Do we like Penny Wong?
Our score: 7 out of 10. Decades on the right side of marriage equality, workers' rights and Pacific climate talk, with some contested votes on Gaza, offshore processing and coal.
She has been a Labor senator for South Australia since 2001, served as Minister for Climate Change and Water and then Finance, and became Foreign Minister in May 2022. She was the first foreign-born person to hold the job, which is a big deal in a country that likes to pretend that never matters.
On the harm test, her record on LGBTQ+ people is strong. She spoke up for marriage equality, telling a 2015 National Press Club debate that it was about “real people”. They Vote For You has her consistently voting against a same-sex marriage plebiscite, for extending benefits to same-sex couples and generally for transgender rights and protections, with 89% agreement on gender-affirming care for trans young people. She has also voted consistently for abortion access and reproductive bodily autonomy.
The recent stoushes are mostly Senate theatre. In June she and Shoebridge went at it over Gaza and Palestine recognition, with Wong accusing him of spreading misinformation, according to Michael West Media, which gave no direct quotes. After the Bondi attack in December, Ley said she had “not seen Penny Wong shed a single tear”, and Energy Minister Chris Bowen called the remarks “pretty disgusting”. Wong's own line was that politics needed to “turn the temperature down”.
So would we support her? Mostly yes. She's a political operator, not a saint, and the offshore processing and coal votes will sit badly with some readers. But on the people questions this page cares about most, she has been on the right side for a long time, and nothing nasty about how she treats people turned up.