
Jay Wilson Weatherill is an Australian politician and current Premier of South Australia. He has represented the electoral district of Cheltenham in the South Australian House of Assembly as a member of the Australian Labor Party since the 2002 election.-Early life:Born in the western suburbs of...

, now premier of South Australia, among many others.

Career

Wong graduated from university in 1992, and continued on with the CFMEU, working as an industrial officer, gaining admission to the bar
Admission to the bar
An admission to practice law, also called admission to the bar, is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. Becoming a lawyer is a widely varied process around the world. Common to all jurisdictions are requirements of age and competence; some jurisdictions also require citizenship...

 in 1993. During 1995 and 1996, she acted as an advisor to the timber union and the newly-elected New South Wales state government
Bob Carr
Robert John "Bob" Carr , Australian statesman, was Premier of New South Wales from 4 April 1995 to 3 August 2005. He holds the record for the longest continuous service as premier of NSW...

, specialising in the area of forest policy in the middle of the fierce 1990s environmental battles over logging in NSW. On returning to Adelaide, she began practising law, won a position on the ALP's state executive, and also took on work as a legal officer with the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union
Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union
United Voice, formerly known as the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union is a large Australian trade union, with around 130,000 members...

.

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
EMILY's List Australia
EMILY's List Australia is a political network in Australia that supports progressive women candidates to be elected to political office. EMILY's List Australia was inspired by EMILY's List, a Political Action Committee with similar goals in the United States....

, the support network for Labor women, and, until her appointment as a minister following the 2007 election, 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 November 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
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...

 to Bali for the international climate change talks
2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference
The 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference took place at the Bali International Conference Centre, Nusa Dua, in Bali, Indonesia, between December 3 and December 15, 2007 . Representatives from over 180 countries attended, together with observers from intergovernmental and nongovernmental...

. Wong led final negotiations as Chair of the United Nations Working Group in the closing days of the United Nations Climate Change Conference
2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference
The 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference took place at the Bali International Conference Centre, Nusa Dua, in Bali, Indonesia, between December 3 and December 15, 2007 . Representatives from over 180 countries attended, together with observers from intergovernmental and nongovernmental...

 in December 2007, shortly after her appointment as Minister for Climate Change and Water
Minister for Climate Change and Water (Australia)
The Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency is Greg Combet. Penny Wong was the first minister with this title, appointed on 3 December 2007 and amended on 26 February 2010. The Minister administers his portfolio through the Department of Climate Change and Energy...

.

In September 2010, Prime Minister Julia Gillard
Julia Gillard
Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved...

 announced Wong had been promoted to succeed Lindsay Tanner
Lindsay Tanner
Lindsay James Tanner is a former Australian member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Melbourne, Victoria, for the Australian Labor Party, having first won the seat at the 1993 federal election. He was a member of the Australian Government from 3 December 2007, serving as...

 as Minister for Finance and Deregulation.

Personal life

Penny Wong is openly gay, and was the first sitting member of the Australian Labor Party to come out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....

 while still in parliament. 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. In August 2011, Wong and Allouache announced they were expecting their first child, after Allouache became pregnant with the assistance of the IVF
In vitro fertilisation
In vitro fertilisation is a process by which egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside the body: in vitro. IVF is a major treatment in infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed...

 program and donor sperm. Wong's boyfriend in her university days was Jay Weatherill
Jay Weatherill
Jay Wilson Weatherill is an Australian politician and current Premier of South Australia. He has represented the electoral district of Cheltenham in the South Australian House of Assembly as a member of the Australian Labor Party since the 2002 election.-Early life:Born in the western suburbs of...

, now premier of South Australia.

In 2010, Wong was selected by readers of samesame.com.au as one of the 25 most influential lesbian Australians. Wong is a practising Christian, attending Pilgrim Uniting Church
Uniting Church in Australia
The Uniting Church in Australia was formed on 22 June 1977 when many congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, the Presbyterian Church of Australia and the Congregational Union of Australia came together under the Basis of Union....

 in Adelaide.

External links

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