Harriet Claire Su Mei Wong King Shing (born 17 October 1976) is an Australian politician. She is a

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member of the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House, Melbourne, Parliament ...

, having represented the

Eastern Victoria Region Eastern Victoria Region is one of the eight electoral regions of Victoria, Australia, which elects five members to the Victorian Legislative Council (also referred to as the upper house) by proportional representation. The region was created in 2 ...

since 2014. Shing is the first openly

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

member of the

Parliament of Victoria The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria that follows a Westminster System, Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the Monarchy in Australia, King, represent ...

. She is also a member of the

Labor Left The Labor Left (LL), also known as the Progressive Left, Socialist Left or simply the Left, is one of the two major political factions within the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It is nationally characterised by social progressivism and democra ...

faction of the Labor Party. In June 2022, Shing was appointed Minister for

Equality Equality generally refers to the fact of being equal, of having the same value. In specific contexts, equality may refer to: Society * Egalitarianism, a trend of thought that favors equality for all people ** Political egalitarianism, in which ...

Regional Development Regional development refers to a broad category of policies aimed at reducing regional disparities within an economy or across economies by devoting resources to underdeveloped areas. Regional development can be national or international in natur ...

and

Water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

. This made her Victoria's first cabinet minister with a Chinese background, and along with

Steve Dimopoulos Steve Dimopoulos (born 1972) is an Australian politician. He has been a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2014 representing the electoral district of Oakleigh. He served as the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major ...

, became one of Victoria's first openly gay frontbenchers.

References

Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Labor Left politicians Members of the Victorian Legislative Council LGBTQ legislators in Australia Australian lesbian politicians 21st-century Australian LGBTQ people 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Victorian Legislative Council 1976 births Australian politicians of Asian descent Australian people of Chinese descent Ministers for water (Victoria) Ministers for equality (Victoria) Ministers for regional development (Victoria) {{Australia-Labor-Victoria-MP-stub