Samantha Jane McMahon (born 11 December 1967) is a former Australian politician who was a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

between the 2019 federal election and the 2022 federal election. McMahon is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), having joined the party in April 2022, several months after resigning from the

Country Liberal Party The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP) is a centre-right political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In local politics it operates in a two-party system with the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It also contests federal ...

(CLP). While she was a CLP member, she sat in the Nationals party room in federal parliament. She was a veterinarian in

Katherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and Catherina, other variations are feminine Given name, names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria ...

before entering politics.

Early life

McMahon was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

on 11 December 1967. She grew up on a farm in

Nanango Nanango is a rural town and locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Nanango had a population of 3,599 people. Geography Nanango is situated north-west of the state capital, Brisbane, at the junc ...

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_ ...

. She completed a Bachelor of Veterinary Science at the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

Career

McMahon accepted a position in the Northern Territory after her graduation. She has owned and operated veterinary practices in

, Howard Springs,

Nhulunbuy Nhulunbuy () is a township that is the sixth largest population centre in the Northern Territory of Australia. Nhulunbuy was created on the Gove Peninsula in north-east Arnhem Land when a bauxite mine and a deep water port were established ...

Tennant Creek Tennant Creek ( wrm, Jurnkkurakurr) is town located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the seventh largest town in the Northern Territory, and is located on the Stuart Highway, just south of the intersection with the western termin ...

, and

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

. She was a national director of the

Australian Veterinary Association The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) is a not-for-profit association representing more than 6000 Australian veterinarians working in private practice, government, industry, and academia. The AVA was mooted before the First World War but not ...

for five years and president of the Northern Territory division for two years. She became a Fellow of the

Australian Institute of Company Directors The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) is a non-profit membership organization for directors. The AICD is a founding member of the Global Network of Director Institutes (GNDI). History The origins of the AICD can be traced ba ...

in 2003. She won the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

for business leadership in 2001, was awarded the

Meritorious Service Award in 2014, and was awarded the NT Telstra small business award in 2017.

Politics

In March 2019, McMahon won

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...

to replace

Nigel Scullion Nigel Gregory Scullion (born 4 May 1956) is a former Australian politician who was a Australian Senate, Senator for the Northern Territory from 2001 to 2019. He was a member of the Country Liberal Party (CLP) and sat with the National Party of A ...

as the

's lead Senate candidate at the 2019 federal election. She was elected to a term beginning on 18 May 2019, and chose to sit with the National Party in federal parliament, following her predecessor. In May 2021 she was appointed chair of the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories. In June 2021, McMahon was defeated for CLP preselection at the 2022 federal election by

Jacinta Price Jacinta Yangapi Nampijinpa Price (; born 12 May 1981) is an Australian politician from the Northern Territory. She has been a Australian Senate, senator for the Northern Territory since the 2022 Australian federal election, 2022 federal election ...

. In the week leading up to the ballot,

Nine Publishing Nine Entertainment (registered as Nine Entertainment Co. Pty Ltd) is an Australian publicly listed media company with holdings in radio and television broadcasting, newspaper publications and digital media. It uses Nine as its corporate brandi ...

reported that at least ten senators believed she had been visibly drunk while in the Senate chamber on 23 June. A spokesman stated that she was feeling "unwell" and that the allegations were part of a smear campaign to discredit her in the lead-up to the preselection. In December 2021 it was alleged that following a 'boozey' Christmas party McMahon was escorted from the premises to a waiting taxi, at which point McMahon physically assaulted Nationals’ federal director and event organiser Jonathan Hawkes. In January 2022, McMahon resigned from the Country Liberal Party and moved to the crossbench to sit as an independent. She later explained in March 2022 that she resigned due to alleged abuse by former staffer Jason Riley. On 8 April 2022, McMahon announced she had joined the Liberal Democrats, and would run on the party's Northern Territory Senate ticket at the May federal election. The Liberal Democrats won approximately 9% of the vote in the Northern Territory Senate race, not enough for McMahon to retain her seat in the chamber.

Positions

In January 2020, during the

2019–20 Australian bushfire season The 201920 Australian bushfire season (Black Summer), was a period of bushfires in many parts of Australia, which, due to its unusual intensity, size, duration, and uncontrollable dimension, is considered a megafire. The Australian National ...

, McMahon tweeted that the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and th ...

' "ridiculous agenda" of opposing logging had " to these horrible fires". A

Guardian Australia ''Guardian Australia'' is the Australian website of the British global online and print newspaper, ''The Guardian''. Available solely in an online format, the newspaper's launch was led by Katharine Viner in time for the 2013 Australian fede ...

article published in the same month identified her as one of the " climate doubters" within the Coalition. In March 2020, McMahon argued that a nuclear power plant should be built in northern Australia to lower emissions and improve the country's economy. In August 2021, McMahon announced she had drafted a bill to expand the legislative powers of the

Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory of Australia. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member electorates for four-year terms. The voting method fo ...

and reduce the power of federal parliament to veto territory legislation. This would include a partial repeal of the ''

Euthanasia Laws Act 1997 The ''Euthanasia Laws Act 1997'' (Cth) was an Act of the Parliament of Australia to amend the '' Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978'', the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 and the Norfolk Island Act 1979 to ...

'', allowing the Legislative Assembly to legalise

assisted suicide Assisted suicide is suicide undertaken with the aid of another person. The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which is suicide that is assisted by a physician or other healthcare provider. Once it is determined that the p ...

. In November 2021, McMahon was one of five Coalition senators who voted against the government in support of One Nation’s COVID–19 Vaccination Status (Prevention of Discrimination) Bill 2021.

Personal life

McMahon lives on a farm outside Katherine and is an avid water skier and horse rider. In September 2019, McMahon announced that she had separated from her husband, Wayne Nayda.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McMahon, Sam 1967 births Living people Members of the Australian Senate for the Northern Territory Country Liberal Party members of the Parliament of Australia Independent members of the Parliament of Australia Australian veterinarians Women veterinarians Women members of the Australian Senate University of Queensland alumni National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Liberal Democratic Party members of the Parliament of Australia People from Nanango