Peter Whish-Wilson

Biography

Peter Stuart Whish-Wilson is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for Tasmania since 2012, representing the Australian Greens. Whish-Wilson’s political career began when he was appointed to the Senate to fill a casual vacancy caused by the retirement of former party leader Bob Brown. He has since won election in his own right in 2013, 2016, and 2022.

Born in Singapore in 1968 to Australian parents, Whish-Wilson attended the Australian Defence Force Academy from 1986 to 1988, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Politics. He later attended Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1989 but was medically discharged from the Australian Army shortly after.

In 1991 and 1992, he studied for a Master of Economics degree at the University of Western Australia. After graduation, he worked for Merrill Lynch in New York and Melbourne, serving as Vice-President from 1994 to 1998. He then worked in international sales for Deutsche Bank from 1998 to 2004, and as a Lecturer in Economics and Finance at the University of Tasmania from 2005 to 2012.

Whish-Wilson 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, and the Australian classical tubist also named Peter Whish-Wilson is his second cousin.

In his 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, and currently holds a number of portfolios for the Australian Greens. He was Chair of Committees from 2013 to 2016.

Whish-Wilson has proposed a national discussion regarding the future of penalty rates and expanded on the topic in an adjournment speech, saying that he believes penalty rates should be paid but that small businesses should not be the ones paying for them. Rather, consumers should be paying for them.

Whish-Wilson 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.