Penny Wong: Passion and Principle

A revelatory portrait of one of the most talented poised and respected Australian politicians written by one of Australias foremost biographers. 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 Penny Wong acclaimed journalist Margaret Simons traces her story: from her early life in Malaysia to her student activism in Adelaide to her time in the turbulent Rudd and Gillard governments to her key role as a voice of reason in the polarising campaign to legalise same-sex marriage. 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 Australias 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.