Penny Wong

Her parents were Jane (née Chapman), an English Australian whose forebears first reached South Australia on Cygnet in 1836, and Francis Wong, a Malaysian Chinese man of Cantonese and Hakka origin who lived in Sandakan during the Japanese occupation of British Borneo.

Penny Wong's parents had met in the early 1960s, when Francis Wong was studying architecture at the University of Adelaide under the Colombo Plan.

Wong grew up speaking dialects of Malay (Bahasa Melayu), Chinese, and English.

At five years old, she began attending Kinabalu International School.

After her parents separated, she moved to Adelaide, South Australia, at the age of eight with her mother and younger brother.

After starting at Coromandel Valley Primary School, Wong gained a scholarship to Scotch College, Adelaide, where she studied chemistry, physics and mathematics.

During her time at Scotch College, Wong toured New Caledonia as part of her French language studies, performed in school productions of plays such as Six Characters in Search of an Author, and co-captained the hockey team.

She was accepted into the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery at the University of Adelaide, but after spending a year on exchange in Brazil, found she had an aversion to blood.

Penelope Ying-Yen Wong (born 5 November 1968) is an Australian politician who is serving as the current minister for Foreign Affairs and leader of the Government in the Senate in the Albanese government since 2022.

Penelope Ying-Yen Wong was born on 5 November 1968 in Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah, which had become part of the Federation of Malaysia five years earlier.

Through her friendship with David Penberthy, who had also been on exchange in Latin America, Wong joined the Socialist Workers Party-sponsored Committee in Solidarity with Central America and the Caribbean (CISCAC) while at university in 1987, but was not an active member.

Wong's connections with CISCAC brought her in contact with a broader group of left-wing activists who opposed the Hawke Labor government's planned changes to university fees.

In a July 1988 election, Wong won a position on the board of the Adelaide University Union as part of the newly formed Progressive Education Team.

One month later, while protesting outside a state Labor Party convention at the Adelaide Trades Hall, Wong had a conversation with Young Labor member Lois Boswell, who told her that "if you wanted to really make a difference, you had to be inside the room having that battle."

Wong joined the Labor Party that day; she credits her decision to her conversation with Boswell, and the Liberal-National Coalition's new "One Australia" policy opposing multiculturalism and Asian immigration.

Wong became involved with the leadership of the Adelaide University Labor Club, and has been a delegate to the South Australian Labor Party State Convention every year since 1989 (with the exception of 1995).

She also worked part-time for the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), and won a position on the National Executive of the National Union of Students.

A number of her contemporaries at university went on to become Australian politicians, including former senator for South Australia, Natasha Stott Despoja; former Premier of South Australia, Jay Weatherill; and health minister Mark Butler.

After graduation, Wong continued her association with the CFMEU as an industrial officer.

She then studied and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Jurisprudence and a Bachelor of Laws with Honours at the University of Adelaide in 1993, followed by a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice at the University of South Australia.

She was admitted to the South Australian Bar in 1993.

During 1995 and 1996, Wong acted as an advisor to the CFMEU and to the newly elected New South Wales state government, specializing in the area of forest policy in the middle of the fierce 1990s environmental battles over logging in NSW.

On returning to Adelaide, Wong began practising law, working as a solicitor at the firm Duncan and Hannon (1996–1999).

During her legal career (1996–2002), Wong appeared as counsel in 11 published decisions of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, 15 published decisions of the South Australian Industrial Relations Court, 8 published decisions of the South Australian Industrial Relations Commission, 3 published decisions of the South Australian Workers Compensation Appeal Tribunal and 10 published decisions of the South Australian Workers Compensation Tribunal.

From 1999 to 2002, she 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.

Wong entered politics by winning a Senate seat in the 2001 election.

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.

A member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), she has been a senator for South Australia since 2002.

Wong previously served as minister for Climate Change and minister for Finance and Deregulation during the governments of Prime Ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard from 2007 until 2013.

Born in Malaysia to a Chinese Malaysian father and an English Australian mother, Wong was educated at Scotch College in Adelaide, before attending the University of Adelaide, graduating with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees.

Prior to beginning her political career, she worked as a lawyer and political advisor.

Following Labor's victory in the 2007 election, she was appointed Australia's first ever Minister for Climate Change, going on to represent the country at the landmark 2009 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

In 2008, she became the first Asian-Australian in an Australian Cabinet.

Following the 2010 election, Wong was moved to become Minister for Finance and Deregulation, and in June 2013, she was elected by her colleagues to become Leader of the Government in the Senate.

Following Labor's defeat in the 2013 election, Wong held several roles in the shadow cabinets of both Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese, serving as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate throughout.

Upon Labor's victory at the 2022 election, Wong was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs, and resumed her role as Leader of the Government in the Senate.

She was also the first female openly-LGBTI Australian federal parliamentarian, and was an instrumental figure in the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia in 2017, reversing her previous endorsement of Labor Party policy that had opposed it.

On 6 March 2024 Wong became longest-serving female cabinet minister in the history of the Australian Parliament.

Several surveys have consistently found Wong to be the most trusted politician in Australia.