Peter Stuart Whish-Wilson (born 24 February 1968) is an Australian politician who has been a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

since 2012, representing the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and th ...

. Formerly a lecturer in economics at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first pro ...

, Whish-Wilson was appointed to the Senate to fill a

casual vacancy In politics, a casual vacancy (''casual'' in the sense of "by chance") is a situation in which a seat in a deliberative assembly becomes vacant during that assembly's term. Casual vacancies may arise through the death, resignation or disqualifi ...

caused by the retirement of former party leader

Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is a former Australian politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasman ...

, and has since won election in his own right in 2013, 2016 and 2022.

Education and early career

Whish-Wilson was born in Singapore in 1968 to Australian parents. He attended the

Australian Defence Force Academy The Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) is a tri-service military Academy that provides military and academic education for junior officers of the Australian Defence Force in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and Royal Aus ...

from 1986 to 1988, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Politics. He also attended

Royal Military College, Duntroon lit: Learning promotes strength , established = , type = Military college , chancellor = , head_label = Commandant , head = Brigadier Ana Duncan , principal = , city = Campbell , state = ...

in 1989, and was medically discharged from the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

shortly afterwards. From 1991 to 1992, he studied for a

Master of Economics The Master of Economics (MEcon or MEc) is a postgraduate master's degree in economics comprising training in economic theory, econometrics, and/or applied economics. The degree is also offered as an MS or MSc, MA or MCom in economics; varian ...

degree at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

. After graduation, he worked for

Merrill Lynch Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...

in New York and Melbourne, serving as Vice-President from 1994 to 1998. In 1995 he was reported as working for Perth mining stockbroker Saw James. He then worked in international sales for

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

from 1998 to 2004, and as Lecturer in Economics and Finance at the

from 2005 to 2012. He jointly owns Three Wishes Vineyard with his family in the Tamar Valley, Tasmania, serving as its director from 2003 to 2012. His brother is the author

David Whish-Wilson David Whish-Wilson (born 1966) is an Australian author. He was born in Newcastle, New South Wales but raised in Singapore, Victoria and Western Australia. He left Australia in 1984 to live in Europe, Africa and Asia, where he worked as a barman ...

. The Australian classical

tubist This is a list of tuba players with articles on Wikipedia. See also *Lists of musicians This is a list of lists of musicians. Genre The following are lists of musicians by style or music genre. 0–9 * List of 1970s Christian pop artist ...

also named Peter Whish-Wilson is a second cousin.

Political career

Whish-Wilson was chosen by the Parliament of Tasmania under section 15 of the Constitution to represent the State in the Senate in 2012. He was elected Senator for Tasmania in 2013, with his term beginning on 1 July 2014. He was Chair of Committees from 2013 to 2016, and currently holds a number of portfolios for the

. It has been reported that he proposed a national discussion regarding the future of penalty rates which he expanded on in an adjournment speech saying, "I think the big issue is not that penalty rates should be paid—they should, but by whom? Effectively, I do not think small businesses should be the ones paying; rather, consumers should be paying for them." He currently holds the following portfolios for the Australian Greens: Treasury, Consumer Affairs, Healthy Oceans, Waste and Recycling, and Defence and Veteran's Affairs. He previously held the portfolios of Small Business and Competition Policy, Finance, Tourism, Trade, Marine (Tasmania), Fisheries, Whaling and Antarctica.

References

External links

Peter Whish-WilsonPeter Whish-Wilson, GreensParliamentary biographyTwitterFacebookSummary of parliamentary voting for Senator Peter Whish-Wilson on TheyVoteForYou.org.auQuarterly Essay, September 2016Huffington Post
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whish-Wilson, Peter 1968 births Australian economists Australian winemakers Australian Greens members of the Parliament of Australia Living people Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Tasmania Singaporean emigrants to Australia University of New South Wales alumni University of Tasmania faculty University of Western Australia alumni 21st-century Australian politicians