MELBOURNE: Much to the ire of senior Australian Labor Party officials, Malaysian-born Federal Finance Minister Penny Wong has been placed second, on Labor's South Australian (SA) Senate ticket for the next election.

The party's SA convention on Saturday, selected the high-profile minister behind the relatively unknown Senator Don Farrell, a former union official.

The vote was expected, although its likelihood drew criticism recently, from Federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese, even though Wong, a senator, was also No: 2 on the ticket, the last time she went to an election in 2002.

Wong, 44, received 83 votes in the secret ballot, as compared to 112 for Farrell, the Right-aligned powerbroker and former head of the powerful Shop, Distributed and Allied Employees Association.

Farrell was instrumental in removing Kevin Rudd to install Julia Gillard as prime minister.

"I am honoured to have been endorsed in a winnable position on the South Australian Labor Senate ticket," Wong was quoted as saying, by the Australian Associated Press.

In her speech to the convention, she said the government faced a tough fight to defeat the coalition led by Tony Abbott, at the next poll.

"They are tough opponents," she said. "But we must be resilient and we must be resolute.

"Because, too much would be torn down and too much would be taken by a party led by a man who is not worthy to be prime minister of this nation," she noted. - Bernama

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