Over the first two Simplify Days (2016 and 2017), the government amended 101 acts and regulations and removed 22 acts altogether. 06 December 2018. Her first long-term woman partner, Dascia Bennett, whom she met in 1995, had two children, so Wong became a stepmother. But couldnt she change house? The Royal Commission report urged South Australia to pursue a waste storage facility, claiming South Australia has the "attributes and capabilities to manage and dispose of international used nuclear fuel safely". The Labor leadership team: (L-R) Senate leader Penny Wong, deputy Senate leader Kristina Keneally, opposition leader Anthony Albanese and deputy opposition leader Richard Marles. [54], During this time, Weatherill also issued a formal apology to the LGBTIQ community for historical discrimination, and signed South Australia up to the trial of the HIV prevention drug PrEP. Family friends included Muslims and members of the local indigenous people, the Dayaks, of whom some were Christian, some Muslim, while others practised their original indigenous religion. [66][67], During a 2023 Senate estimates hearing, Wong was asked about the presence of nuclear weapons aboard nuclear-capable B-52s and B2 Sprits U.S. bombers, which operate regularly out of northern Australia. Jay Weatherill - Wikipedia [35] She was admitted to the South Australian Bar in 1993. This is a good book with the right balance of personal journey and labour history to show how contemporary politics works and how it doesn't work. She was elected at the 2001 election, her term commencing on 1 July 2002. It takes the passion and principle of the title, along with the ability to persist and bear a lot of pain in pursuit of purposeful goals. Last modified on Tue 13 Mar 2018 13.51 EDT. Mainly of other people," says one party to that upheaval. It was an unfortunate display of branch stacking - by both of us. [51] Wong retained the position of Minister for Finance after Kevin Rudd's successful leadership spill in June 2013. [64], In 2017, Weatherill announced a plan to reform South Australia's electricity supply,[65][66] as a response to a number of blackouts that affected large numbers of South Australian residents and businesses in 2016. Penny Wong. This was in response to AEMO ordering power be cut to tens of thousands of homes rather than instructing generators to switch on[69] The plan also further incentivised gas exploration by increasing royalties to farmers, and ensuring that gas went to South Australians first[70], On 16 March 2017, Weatherill eviscerated then federal energy minister Josh Frydenberg at a press conference in Adelaide. When I am not immersed in writing, I spend most of my time reading, learning languages, and catching up on my favorite shows. [82] In July 2019, he was appointed to conduct a review of Federal Labor's loss at the 2019 Australian federal election. Done with Don. I suppose I think people have very different ways in which they express their spirituality. The two women in the Senate were to maintain balance in the leadership team, as Plibersek and Shorten had epitomised before the election. Some of this was through suspension of major works programs such as the electrification of the Gawler and Outer Harbor rail lines, and redevelopments of Modbury Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital. And she won! It drains her. Comments John Faulkner, phlegmatically, How long are you going to condemn her to sit in parliament?. In late 1996, Wong, at the invitation of the SA ALPs left, returned to Adelaide to seek preselection for the Senate. It didn't catch on. [1] Wong entered politics by winning a Senate seat in the 2001 election. [53], Following Labor's defeat at the 2013 Australian federal election, Wong was elected Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, becoming the first woman to hold the position. A Scotch College scholarship changed Wong's fortunes and unconsciously reconnected her with her mother's Adelaide establishment forebears. Senator Penny Wong. Australian politician (born 1968), Minister for Foreign Affairs, *The Liberal and National totals include members of the, Gillard and Second Rudd governments (20102013), openly-LGBTI Australian federal parliamentarian, become part of the Federation of Malaysia, Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union, Australian Industrial Relations Commission, "The Hon. Ten days after the 2001 election, which first took Penny into the Senate, Toby killed himself. There is a hint of it in her smile, which is shy and engaging; she is striking to look at, and photogenic, but hates having her picture taken. The pair were in a relationship for five years after meeting in the late 1980s at Adelaide University, then attended by a large number of future politicians. And, around Albanese, Penny Wongs allies and collaborators are grouping. The Commissioner, Bret Walker SC, also wrote to SA Attorney-General Vickie Chapman asking for an extension, but this was rejected. Updated: November 15, 2012 . Don Farrell. [71], In September 2017, at the opening of the International Astronautical Congress held in South Australia, Weatherill announced the South Australian Space Industry Centre. One told me that repair work had to be done after a Wong display of temper against her own. Following Stephen Conroy's resignation and the beginning of the second Rudd government, she also became the Leader of the Government in the Senate. In stores 1 October. [50], Jay Weatherill also set up Investment Attraction South Australia in 2015, attracting international companies including Technicolour, Boeing, Kaufland, Datacom and VeroGuard. [44] Former Liberal Leader Martin Hamilton-Smith then defected, becoming an independent and entered the Weatherill cabinet. Nationwide News Pty Ltd 2023. Weatherill told Frydenberg the Federal Liberal government was the "most anti-SA government in living memory" and claimed the Federal Government's plan for Snowy Hydro 2.0 was a sign of a government in a "white-knuckled panic about national energy policy". Turnbulls policies were worse than Abbotts was post the party room meeting. Senator Farrell told the ABC he was not interested in the leadership of the SA ALP, but believed he had something to offer the people of Napier. Hieu Van Le was announced on 26 June 2014 as the next Governor of South Australia to replace Kevin Scarce. As well, she credits him with holding the government together during the years of minority government under Gillard. . [87], He was reported to have contracted COVID-19 at a school reunion event in Norwood, South Australia on 27 November 2021. He is currently retired and announced his intention to retire from Parliament on December 6, 2018. And there's the rub. . 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. (This group was founded and run, incidentally, by fellow arts student and enthusiastic campus Trotskyist David Penberthy, who has since moved to the beating heart of Australian conspicuous consumption - Sydney - where he edits The Daily Telegraph.). How long did Penny Wong and Jay Weatherill date? Simons notes Wong's long-term partners, firstly her five-year relationship with Jay Weatherill, future premier of South Australia, which began while she was at university and he was an industrial officer for the Australian Workers' Union. That was by dint of his capacity, his procedural understanding, his rhetorical capacity and his personal relationships. In caucus, she says, Albanese is consultative and strategic. Mr Wortley and his lower house colleague, wife Dana, are polarising figure within Labor who have switched from the Left to Right factions. As the ALP digests its recent report on how it lost the 2019 election, some commentators are calling for a change of leadership. Angela Woollacott is the Manning Clark Professor of History at the Australian National University, an elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, and the Australian Academy of Humanities, and a former president of the Australian Historical Association. "She is very into the politics. Another - her former Labor club colleague Amy Barrett, who is now a lawyer in Sydney - says Wong was not given to skulduggery. [9] In December 2022, Wong was deemed the most effective minister in the Albanese government in a survey of Australian Financial Review readers. Press Esc to cancel. A real advantage for biographers of the dead is that the subject cannot say what they think about the book. Wong's failure to defend her mentor caused some hard feelings, which persist in South Australia to this day. One of the Indonesian ministers said to me, if you take the sugar off the table the ants will stop coming.. [58] Weatherill committed $50 million to support the steelworks and called on the Federal Government to commit $100 million, to then be matched by a buyer looking to reform the steelworks. He later studied at the University of Adelaide, graduating with degrees in law and economics. Here is the book's first surprise: Penny Wong is a churchgoer. However, Wong has two children with her current domestic partner, Sophie Allouache named Alexandra and Hannah. He said he offered to stand aside for him the day after the federal election when it was clear Farrell would lose his seat. It was reported that the transition from the original Royal Adelaide Hospital to the new site was smooth with 131 patients transferred in the first day of operation. [26], Weatherill allowed a conscience vote for the Greens' 2013 South Australian Gay Marriage bill in August 2012. In 2006 Wong met her current partner, Sophie Allouache; together they have two daughters, Alexandra, born in 2011, and Hannah, in 2015. Lawyer Jay Weatherill lauded as good listener | The Australian Whether as prime minister or foreign minister, there is a good chance that she will yet be one of our top leaders, which is a compelling reason for us to know more about the making of Penny Wong. She thinks his leadership will evolve into an election winner. 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. Following the 2019 Labor leadership contest, Wong retained her positions as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs in the new cabinet of Anthony Albanese. This issue Im really tired of talking about it. Issues Survey Community Survey. (modern), Jay Weatherill: Senator Farrell associated with disunity that led to destruction of federal Labor party. [25] However, the bill was frustrated by Labor's conservative Catholic right, as well as a lack of support by then Prime Minister Julia Gillard, and faced constitutional issues as expressed by the SA Liberal Party. [2][6], Between 1987 and 1990, he worked for the Australian Workers' Union. When the Federal Government rejected the request, Weatherill then launched a South Australian Royal Commission in January 2018 to investigate. The senator, a Labor party powerbroker, surrendered his No.1 Senate ticket position to Penny Wong during the protracted factional brawl over the federal Labor leadership. August 2012, in the aftermath of the GFC, BHP announced that the $20 billion Olympic Dam mine expansion would not go ahead, citing 'subdued commodity prices and higher capital costs'. Technically, Wong was never really "in". Authorised by P Wong, Level 4, 19 Gouger St, Adelaide. South Australia's Premier Jay Weatherill a politician with uncommon Jay Weatherill and Rod Equid Photos Photos - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (C) talks at the ASC facilities as Australian Senator Penny Wong (L), South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill . [37] From 1999 to 2002, she worked as a legal officer with the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union. Jay Weatherill retweeted. Australians already struggling to find a doctor have been warned that things are about to get frighteningly worse. Did Penny Wong and Jay Weatherill have children together? In two years the agency had created over 9,000 jobs for South Australians. Nevertheless, some wonder whether she will reconsider if the partys success seems to depend on it, and when her children are older. It gave Wong a strong sense of a divine force to which there were many paths. Were working to restore it. Chris Wallace is a political historian at ANU and the biographer of Germaine Greer. I mean - really. of South Australia, particularly as Premier, and to early childhood and tertiary education". [10] Her parents were Jane (ne Chapman), an English Australian whose forebears first reached South Australia on Cygnet in 1836,[11] and Francis Wong, a Malaysian Chinese man of Cantonese[12] and Hakka[13] origin who lived in Sandakan during the Japanese occupation of British Borneo. Some people are born with an innate ability to sing; some to paint, or dribble a basketball. Popular without being populist Penny Wong grills finance department officials. [60][61] Within a few days of being sworn into office, Wong visited several Pacific countries to emphasise the new government's approach to climate change and relations with nations in the region, including Fiji (where she addressed the Pacific Islands Forum), Samoa, and Tonga. If you are prone to labels, Penny Wong may seem an unlikely star of a polity currently perceived as redneck, racist and regressingat a rate of knots. Her South Australian mother, Jane Chapman, had fallen in love with Colombo Plan University of Adelaide architecture student Francis Wong. [55][56], In April 2016, Whyalla's steelworks owned by Arrium was placed in voluntary administration by its directors due to significant debts. [78] In December 2011, Allouache gave birth to their first child,[79] after announcing the IVF-assisted pregnancy using donor sperm in August 2011. Weatherill said the SA Labor party has been a unified party, while "for better or worse" Senator Farrell was associated with the disunity that led to the destruction of the federal party at the election. "[71] As a member of the Senate, Wong is considered unlikely to mount a candidacy for leadership of the Labor Party in the future, though there is no formal rule that restricts the office to members of the House of Representatives. "Is she out?" She has a sharp intellect. Wong said the Australian Government "understand[s] and respect[s] the longstanding US policy of neither confirming or denying". But what are the odds that Penelope Ying-Yen Wong, born in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, on November 5, 1968, would enter this world with a God-given knack for politics? The thing about Penny Wong, however, is that few such tales of outright excess exist. Penelope Ying-Yen Wong (born 5 November 1968) is an Australian politician who is currently serving as the minister for Foreign Affairs and leader of the Government in the Senate in the Albanese Government since 2022. "We don't want that in state parliament," he said. In . Penny Wong: Passion and principleby Margaret Simons, Black Inc., $34.99 pb, 368 pp, 9781760640859. But the group suffered a wrenching split in 2003, on the matter of Bolkus's own future in the Senate. Freakish powers of a formidable operator - The Sydney Morning Herald On 21 January 2013, Weatherill became Treasurer of South Australia and took other various portfolios following a cabinet reshuffle triggered by the resignation of two members of his ministry. Mark Latham, who met her in 2000 at Labor's national conference in Hobart, made a spirited attempt to have her referred to thenceforth as "Wongy". Theyre people with infinitely more complex issues., Philip Purcell added: They are fleeing for their lives, not looking for sugar.. Media Statements Opinion Pieces Transcripts Speeches. He said that if people choose a different position, "they will have to reflect on that and maybe they need different leadership". In her second year, she became active in student politics and was elected to the students association and the board of the university union. Penny Wong and Jay Weatherill View 5 Penny Wong and Jay Weatherill Photos Show Jay Weatherill With: Tony Abbott , Hillary Clinton , Rod Equid , Gary Burns , Prince Charles Pragmatic Wong, however, was never going to be a very committed Trotskyist. Wong, who was at the University of Adelaide with nascent Australian Democrat MP Natasha Stott Despoja and journalists David Penberthy, Samantha Maiden and Annabel Crabb, also has in her past a five-year relationship with the former South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill. [41], The 2014 State election resulted in a hung parliament with 23 seats for Labor, 22 for the Liberals, and the balance of power resting with the two independents, Bob Such and Geoff Brock. "Penny arrived in 1988. She is assumed to be more conventionally left wing than she really is, and somehow above or outside the dirty business of politics when one of the central points of this book is that she is decidedly in the room, inside and of politics. The plan included construction of a State Government-owned 250MW gas-fired power station, around 10 per cent of SA's peak demand, and grid connected utility scale battery storage (the Tesla Big Battery / Hornsdale Power Reserve) to support the grid during periods of peak demand. The Commission was headed by former Governor Kevin Scarce and delivered its final report and recommendation to the Government of South Australia in May 2016. South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill stands fast by GST position 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. Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. [32] Despite this, the government included funding for the Gawler railway line up to Dry Creek, a number of measures supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs, and promised a return to surplus by 20152016. Since Francis was Chinese-Malay, the family faced discrimination in Malaysia, too: the constitution gave official preference to ethnic Malays in education and employment. The hospital has been described as "the most advanced in the nation". Editor at Ghanafuo.com! Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. [57] At this point she was named part of Albanese's four-person ALP leadership team, along with Richard Marles and Kristina Keneally. The book's third surprise is Wong's matter-of-fact segue from a five-year relationship with the then young Labor activist Jay Weatherill later Premier of SA for seven years to relationships with women. I remember always thinking that he had five-year plans and seven-year plans, and I just did the next thing, and then the next. It is a model that bears replicating. Francis Yit Shing Wong was a Colombo Plan student of architecture at the University of Adelaide in the 1960s; he had married Jane Chapman and returned to Sabah with her. Butler says she has a forensic brain and a gift for cross-examination; he describes her appointment as a "brilliant" move on Rudd's part. [19][20] Weatherill was then sworn in as the 45th Premier of South Australia on 21 October 2011. [3] 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. Jay Weatherill was a great Premier and a fine Labor leader. If Labor does find a seat in the House of Representatives for Wong, she would immediately be a highly qualified candidate for the top job, due to her intellect, political and policy acumen, as well as her speaking skills, compassion, and determination. Weatherill. [84][88], Leader of the South Australian Labor Party, Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch), "Forty-nine things the Premier could put on his birthday wish-list", "Former SA premier Jay Weatherill announces retirement from politics", "South Australian House of Assembly Election 2006: Cheltenham", "Jay Weatherill has never shirked a challenge", "Freakish powers of a formidable operator", "Isobel Redmond wins South Australia Liberals leadership", "Costly Labor factions in South Australia", "South Australian House of Assembly Election 2006: Hartley", "Jay Weatherill to challenge Kevin Foley for job of Deputy Premier of South Australia", "Foley survives challenge to deputy's spot", "Mike Rann handed deadline to stand down as South Australian premier", "Factional coup may prove problematic for SA's new premier", "Jay Weatherill may take on South Australia Premier Mike Rann", "Time up for Rann after 17 years as leader", "New faces as Weatherill takes reins in SA", "Premier Jay Weatherill holds public meeting with Riverland irrigators", "Fitch Ratings downgrades South Australia's credit rating to AA+", "SA Treasurer expects credit rating downgrade", "South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill does Adelaide CBD shopping hours deal", "Weatherill staunches Labor opposition to back gay marriage Bill", "SAHMRI II boosts world-class biomedical precinct", "Same-sex marriage bill voted down in South Australian Parliament", "Olympic Dam delay is not the end of the world for South Australia", "SA Premier Jay Weatherill cites jobs growth as he assumes treasury portfolio", "South Australia State Budget 2013: Premier Jay Weatherill exercises caution with first State Budget", "201314 Budget Papers, Budget Paper 1: Budget Overview", "SA Premier Jay Weatherill to travel to France in bid to maximise local jobs on $50bn submarine deal", "Holden plant buyer to turn site into business park", "SA ranked second-to-last in CommSec Report", "South Australia attributes strong economy to small business success", "SA election: Unemployment rate rises during January despite hundreds of new jobs", "Richardson: The silent threat that has Labor trembling", "Re-elected SA Labor government gets down to business", "Hieu Van Le to be next SA Governor, from war-torn Vietnam to vice-regal post", "Fisher by-election win for Labor gives Weatherill Government majority in SA", "Findings & Recommendations | Nuclear State-wide Engagement", "Going nuclear: inside SA's deliberative policymaking citizens' juries", "South Australia's nuclear dump proposal abandoned", "Public Lecture: Post Playford Transformation of the South Australian Economy", "Investment Attraction agency funding to double under Labor", "State Government commits $40 million to build new research hub, known as SAHMRI 2", "South Australia's Jay Weatherill moves GST debate to financial services", "Premier Jay Weatherill makes apology in Parliament for past LGBTIQ discrimination", "SA Premier apologises to LGBTIQ community for discrimination", "HIV prevention drug trial could assist 500 people in SA", "Arrium enters voluntary administration, Grant Thornton appointed", "Premier Jay Weatherill promises $50m to save Whyalla's Arrium steelworks", "Sale of collapsed steelmaker Arrium ends year of uncertainty", "Sanjeev Gupta steps up $1.37b renewable energy build near Whyalla steelworks", "Jay Weatherill in GST spat with Bill Shorten", "GST increase must include compensation for middle-income earners, says Jay Weatherill", "Grant scheme extended as Govt targets jobs", "New Royal Adelaide Hospital is open for business", "SA electricity crisis: Government unveils $550 million power plan", "SA power: Energy Minister to be given more control in state's $500m plan to secure future", "SA takes its energy experiment back to the lab", "South Australia is taking charge of its energy future", "SA power: Government introduces bill giving Energy Minister power over AEMO", "South Australia announces $550m energy plan", "Jay Weatherill and Josh Frydenberg attack each other in public over energy", "SA creates new space industry centre as Premier urges PM to announce national agency", "Murray-Darling Basin: SA launches royal commission into alleged water theft", "Murray-Darling inquiry: scramble for documents after SA refuses to extend deadline", "Jay Weatherill, Elon Musk to