Name Ian Macfarlane | Spouse Karen Macfarlane | |
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Prime Minister Tony AbbottMalcolm Turnbull Office Member of the Australian Parliament since 1998 Similar People Profiles | ||
Ian Elgin Macfarlane (born 5 April 1955) is a former Australian politician. He was elected as a member of the Australian House of Representatives in October 1998, representing the Division of Groom, Queensland, for the Liberal National Party. Prior to the merger of the Queensland branches of the Liberal and National Party in 2008, Macfarlane was a Liberal, and continued to sit in the Liberal party room in Canberra after the merger. In December 2015, it was reported that he would be defecting to the National Party. Macfarlane was the Minister for Industry and Science in the Abbott Government from 18 September 2013 until 20 September 2015, when he was dropped from Cabinet in the ministry of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
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Background and career
He was born in Kingaroy, Queensland, and was a farmer and president of the Queensland Graingrowers Association before entering politics. He acquired the nickname "Chainsaw" from ABC rural reporter Judy Kennedy due to his raspy voice. He now attributes the moniker to his ability to "cut through red tape", and it was alluded to in his 1998 election campaign through the slogan "The Right Voice for Groom".
In an interview with Four Corners on 9 November 2009, Macfarlane said that his position on global warming had changed "a bit", since he had recognised a greater importance for mankind's contribution. Acting as Climate Change Spokesman for the Coalition in 2009, he spent 5 weeks in negotiations around a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme with Minister for Climate Change Penny Wong, before a leadership spill deposed party leader Malcolm Turnbull and replaced him with Tony Abbott, and the policy was overturned.
As a minister in the Coalition Government under John Howard he held the portfolio of Minister for Small Business from January 2001, before being promoted to the Cabinet role of Industry, Tourism and Resources in November 2001. After the defeat of the Coalition in the 2007 federal election he served in the shadow portfolios of Trade as well as Infrastructure and Water, and was the Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources. With the election of the Abbott Coalition government in September 2013 he was appointed Minister for Industry. He was later sworn in as the Minister for Industry and Science on 23 December 2014.
Upon the ascension of the Turnbull Government, Macfarlane was dropped from the new ministry despite being a Turnbull supporter. On 3 December 2015, Macfarlane announced his intention to sit with the federal Nationals. Although local party members overwhelmingly supported Macfarlane's decision, the LNP executive blocked the move.
On 15 February 2016, Macfarlane announced he would retire from parliament and not contest the 2016 federal election.
Queensland Resources Council
On 26 September, it was announced that Macfarlane had been appointed as chief executive of the Queensland Resources Council. It comes just four months after former Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in the House of Representatives chamber on 4 May 2016, referring to Mr Macfarlane’s efforts to dump Labor’s mining tax, ‘It was a magnificent achievement by the member for Groom in his time as minister reborn, as it were. I hope this sector will acknowledge and demonstrate their gratitude to him in his years of retirement from this place.’. Greens Senators Larissa Waters and Lee Rhiannon allege the appointment appears to breach current Federal Government ministerial standards which require that ex-Ministers not engage in lobbying for an eighteen month period after ceasing to be a Minister. Macfarlane has been accused of supporting Adani. People have questioned how a professed farmer would support Indian coal interests.