Michael John Randal MacKellar (27 October 1938 – 9 May 2015) was an Australian politician. He was a member of 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 ...

and served in 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 1969 to 1994, representing the

Division of Warringah The Division of Warringah is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. Geography Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee app ...

. He was

Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs The Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs is a ministerial post of the Australian Government and is currently held by Andrew Giles, pending the swearing in of the full Albanese ministry on 1 June 2022, following the ...

(1975–1979) and

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

(1979–1982) in the Fraser Government.

Biography

MacKellar was born in

Moree, New South Wales Moree is a town in Moree Plains Shire in northern New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the banks of the Mehi River, in the centre of the rich black-soil plains. The town is located at the junction of the Newell Highway and Gwydir Highway ...

and educated at the Sydney Church of England Grammar School, before attending the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

and

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He was an

agricultural scientist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the U ...

, working at the New South Wales Department of Agriculture and lecturing at the University of Sydney and New South Wales before he entered politics. He was first elected to Parliament in 1969, taking over from the controversial Edward St. John. In June 1974 he joined the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Immigration Minister.

Fraser Government (1975–1983)

In December 1975, MacKellar was first appointed to the

front bench In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kn ...

as the

, a position he held until 1979, when he became

and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister. In Opposition, MacKellar acted as Shadow Minister for Science. MacKellar attracted some controversy over his handling of an incident involving the improper importation of a colour television set. In 1982, a ministerial staffer submitted an incorrect

customs declaration A customs declaration is a form that lists the details of goods that are being imported or exported when a citizen or visitor enters a customs territory (country's borders). Most countries require travellers to complete a customs declaration form wh ...

form when arranging for the set to be imported. When this was discovered, a fellow Minister, John Moore, attempted a cover-up. Moore and MacKellar both accepted responsibility and resigned as ministers.

In Opposition (1983–1994)

Following the 1983 election defeat he returned to the frontbench as Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister, before being demoted to Shadow Science Minister after the 1984 election. After

Andrew Peacock Andrew Sharp Peacock (13 February 193916 April 2021) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He served as a cabinet minister and went on to become leader of the Liberal Party on two occasions (1983–1985 and 1989–1990), leading the par ...

resigned he moved to the backbench. He contested the Liberal Deputy leadership three times

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, finishing second to

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 ...

in 1982. MacKellar resigned from Parliament on 18 February 1994, causing a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

that was subsequently won by future Prime Minister

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 ...

After Politics

After leaving politics MacKellar became Chairman of the

Australia New Zealand Food Authority Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) (Māori: ''Te Mana Kounga Kai – Ahitereiria me Aotearoa''), formerly Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA), is the statutory authority in the Australian Government Health portfolio that is ...

in 1998. He also acted as

Chief Operations Officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

of the Baker Medical Research Institute and Chief Executive Officer of the Plastics and Chemicals Industries Association. MacKellar also served as the president of the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

-based National Ageing Research Institute.

Personal life

Mackellar had three children, one of whom was autistic. His daughter Maggie was the subject of an episode of ABC TV's ''

Australian Story ''Australian Story'' is a national weekly current affairs and documentary style television series which is broadcast on ABC Television. It is produced specifically by the ABC News and Current Affairs Department. The program first aired on 29 ...

''. He died on 9 May 2015 at the age of 76. He was given a state funeral on 15 May 2015 at St John's Anglican Church, Toorak, Victoria.

References

External links

Parlinfo Web Biography
from the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...

Chronology of Events relating to the Membership of the 37th Parliament
* ttp://www.australianpolitics.com/executive/ministry/resignations.shtml Ministerial Resignations and Dismissals Since 1901br>Papers on Parliament No. 28 – November 1996 – Poets, Presidents, People and Parliament Republicanism and other issues – Chapter 6 – The Minister and His Private OfficeANZFA Annual Report, 1999–2000 (PDF)
*https://web.archive.org/web/20091030015032/http://www.nari.unimelb.edu.au/ *https://web.archive.org/web/20110217130929/http://www.nari.unimelb.edu.au/governance/board_members.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Mackellar, Michael John Randal 1938 births 2015 deaths Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Warringah Members of the Australian House of Representatives Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Australian agriculturalists Australian people of Scottish descent Politicians from Sydney Members of the Order of Australia Chief operating officers 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Ministers for Health