John Alexander Lindsay Macdonald, (born 10 May 1954) is a former

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n politician. He was member of the

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from 1993 to 1998, and again from 2000 to 2008, representing the state of

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for the National Party.

Early life

Macdonald was born in

Quirindi, New South Wales Quirindi ( or ) is a small town on the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, in Liverpool Plains Shire. At the , Quirindi had a population of 3,444. It is the nearest link to Gunnedah to the west and Tamworth to the north. ...

and was educated at

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, where he graduated in law. He was a wool and beef farmer before entering politics.

Political career

Macdonald was the third Senate candidate for the

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at the 1998 federal election but narrowly lost his seat to

Aden Ridgeway Aden Derek Ridgeway (born 18 September 1962) is an Australian former politician.''The Age'' (2006)Present politics Retrieved 6 July 2006. He was a member of the Australian Senate for New South Wales from 1999 to 2005, representing the Australia ...

of the

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. In May 2000, he regained a seat in the Senate following the resignation of National Party Senator David Brownhill. In June 2005, Macdonald was made Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Trade, and in January 2006, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence. Macdonald was at the centre of an allegation of a breach of the Commonwealth Electoral Act.

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Member for

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Tony Windsor Antony Harold Curties Windsor, (born 2 September 1950) is a former Australian politician. Windsor was an independent member for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Tamworth from 1991 to 2001 − supporting the incumbent Greiner L ...

, claimed through an interview with Tony Vermeer from ''

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'' that he had been approached, in May 2004, by a figure associated with the National Party with the offer of a diplomatic position in exchange for retiring from politics. Windsor made the allegations during the course of the 2004 Federal election campaign, some five months after the alleged incident occurred. The

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referred the matter to the

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(AFP). Windsor was re-elected and, in November 2004, speaking under

parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties. ...

, said that National Party leader

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Business *John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland * John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...

and Macdonald had made the offer through an intermediary, Tamworth businessman Greg McGuire. Windsor also claimed that the AFP had referred the matter to the

Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions The Office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions or, informally, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) is an independent prosecuting service and government agency within the portfolio of the Attorney-General of A ...

for determination. Anderson, Macdonald, and McGuire denied the claims. The AFP invistaged Windsor's claims and advised that the matter will not be prosecuted. In October 2006, Macdonald refused a National Party endorsement on the joint senate ticket for the forthcoming

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. Macdonald retired from the Senate at the expiry of his term, on 30 June 2008 after the defeat of the Howard Government .

Post political career

He was appointed a director of Defence Housing Australia in August 2008 by the Rudd Government. He was also appointed a director of Incremental Oil and Gas Ltd ( formerly a director of Incremental Petroleum Ltd) in 2008. In February 2015 Macdonald was appointed Chairman of Defence Housing Australia. Macdonald was awarded Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the

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, for "For significant service to the people and Parliament of Australia, and to public administration."

References

External links

Senator Sandy Macdonald website

National Party Senators: 1920–2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Sandy 1954 births Living people National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians