Penny Wong
Australian politician
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June 11 2025 | Wong announced that Australia would join New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Norway in banning and freezing assets of far-right Israeli government ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Smotrich for advocating violence and Palestinian displacement. |
February 2025 | Wong met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the G20 summit in South Africa to raise Australian concerns about Chinese naval exercises in the Tasman Sea. |
2024 | Married her wife Sophie Allouache. |
December 15 2024 | Wong was part of the Australian government delegation that confirmed the repatriation of the five surviving Bali Nine members (Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen, and Michael Czugaj) back to Australia after serving over 19 years in Indonesian prison. |
August 2024 | Condemned Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's statements about 'starving' Palestinians in Gaza during the ongoing conflict. |
June 2024 | Wong attended the 30th Australia-Papua New Guinea Ministerial Forum in Port Moresby with cabinet colleagues, announcing several initiatives under a bilateral security agreement with Papua New Guinea. |
May 2024 | Wong clarified Australia's vote in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution supporting Palestinian UN membership, emphasizing it did not mean immediate recognition of Palestinian statehood. |
April 2024 | Wong indicated that the Albanese government was considering recognising Palestinian statehood as a means of facilitating a two-state solution. |
March 6 2024 | Became the longest-serving female cabinet minister in the history of the Australian Parliament. |
March 4 2024 | Wong participated in a special Australia-ASEAN summit, exchanging a memorandum of understanding with Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hassan to affirm the Australian-Malaysian comprehensive strategic partnership. |
February 2024 | Paused funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) after allegations of staff involvement with Hamas attacks, pending investigation of Israel's claims. |
February 1 2024 | Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles hosted New Zealand counterparts Winston Peters and Judith Collins for a joint bilateral meeting in Melbourne, discussing AUKUS Pillar Two and committing to enhanced bilateral security and defence cooperation. |
2023 | Surveyed by Australian Financial Review readers for the second consecutive year as the most effective minister in the Albanese government. |
December 2023 | Opinion polling by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age found Wong to be the most liked politician in the country. |
December 2023 | Roy Morgan Research study again found Wong to be Australia's most trusted politician. |
August 2023 | Wong confirmed Australia would revert to its pre-2014 policy of designating the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip as 'Occupied Palestinian Territories' and Israeli settlements there as 'illegal'. |
2022 | Shortly after being sworn into office, Wong visited several Pacific countries including Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga to emphasize the new government's approach to climate change and regional relations, addressing the Pacific Islands Forum. |
2022 | Reuters described Wong as a 'high profile' figure with 'a reputation for plain language and maintaining composure during heated debates'. |
2022 | Surveyed by Australian Financial Review readers as the most effective minister in the Albanese government. |
2022 | Upon Labor's election victory, appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs and resumed role as Leader of the Government in the Senate. |
December 2022 | Penny Wong became the first Australian cabinet minister to visit China since 2019, meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to seek diplomatic improvement in Australia-China relations. |
October 2022 | Wong announced the Albanese government would reverse the previous Morrison government's decision to recognise West Jerusalem as Israel's capital, stating that Jerusalem's status should be decided through peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. |
June 2022 | Received media attention for delivering a speech in fluent Indonesian during a visit to Indonesia. |
June 16 2022 | Visited New Zealand to meet with Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta, reaffirming bilateral relations and discussing cooperation on climate change, indigenous, and Indo-Pacific issues. |
June 6 2022 | As part of the Albanese Government delegation, Penny Wong visited Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Jakarta to reaffirm diplomatic relations with Indonesia and ASEAN. |
May 23 2022 | Sworn in as Minister for Foreign Affairs, becoming the first Asian Australian and first openly LGBTI person to hold this office. Attended a pre-scheduled Quadrilateral Security Dialogue meeting with newly elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese before final election results were known. |
March 2022 | Roy Morgan Research study found Wong to be Australia's most trusted politician. |
2019 | Became part of Albanese's four-person ALP leadership team, alongside Richard Marles and Kristina Keneally. |
2019 | After the Labor leadership contest, Wong retained her positions as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs under Anthony Albanese's leadership. |
2019 | Polling by The Australia Institute found Wong as the most trusted federal legislator, though she was topped overall by Jacinda Ardern. |
March 2019 | Named the 2018 McKinnon Political Leader of the Year. |
November 2018 | Helped negotiate Australia's interests in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was ratified in late 2018. |
March 2018 | Named the 2018 McKinnon Political Leader of the Year. |
2017 | Was an instrumental figure in the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia. |
2015 | Sophie Allouache gave birth to their second daughter. |
2013 | After Labor's federal election defeat, Penny Wong became the first woman to be elected Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and was appointed Labor's foreign affairs spokesperson. |
June 2013 | After Kevin Rudd's leadership spill, Wong retained her position as Minister for Finance and became the Leader of the Government in the Senate following Stephen Conroy's resignation. |
June 2013 | Elected by her colleagues to become Leader of the Government in the Senate. |
February 2013 | Wong was elected as the ALP's deputy Senate leader following Chris Evans' resignation, becoming Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate. |
December 2011 | Her wife Sophie Allouache gave birth to their first child through IVF-assisted pregnancy. |
2010 | Selected by readers of Samesame website as one of the 25 most influential lesbian Australians. |
2010 | Moved to become Minister for Finance and Deregulation after the election. |
June 2010 | Julia Gillard promoted Penny Wong to Minister for Finance and Deregulation, succeeding Lindsay Tanner in the newly formed Gillard government. |
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia article Penny Wong, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.