Varun Ghosh, Indian-Origin Senator in Australia, First to Take Oath on Bhagavad Gita

Varun Ghosh, an Indian-origin barrister, has become the first-ever India-born member of the Australian Parliament to take the oath on the Bhagavad Gita.

He has been appointed as the newest Senator after the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council chose him to represent the Australian state in the Senate of the Federal Parliament.

“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,” Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong wrote on X. “I know Senator Ghosh will be a strong voice for his community and for West Australians. Wonderful to have you on the Labor Senate team,” she added.

‘Welcome Varun Ghosh’

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also welcomed Ghosh. “Welcome Varun Ghosh, our newest Senator from Western Australia. Fantastic to have you on the team,” he wrote on X. Ghosh, a lawyer hailing from Perth, holds degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Western Australia and was a Commonwealth Scholar in Law at the University of Cambridge.

Earlier, he worked as a finance attorney in New York and as a consultant for the World Bank in Washington, DC. Ghosh’s political journey began when he joined Australia’s Labor Party in Perth, following his parents’ move from India in the 1980s. Despite being fifth on the Australian Labor Party’s Senate ticket in Western Australia in the 2019 federal election, Ghosh was not elected.

He returned to Australia in 2015, working with King & Wood Mallesons, handling legal matters for banks, resource companies, and construction companies. Born in 1985, Ghosh moved to Perth in 1997 and attended Christ Church Grammar School.