‘Fantastic as fiction’: Penny Wong on becoming Australia’s top diplomat as an immigrant

In a candid speech, the Malaysian-born foreign minister highlighted the need for more diverse leadership and deeper ties with Asia

Reading Time:3 minutes

Penny Wong speaking at the Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership, established by the Australian National University to address the underrepresentation of Asian-Australians in leadership positions. Photo: Erin Chew

Published: 7:58pm, 20 Aug 2024Updated: 8:20pm, 20 Aug 2024

Amid growing fearmongering around refugees, Australia’s Malaysian-born Foreign Minister Penny Wong shared how her own rise once seemed “as fantastic as fiction” in a speech urging more diverse leadership and announcing new initiatives to strengthen her country’s ties with Asia.

Wong, who is usually reticent to speak about personal experiences, gave a candid account about dealing with racism as a child when she delivered the inaugural lecture on Monday at the Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership in Canberra, which was set up in 2020 to tackle the so-called “bamboo ceiling” in Australia.

She said she could never imagine herself in the position she was in today during “those early years as an Asian kid in Adelaide, whose parents were married while the White Australia Policy was still in place”, referring to government policies that limited non-White immigration to the country until the 1960s.

“It is beyond doubt that having an Asian-Australian foreign minister sends a clear message to the region about modern Australia,” said Wong, who was born in Sabah in 1968. Wong’s mother is Australian-born while her father is originally from Malaysia.

Penny Wong on a panel with former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans, also an advisory board member of the Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership, at the Australian National University. Photo: Erin Chew

“And it renders as nonsense narratives pushed by others, that have cast Australia as intolerant and unwelcoming – narratives that have sometimes resonated, and can harm our interests in a contested region.”