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Jason Yat-Sen Li (Chinese: 李逸仙; born 28 September 1971) is an Australian businessman and politician. He is a member of the
Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...
(ALP) and was elected to the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...
at the 2022 Strathfield state by-election. Li was a republican delegate to the 1998 Australian Constitutional Convention. He was one of the founders of the Unity Party and stood unsuccessfully as the party's lead
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
candidate at the 1998 federal election. He later joined the ALP and was an endorsed candidate at the
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
and 2019 federal elections, prior to his election to state parliament in 2022.


Early life

Li was born on 28 September 1972. He is the son of George and Pansy Li, Hong Kongers who first met while living in the same apartment block in
Wan Chai Wan Chai (Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: 灣仔) is located in the western part of Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is bounded by Canal Road, Hong Kong, Canal Road to the east, Arsenal St ...
. His mother migrated to New Zealand in 1958 and his father moved to Australia in 1960. They subsequently reunited and married in 1969, settling in the
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
suburb of
Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Ch ...
. While living at
Maroubra Beach Maroubra ( ) is a beachside suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 10 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Randwick. Maro ...
, Li attended
Sydney Grammar School Sydney Grammar School (SGS, colloquially known as Grammar) is an independent, non-denominational day school for boys, located in Sydney, Australia. Incorporated in 1854 by an Act of Parliament and opened in 1857, the school claims to offer "c ...
because his father's business soon made the family independently wealthy. Li studied Arts-Law at the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
and, after graduating with his law degree, he moved to New York City. There, he completed a Masters of Law from
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
, highlighted by being recognised as Australia's Hauser Global Scholar.


Business career

Li began his working career as a solicitor for
Corrs Chambers Westgarth Corrs Chambers Westgarth (often referred to as ''Corrs'') is an Australian commercial law firm founded in 1841. Corrs has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Port Moresby. Corrs' clients include national and international corporat ...
, working for the law firm until 1999. During this time, Li also briefly worked at the United Nations, for the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...
at the Hague,
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, working as an associate to H.E. Judge Lal Vohrah. During his time in New York in 2000, he was an Associate in the Corporate Division of
Davis Polk & Wardwell Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, commonly known as Davis Polk, is an American multinational corporation, multinational law firm headquartered in New York City with offices in Washington, D.C., Menlo Park, California, Menlo Park, London, Madrid, Brussel ...
. On returning to Sydney he founded Professional Search Pty Ltd, working as executive director of the legal and accounting digital services platform. He sold this business in 2002. Li then continued his professional career at
Insurance Australia Group Insurance Australia Group Limited (IAG) is a multinational insurance company. It is the largest general insurance company in Australia, and also the largest in New Zealand through its subsidiary IAG New Zealand. IAG had its origins in the Na ...
(IAG). From 2002 to 2004 he worked as the head of sustainability, with the responsibility of leading IAG's sustainability program for which IAG was named Sustainable Company of the Year in 2003. He was then promoted to Head of China Strategy from 2004 to 2005, working on IAG's acquisition of the China Automobile Association as well as strategic investment in China Pacific Insurance Co. In 2005 Li was appointed general manager of sales and marketing for the newly acquired IAG subsidiary China Automobile Association in Beijing. In 2007 Li founded Yatsen Associates, a boutique cross-border corporate finance advisory firm, specialising in complex cross-border mergers and acquisitions and capital raising mandates. Many of Yatsen Associates' clientele have interests in oil, natural gas, clean energy, coal, and agricultural businesses in China and Central Asia. From 2013 he has been the executive chair of Vantage Asia Holdings. Vantage Asia Holdings manages a broad portfolio of investments both in Asia and Australia, including resources and technology firms, retail hospitality, student accommodation and vitamins/supplements firms.


Boards

Li has been heavily involved at his alma mater the University of Sydney as a Fellow of the University of Sydney Senate. He has served on the strategy and risk committee, the people and culture committee, and is currently chair of the risk and audit committee. Since 2021, Li has been a
pro-chancellor A pro-chancellor is an officer of some universities in Commonwealth countries. The pro-chancellor acts as a deputy to the chancellor and as practical chairman of the university council. In this role, a pro-chancellor may fulfil a number of for ...
of the university. Previously Li had served as a non-executive director for nine years at the George Institute for Global Health, the region's leading medical research institute focused on non-communicable diseases. He has also served as a director of the
Sydney Institute The Sydney Institute is a privately funded Australian policy forum founded on the 23 of August, 1989. The institute took over the resources of the New South Wales division of the Institute of Public Affairs. Columnist and writer Gerard Henderso ...
and is a previous youth chair of the NSW Ethnic Communities Council. Li has also been a non-executive director of the National Centre for Volunteering and a former governing member of the Smith Family charity. From 2007 to 2013 he was on the board of the China-Australia Chamber of Commerce, Beijing including a stint as vice-chair from 2009 to 2011. He has also served on the board of the Asia Australia Institute. Li is an advisory board member of think-tank China Matters and is the current president of the Chinese Australian Forum since 2019. Li is also currently on the board of Asialink and the advisory board of HaymarketHQ. Li is a member of the
World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...
and is a young global leader as well as on the Forum's Global Agenda Council on China. In 2017 Li became chair of Refugee Talent, a software company that uses technology to assist refugees and migrants in Australia to secure meaningful employment.


Politics


Early activities

Li was elected to the 1998 Australian Constitutional Convention as a republican delegate from New South Wales, running as a candidate for "A Multi-Cultural Voice". He came to notice as "a young, eloquent advocate for an Australian republic", describing the
monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...
as an "elitist, sectarian, sexist institution, completely out of touch with modern Australia". He appeared in the national media to advocate a "Yes" vote at the
1999 Australian republic referendum The Australian republic referendum held on 6 November 1999 was a two-question referendum to amend the Constitution of Australia. The first question asked whether Australia should become a republic, under a bi-partisan appointment model where ...
, despite the opposition of some republicans to the final model chosen. Following the rise of anti-immigration politician
Pauline Hanson Pauline Lee Hanson (''née'' Seccombe, formerly Zagorski; born 27 May 1954) is an Australian politician who is the founder and leader of One Nation, a right-wing populist political party. Hanson has represented Queensland in the Australian S ...
and her One Nation party, in 1998 Li help to establish the multiculturalist Unity Party, along with Peter Wong,
Mary Kalantzis Professor Mary Kalantzis (born 1949) is an Australian author and academic, and is a former dean of the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the United States. Her work examines Australian multiculturalism. ...
, and Bill Cope. He was the party's lead Senate candidate in New South Wales at the 1998 federal election, but failed to win election.


ALP candidacies

Li was asked by prime minister
Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...
to run as the
Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
candidate for the seat of
Bennelong Woollarawarre Bennelong ( 1764 – 3 January 1813) was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal Australian people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia. Bennelong served as an interlocutor between ...
at the 2013 federal election even though he did not live in the electorate. His selection came late in the campaign, following the withdrawal of original ALP candidate Jeff Silvestro-Martin due to an ICAC anti-corruption investigation. Li was defeated by the incumbent Liberal MP John Alexander. Li's wife Lucy is a close friend of Rudd's daughter Jessica. Li was given the seat of Bennelong by NSW Labor Head Office in absence of an ALP rank-and-file vote which allows local Labor branch members to democratically vote for their candidate. Li subsequently failed in his attempt to win the ALP pre-selection rank and file vote for the federal seat of
Banks A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. As banks ...
in 2018 toward the lead up to the 2019 Federal election. Li was placed third on the ALP's Senate ticket in NSW for the 2019 federal election, behind Tony Sheldon and Tim Ayres. During the campaign he called for diversity targets to be introduced for federal parliament and criticised media narratives around
dual loyalty In politics, dual loyalty is loyalty to two separate interests that potentially conflict with each other, leading to a conflict of interest. Examples Examples of actual or perceived "dual loyalty" include the following: United States Wor ...
of Chinese–Australians. Li has also commented in 2019 that Australia should consider investing in China's
Belt and Road Initiative The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI or B&R), known in China as the One Belt One Road and sometimes referred to as the New Silk Road, is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the government of China in 2013 to invest in more t ...
.


State MP

In 2021 Li was again endorsed as the third candidate on the ALP's Senate ticket for the next federal election. But in 2022 he was instead endorsed by NSW Labor as the party's candidate for the 2022 Strathfield state by-election, following the resignation of former party leader
Jodi McKay Jodi Leyanne McKay (born 16 August 1969) is an Australian former politician who was the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales from June 2019 until May 2021. She previously served as a member of the New South Wales Legisla ...
. There was no rank-and-file vote by the local ALP members in the branches for the electorate. Li retained Strathfield for the ALP at the by-election.


Personal life

Li was born in Sydney, grew up in Bexley North, and went to Kingsgrove and Hurstville Public Schools. Li and his family moved to China in 2005 and lived there for 8 years until 2013. Li has three children with his wife Lucy. He speaks English,
Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
, and
Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Jason Australian people of Chinese descent Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Living people 20th-century Australian lawyers Australian republicans People educated at Sydney Grammar School Lawyers from Sydney University of Sydney alumni New York University alumni 1972 births Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Davis Polk & Wardwell lawyers Unity Party (Australia) politicians