Senators

Senator the Hon Sandy Macdonald

Senator for New South Wales

Biography

Senator Sandy Macdonald was elected to the Senate from NSW for The Nationals in 1993 and spent his first six-year term based at Singleton in the Hunter. He now has his office in Tamworth, NSW.  At the general election of November 2001 he was re-elected until June 2008.

Sandy has an interest in trade policy, foreign affairs and defence issues and was involved in the World Trade Organisation negotiations in Cancun, Mexico as part of the Australian Parliamentary delegation.   He is a current member and former Chair of the Senator Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee. 

Sandy has also previously held the positions of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade where he assisted in promoting Australia’s exciting trade agenda both domestically and overseas, and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence.

During his first term, Sandy was heavily involved in the native title and Wik debates (where he crossed the floor of the Senate in 1993 to support constituents who held pastoral leases), telecommunications, defence, and the wool industry. He also chaired the NSW Road “Black Spots” Consultative Committee.

Sandy lives in northern NSW where he is a wool and beef producer. A law graduate, Sandy is married to Alice and has three children.  He is a keen sportsman and enjoys cricket, rugby union and horses.

Senator Macdonald's achievements for NSW include:

• Consistent support of a single desk marketing arrangement for Australian wheat growers.
• Secured funding for major facilities in northern NSW to assist in regional development, tourism and education. (Tamworth Equine Centre and a National Science, IT and Maths Research Centre).
• Assisted in the development of a $3 billion telecommunications package and development of telecommunications generally to benefit residents of rural and regional Australia.
• Works to ensure small business in rural and regional Australia are supported and promoted by government policy.
• Played a role in the development of a drought assistance package worth more than $900 million.
• Has been a major supporter of furthering the use of alternative fuels in support of the ethanol industry.