• By Mayukh Debnath
  • Tue, 06 Feb 2024 08:44 PM (IST)
  • Source:ANI
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Varun Ghosh, a leader belonging to the Australian Labour Party, on Tuesday became Australia's first Member of Parliament to take oath on the Hindu scripture of Bhagavad Gita. A lawyer by profession, the Indian-origin leader has been appointed as the newest representative of one of the six Australian states in the upper House of the Australian federal parliament.

His appointment to Australia's Senate came after the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council chose him to represent Western Australia. Welcoming Ghosh to the Parliament, Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said, "Wonderful to have you on the Labor Senate team."

Highlighting the interesting fact pertaining to Ghosh's swearing-in ceremony, Wong posted on social media platform X (formerly Twitter): "Welcome to Varun Ghosh, our newest Senator from Western Australia. Senator Ghosh is the first-ever Australian Senator sworn in on the Bhagavad Gita. I have often said, when you're the first at something, you've got to make sure you're not the last."

She also exuded confidence that Ghosh will be a "strong voice for his community and for West Australians". Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also wished the newly elected Senator from the ruling party. "Welcome Varun Ghosh, our newest Senator from Western Australia. Fantastic to have you on the team," he wrote in an X post.

Ghosh received his degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Western Australia and was a Commonwealth Scholar in Law at the University of Cambridge. He has previously worked as a finance attorney in US' New York and as a consultant for the World Bank in Washington, DC.

The political journey of Varun Ghosh began when he joined Australia's Labor Party in Perth. He was just 17 when his parents moved from India in the 1980s. "I have had the privilege of a good education and believe strongly that high-quality education and training should be available to everyone," Varun Ghosh said in a statement.

For the past few years, Ghosh has worked as a barrister, dealing with legal matters in Western Australia and internationally with the World Bank. In the 2019 federal election, he was placed fifth on the Australian Labor Party's Senate ticket in Western Australia but was not elected. Born in 1985, Ghosh moved to Perth in 1997 and attended Christ Church Grammar School.

(With inputs from ANI)