A member of the Australian Labor Party, Penny Wong was elected as a Senator for South Australia in the Senate of the Australian Parliament in 2001. She was re-elected in 2007 and held the Ministerial portfolio of Climate Change and Water from December 2007 until August 2010. She held the portfolio of Finance and Deregulation from 2010. Wong was re-elected in 2013, and elected Leader of the Government in the Senate. Since the change of government in 2013, she has been Leader of the Opposition in the Senate - 'the first woman to hold both of these roles'.

Sources used to compile this entry: Smart, Judith and Swain, Shurlee (eds), 'Wong, Penny', The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia, Australian Women's Archives Project, 2 May 2014, http://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/biogs/WLE0257b.htm; http://www.aph.gov.au/SEnate/senators/homepages/senators.asp?id=00AOU (accessed 9 June 2009, no longer available); https://www.pennywong.com.au.