John Madigan (Australian politician)

Early life

Born into a Catholic family, Madigan belonged to a youth group run by the National Civic Council founder, B.A. Santamaria, in Melbourne. Madigan was a blacksmith and boilermaker from 1983 to 2011, self-employed in his own engineering workshop in Hepburn Springs, Victoria. He has an apprenticeship in Structural Steel Fabrication from Newport TAFE. He lives in Ballarat and is married with two children.

Politics

Madigan served as vice-president of the Victorian DLP from 2008 to 2009 and was elected to the Senate at the 2010 election. Madigan resigned from the DLP and became an independent Senator on 4 September 2014, citing long-term internal party tensions.

2010 federal election

Madigan won the sixth and last Victorian Senate seat at the 2010 federal election. He took office on 1 July 2011 as the first "DLP" senator from Victoria since Frank McManus and Jack Little, who were both defeated at the double-dissolution election in 1974. Preference counts indicated that the primary DLP vote of 2.3 percent (75,000 votes) in Victoria reached the 14.3 percent quota required by gaining One Nation, Christian Democratic and Building Australia preferences to edge out Steve Fielding of the Family First Party with a 0.2 percent lead and thus gained their preferences. When the Australian Sex Party candidate was excluded, the DLP gained Liberal Democratic Party preferences, overtaking the third Liberal/National candidate and gaining their preferences to win the last seat.

Madigan took his seat in the Senate on 1 July 2011. The then Labor government held 31 seats, eight short of a majority, with the Greens holding nine seats, a sole balance of power position, therefore Madigan's vote was unlikely to be a decider in a Senate division because the Greens bloc paired with either Labor or the coalition was enough to win a division in the 2011–14 Senate composition.

2016 election

Due to a double dissolution of parliament in 2016, Madigan did not get to serve his full term in parliament. The Manufacturing and Farming party supported Madigan and Mark George as senate candidates for Victoria in the 2016 federal election.

Madigan was not re-elected, gaining a mere 0.15% of the total Senate vote in Victoria. John Madigan's Manufacturing and Farming Party was voluntarily deregistered by the Australian Electoral Commission on 13 September 2016.

Political views

Madigan has taken a strong stance for implementing refugee and protection conventions and gambling reforms.

Madigan is a climate sceptic doubting the scientific evidence behind anthropogenic climate change stating:

...the degree to which man can influence the change of climate, well I don’t believe the jury is in on that yet. For all the people of the world, scientists who say it is, there’s probably an equal body who says it isn’t.

Madigan invited British climate change denier Christopher Monckton to Australia for a speaking tour in 2012. The booking at Ballarat was made by the Democratic Labour Party and was controversial causing the principal of St Patrick's College to say "The hiring of the college pavilion to the DLP in no way indicates support, tacit or otherwise, for the views of (Lord) Monckton, the DLP or the Climate Sceptics Party."

Madigan has campaigned against wind turbines, chairing the 2015 Select Committee on Wind Turbines, advocating the removal of government incentives from the industry, and promoting the idea of "wind turbine syndrome". As of 2011, Madigan’s chief of staff is Brendan Gullifer, a journalist and writer who has published articles against wind power.

Madigan describes himself as "unashamedly pro-life". As a representative of the DLP, he opposed legislation on same-sex marriage; the sale of public infrastructure; the implementation of a carbon tax (stating "We're not in favour of a carbon tax because we believe it's a tax on people and a tax on life"); and the limiting of weekend trading hours. He addressed the Inaugural Jack Kane Dinner in July 2011, where he advocated Chifley-style protectionist economics.

In his maiden speech to the Senate, Madigan denounced Victoria's "inhumane" abortion laws and committed to help restore Australia's dwindling manufacturing sector. He called for a "good Labor government that will bring something better to the people". He said that the DLP and ALP differed in a number of ways, stating:

We both came from the same lineage and however some members on both sides may dislike it, we are kin, of sorts. The ALP has a chance to reaffirm its commitment to that unchanging labour movement. The DLP intends to pursue that vision.... During my time here there will no doubt be a number of controversial bills proposed. I do not intend to be deliberately controversial simply for a few cheap headlines but on some issues I cannot be complicit by my silence.

Madigan also praised fellow crossbench Senator Nick Xenophon in his maiden speech, saying he had "done his best to address the plight of the Australian worker and the Australian family". Madigan was one of only a couple of Senators present when Xenophon used parliamentary privilege in September 2011 to make claims about Catholic Church coverups of alleged sexual abuse. He also shares views on gambling reform and wind turbines with Xenophon, with the pair helping to establish a Select Committee on Wind Turbines.