Ian Elgin Macfarlane (born 5 April 1955) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 1998 to 2016, representing the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. He served as a minister in the

Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

and Abbott Governments. Macfarlane was born in

Kingaroy Kingaroy is a rural town and locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. The town is situated on the junction of the D'Aguilar and the Bunya Highways, north-west of the state capital Brisbane and south west of Gympie. As a ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, and was a farmer before entering politics. He was elected to parliament at the 1998 federal election, representing the

Division of Groom The Division of Groom is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. Groom is an agricultural electorate located on the Darling Downs in southern Queensland. It includes the regional city of Toowoomba and rural communities to the west an ...

. Macfarlane was appointed Minister for Small Business in January 2001. After the 2001 election, he was made Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources, a position he held until the Howard Government's defeat at the 2007 election. Macfarlane returned to cabinet in 2013 as Minister for Industry (later Industry and Science) in the Abbott Government. He lost his position when

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...

became prime minister in September 2015, and retired from politics at the 2016 election. He is currently chief executive of the Queensland Resources Council.

Early life

Macfarlane was born in

, 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".

Politics

Macfarlane was elected to the

at the 1998 federal election, representing the

for the

. As a minister in the Coalition Government under

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

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 This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...

he served in the shadow portfolios of Trade as well as Infrastructure and Water, and was the Shadow

Minister for Energy and Resources The Minister for Energy and Resources is a ministry portfolio within the Executive Council of Victoria. Ministers Reference list Victoria State Government Minister for Energy and Resources {{VictoriaAU-gov-stub ...

. 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 The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (or CPRS) was a cap-and-trade emissions trading scheme for anthropogenic greenhouse gases proposed by the Rudd government, as part of its climate change policy, which had been due to commence in Australia in ...

with

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Penny Wong Penelope Ying-Yen Wong (born 5 November 1968) is an Australian politician who has been Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Government in the Senate in the Albanese Government since 2022. A member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), ...

, before a

leadership spill In Australian politics, a leadership spill (or simply spill) is a colloquialism referring to a declaration that the leadership of a parliamentary party is vacant and open for contest. A spill may involve all or some of the leadership positions (le ...

deposed party leader Malcolm Turnbull and replaced him with

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

, and the policy was overturned. With the election of the Abbott

Coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

government in September 2013 he was appointed Minister for Industry. He was later sworn in as the

Minister for Industry and Science The Minister for Industry and Science is an Australian Government cabinet position which is currently held by Ed Husic in the Albanese ministry since 1 June 2022, following the Australian federal election in 2022. In the Government of Austra ...

on 23 December 2014. Upon the ascension of the Turnbull Government in September 2015, he 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. He claimed that his experience representing regional interests was "second only to" retiring federal Nationals leader and fellow Queenslander

Warren Truss Warren Errol Truss, (born 8 October 1948) is a former Australian politician who served as the 16th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development in the Abbott Government and the Turnbull Governm ...

. Although local party members overwhelmingly supported Macfarlane's decision, the

Liberal National Party of Queensland The Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) is a major political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed in 2008 by a merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal Party and the National Party. At a federal level and in most other ...

executive blocked the move. LNP officials said that even with the overwhelming support of LNP members in Macfarlane's seat, "the interests of our party beyond his electorate" required that Macfarlane stay in the Liberal party room. On 15 February 2016, Macfarlane announced he would retire from parliament and not contest the 2016 federal election.

Later career

In September 2016, it was announced that Macfarlane had been appointed chief executive of the Queensland Resources Council. Greens Senators

Larissa Waters Larissa Joy Waters (born 8 February 1977) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Greens and has served as a Senator for Queensland since 2018. She previously served in the Senate from 2011 to 2017, resigning during the ...

and

Lee Rhiannon Lee Rhiannon (formerly O'Gorman, ''née'' Brown; born 30 May 1951) is a former Australian politician who was a Senator for New South Wales between July 2011 and August 2018. She was elected at the 2010 federal election, representing the Aus ...

claimed that the appointment seemed to breach the current statement of ministerial standards, which requires that ex-ministers not engage in lobbying for an eighteen-month period after ceasing to be a minister. Macfarlane is also chairman of the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre, a position he has held since May 2016. Despite retaining his position as Chief Executive of the Queensland Resources Council, in which he lobbies on behalf of some of Australia’s largest carbon emitters, in late 2021 the

Morrison government The Morrison government was the federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison of the Liberal Party of Australia, between 2018 and 2022. The Morrison government commenced on 24 August 2018, when it was sworn ...

appointed Macfarlane to the board of the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...

, Australia’s lead science agency.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Macfarlane, Ian 1955 births Living people Abbott Government Australian people of Scottish descent Government ministers of Australia Liberal National Party of Queensland members of the Parliament of Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Cabinet of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Groom People from Kingaroy People from Toowoomba 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians