Canberra:

Barrister Varun Ghosh on Tuesday became the first Indian-born Australian member of Parliament to take oath on the Bhagavad Gita.

Varun Ghosh from Western Australia has been appointed as the latest Senator by the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council to represent the Australian state in the Senate of the Federal Parliament.

Australian Foreign Minister Wong Yin Yin welcomed Varun Ghosh, saying: “It’s great to have you join the Labor Senate team.”

“Welcome Varun Ghosh, our newest Senator from Western Australia. Senator Ghosh was the first Australian Senator to be sworn in on the Bhagavad Gita. I always say when you are on something When you are the first, you have to make sure you are not the last,” the minister posted on X.

“I know Senator Ghosh will be a strong voice for his community and West Australians,” she added.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also congratulated Varun Ghosh.

“Welcome Varun Ghosh, our newest senator from Western Australia. So excited to have you join our team,” he posted on X.

The Western Australia Legislative Assembly told X, “The Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council have selected Senator Varun Ghosh to represent Western Australia in the Senate of the Federal Parliament.

Varun Ghosh is a lawyer from Perth. He holds degrees in arts and law from the University of Western Australia and is a Commonwealth Law Scholar at the University of Cambridge. He previously worked as a financial attorney in New York and as a World Bank consultant in Washington, DC.

Varun Ghosh’s political journey began when he joined the Australian Labor Party in Perth. He was 17 when his parents moved from India in the 1980s.

Varun Ghosh said in a statement: “I was fortunate to receive a good education and firmly believe that everyone deserves access to high-quality education and training.”

For the past few years, Mr Ghosh has been working as a solicitor on international legal matters for Western Australia and the World Bank.

At the 2019 federal election, Mr Ghosh placed fifth in the Australian Labor Senate seat in Western Australia but was ultimately not elected.

Mr Ghosh was born in 1985 and moved to Perth in 1997 to attend Christ Church Grammar School.

He has been actively involved in public service, demonstrating his commitment to high-quality education.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Ghosh worked as a financial attorney in New York and as a consultant to the World Bank in Washington, DC.

In 2015, he returned to Australia and worked at King & Wood Mallesons, handling legal matters for banks, resource companies and construction companies.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)