Penny Wong

An updated and extended edition of the bestselling biography of one of the most talented, poised and respected Australian politicians 'What Simons has excavated from the background of this extraordinary Australian should be cause for great pride and celebration.' -Mandy Sayer, The Weekend Australian Senator Penny Wong is an extraordinary Australian politician. Resolute, self-possessed and a penetrating thinker on subjects from climate change to foreign affairs, she is admired by members of parliament and the public from across the political divide. In this first-ever biography of Wong, acclaimed journalist Margaret Simons traces her story: from her early life in Malaysia, to her student activism in Adelaide, her time in the turbulent Rudd and Gillard governments, her key role as a voice of reason in the campaign to legalise same-sex marriage - and a new chapter on her elevation to the post of foreign minister in the Albanese government. What emerges is a picture of a leader for modern Australia, a cool-headed and cautious yet charismatic figure of piercing intelligence, with a family history linking back to Australia's colonial settlers and to the Asia-Pacific. Drawing on exclusive interviews with Penny Wong and her Labor colleagues, parliamentary opponents, and close friends and family, this is a scintillating insight into an Australian politician without precedence. Shortlisted, 2021 National Biography AwardLonglisted, 2020 Walkley Book AwardsLonglisted, 2020 Australian Book Industry Awards, Biography Book of The YearA Readings Best Australian Nonfiction Book of 2019