Billi FitzSimons: Lisa Wilkinson’s daughter eliminated by Penny Wong over question of The Voice failing: ‘Don’t take it personally’
Lisa Wilkinson’s daughter was left out by Foreign Secretary Penny Wong after she asked her what would happen if the Voice referendum was unsuccessful.
Billi FitzSimons, editor of social media news source The Daily Aus, shared a short clip from a recent interview with Senator Wong, captioning it “the moment she put me in my place.”
Ms FitzSimons, 25, asked a follow-up question about the Labor government’s plans if – as polls suggest – the October 14 referendum fails.
“The question is, if it doesn’t work out, aren’t you ready to think about—” Mrs. FitzSimons asks before being interrupted.
“Well, I’m not ready to talk to you about that yet, am I?” says Senator Wong.
A stunned Ms FitzSimons nods and says ‘noted’ before Senator Wong laughs and tells her ‘but don’t take it personally’.
“I will,” Mrs. FitzSimons jokes, taking the awkward exchange in stride.
Billi FitzSimons, 25, who followed in her mother’s footsteps in riling politicians, asked a follow-up question about the Labor government’s plans if – as polls suggest – the October 14 referendum fails as Foreign Secretary Penny Wong shuts her up.
However, this is not the first time she has faced turbulence since taking on the role of editor of The Daily Aus before her 25th birthday.
In June last year, the website had photoshopped the German flag onto the Sydney Harbor Bridge, instead of the Aboriginal flag, which also features red, yellow and black.
Just a day later, Ms. FitzSimons posted a job ad looking for a fact-checker with “meticulous attention to detail.”
The youngster has been listed as one of Australia’s ‘nepo babies’ as she is the offspring of journalism royalty: her father Peter FitzSimons, a former Wallaby, is also an author and journalist.
Senator Wong told her not to take it personally
The pair smiled after the interview
Her mother Lisa got Ms. FitzSimons her first job writing Mamamia while she was still in college, by calling in a favor to her old protege Mia Freedman.
The star worked for Mamamia throughout university before landing a job as a political writer at the Daily Aus straight after graduating.
She graduated from the University of Sydney in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications), Government and International Relations, Digital Cultures.
But it’s not all in Mrs FitzSimons’ hands: her father revealed earlier this year how she worked part-time in Domino’s for four years from the age of 14 to earn money at school.