New Australia Foreign Minister's wife is from Perak, Malaysia (VIDEO | 3 PICS)

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr - with his wife Helena

MELBOURNE: There is a touch of Malaysia in the appointment of Australia's new Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr.

His wife, Helena, is from the silver state of Perak, and her hometown is Taiping, known for its peace, quiet and tranquility.

The couple, both 64, met in 1972 while on vacation in Tahiti, the largest island in French Polynesia, and married the following year in Sydney.

Helena, who is of Indian-Chinese parentage, came to Sydney in 1965 to study at Our Lady of Mercy College in Parramatta and then majored in economics at the University of Sydney.

The youngest of six children, she is wealthy in her own right, having been a a successful businesswoman who ran a commercial printing operation before selling it in 2004.

Helena joins Finance Minister Senator Penny Wong, from Sabah, as former Malaysians in the forefront of the Australian political scene.