Malaysia's FT is the new finance minister of Australia

[Green Light]

MELBOURNE: Malaysian-born Senator Penny Wong is the new finance minister in the newly-elected Gillard Labor Government.

Wong had been keen to move from the climate change portfolio, following her failure to have parliament’s upper house (Senate) approve the government carbon pollution reduction scheme.

A hardworking minister, Wong’s promotion nonetheless, came as a surprise when Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced her ministry Saturday.

Born on Nov 11, 1968 in Kota Kinabalu, Wong takes over the finance portfolio left vacant by the high-profile Lindsay Tanner when he retired from federal politics in the Aug 31 election.

 

[soikee]

They say P Wong and Gillat are lesbian mates.

 

[QXD]

The role of Finance Minister in Oz is not the same as that in SG. Finance minister in Oz only looks at Government spending.

It's the Treasurer that determines the annual budget and sets fiscal policies.