Penny Wong

Senator the Hon Penny Wong is a Senator for South Australia, the Senate leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.

The first Asian-born member of an Australian Cabinet, Wong is also the first female openly-LGBTI Australian federal parliamentarian and federal government cabinet minister, and the first woman to serve as Leader of the Government in the Senate and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.

Entering the Australian Senate in 2001, she has served as Shadow Minster for Employment and Workforce Participation (2005), Shadow Minister for Corporate Governance and Responsibility (2005), Minster for Climate Change and Water (2007), Minister for Climate Change, Energy Efficiency and Water (2010), Minister for Finance and Deregulation (2010), and Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate (2013).

Prior to her career in parliament, Wong worked at the CFMEU, in the National Executive of the National Union of Students and a lawyer and political advisor. She graduated from the University of Adelaide with Bachelor degrees in Arts and Laws.