Lesbian named Australia's first ethnic Chinese cabinet minister

Malaysian-born Senator Penny Wong has become the first ethnic Chinese member of the Australian cabinet.

Ms Wong, 39, was yesterday named minister for climate change and water, with responsibility for negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol, which aims to curb the emission of greenhouse gases. She is also Australia's first openly gay cabinet minister.

She was appointed to the newly created portfolio when Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd announced his lineup.

She was one of the biggest winners in the formation of the new government, having previously held the junior posts of spokesperson for workforce participation, and accountability and corporate governance. However, the South Australian senator achieved a higher profile in recent months after being named the spokeswoman for Labor's campaign headquarters.

Ms Wong will accompany Mr Rudd when he travels to Bali next week for the UN summit on climate change, which is intended to frame a successor to Kyoto, due to expire in 2012. She will work with Peter Garrett, the bald former rock singer and activist who was appointed minister for the environment.

She will be one of four female cabinet ministers. 'Penny will have responsibility for our international negotiations on Kyoto and Kyoto plus,' Mr Rudd said. 'I am proud that we have a woman as deputy prime minister [Julia Gillard], four women in cabinet and seven women in the ministry.'