page_title: Penny Wong
section_title: Entering Parliament
hierarchical_section_title: Penny Wong / Parliamentary service / Entering Parliament
caption_attribution_description: English: Penny Wong, Senator for South Australia, accepting Penrith City Council's "Sustainable Penrith" bucket hat at her UNFCCC address in Bali 2007.
context_page_description: Penelope Ying-Yen Wong is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for South Australia since 2002. She has served as Senate leader of the Australian Labor Party since 2013, and is currently Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. She was a cabinet minister in the Rudd and Gillard Governments from 2007 to 2013. Born in Malaysia to an Australian mother and Malaysian father, Wong was educated at Scotch College in Adelaide, and then attended the University of Adelaide, graduating with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees. Prior to entering Federal parliament, Wong worked as a lawyer and political advisor. Wong has been described by her biographer as, "principled, intellectual, private, restrained and sane." In 2008, she became the first Asian-born member of an Australian cabinet. She was also the first female openly-LGBTI Australian federal parliamentarian and federal government cabinet minister, supporting legalised same-sex marriage in Australia despite having previously opposed it. As leader in foreign affairs, she has come under pressure from ALP elders, such as Paul Keating and Gareth Evans, for Australia to "cut the tag" with the United States.
context_section_description: 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. She was elected at the 2001 election, her term commencing on 1 July 2002. 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.
caption: Wong in 2007
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