Sue Mary Mackay (born 14 April 1960) is a former Australian politician who served as 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

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

from 1996 to 2005, representing the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

(ALP). She was a shadow minister under

Kim Beazley Kim Christian Beazley (born 14 December 1948) is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and leader of the opposition from 1996 to 2001 and 2005 to 2006, having previously been a cabinet ...

(1998–2001) and an

opposition whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...

(2001–2004).

Early life

Mackay was born on 14 April 1960 in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. She came to Australia in the late 1960s with her parents and brothers. Prior to entering politics she worked as an organiser for the

Federated Liquor and Allied Industries Employees' Union of Australia Federated Liquor and Allied Industries Employees' Union of Australia (FLAIEU) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1910 and 1992. It represented workers employed in hospitality, catering, breweries and alcohol retailing. Formatio ...

(1980–1982), employment officer for the

Commonwealth Employment Service The Commonwealth Employment Service (CES) was an Australian Government employment agency that was established in 1946 with the introduction of the ''Re-establishment and Employment Act 1945'' under the Curtin ALP government. It was designed to ide ...

(1982–1983), and as women's organiser (1983–1984) and state industrial officer (1984–1988) for the Public Sector Union.

Politics

Mackay joined the

in 1978. After leaving her union job she served as a senior adviser to Tasmanian Labor parliamentarians, including federal MP

Duncan Kerr Duncan James Colquhoun Kerr, SC (born 26 February 1952) is a barrister. He is a former justice of the Federal Court of Australia. He also served as President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal from 2012 to 2017. Kerr was previously a poli ...

(1988–1990), state health minister John White (1990–1992) and opposition leader Michael Field (1992). She then served as state secretary of the

Australian Labor Party (Tasmanian Branch) The Australian Labor Party (Tasmanian Branch), commonly known as Tasmanian Labor, is the Tasmanian branch of the Australian Labor Party. It has been one of the most successful state Labor parties in Australia in terms of electoral success. Histo ...

from 1992 to 1996.

Senate

In March 1996, Mackay was appointed to the Senate to fill a

casual vacancy In politics, a casual vacancy (''casual'' in the sense of "by chance") is a situation in which a seat in a deliberative assembly becomes vacant during that assembly's term. Casual vacancies may arise through the death, resignation or disqualifi ...

caused by the resignation of John Devereux. She was elected to a six-year term in her own right at the 1996 federal election, and re-elected in 2001. Mackay was made a shadow parliamentary secretary in August 1997, and after the 1998 election was appointed to

's shadow ministry with responsibility for regional services, territories and local government. She was strongly against the privatisation of

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 ...

. Following the 2001 election, she was instead elected Opposition Whip in the Senate, a position she held until after the 2004 election. Mackay announced her retirement from politics in July 2005, citing the ill health of her partner as well as "the impending change in numbers in the Senate" (the Howard government's new majority status). She stated that she left parliament "with a real sense of apprehension at the unfettered power of the executive with none of the checks and balances that the Senate has provided".

Personal life

, Mackay was in a long-term relationship with former Tasmanian state MP

David Crean David Mackenzie Crean (born 21 November 1950, Melbourne) is a former Labor member of the Parliament of Tasmania. He is the son of former Deputy Prime Minister Frank Crean and brother to former Australian federal opposition leader Simon Crean. B ...

. They moved to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in 2008 to be closer to Crean's elderly parents, buying a house in

South Yarra South Yarra is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Stonnington local government areas. South Yarra recorded a popul ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackay, Sue 1960 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Left politicians Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Tasmania Women members of the Australian Senate 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians 20th-century Australian politicians Scottish emigrants to Australia Australian trade unionists 20th-century Australian women politicians