Penny Wong

Senator Penny Wong is an extraordinary Australian politician. Resolute, self-possessed and a penetrating thinker on subjects from workplace relations 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-Gillard-Rudd governments, to her leading role as a voice of reason and respect in the polarising campaign to legalise same-sex marriage. What emerges is a picture of a leader for modern Australia, a cool-headed, cautious yet charismatic figure of piercing intelligence and a personal history linking back to Australia's colonial settlers through to its multicultural present.

Drawing on exclusive interviews with Penny Wong and her Labor colleagues, parliamentary opponents, close friends and family, this scintillating portrait of an Australian politician without precedence promises to be one of the most talked-about political biographies of the year.

About the Author

Margaret Simons is an award-winning journalist and the author of thirteen books, including a biography of Malcolm Fraser that won the Book of the Year and the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction at the 2011 NSW Premier's Literary Awards. She is the recipient of the 2015 Walkley Award for Social Equity Journalism and has been honoured with several Quill Awards. Simons is an associate professor in the School of Media, Film and Journalism at Monash University, and a board member of the Public Interest Journalism Foundation.