Susan McDonald | |
|---|---|
| Senator forQueensland | |
| Assumed office 1 July 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Barry O'Sullivan |
| Deputy Leader of the Nationals in the Senate | |
| Assumed office 21 July 2025 | |
| Leader | Bridget McKenzie |
| Preceded by | Matt Canavan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Susan Eileen McDonald (1970-02-07)7 February 1970 (age 56) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Party | National (federal) LNP (state) |
| Relations | George Fisher (grandfather) Judy Gamin (aunt) |
| Occupation | Accountant Businesswoman |
Susan Eileen McDonald[1] (born 7 February 1970) is an Australian politician who has been aSenator forQueensland since 2019. She is a member of theLiberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) and sits with theNational Party in federal parliament. She has a background inagribusiness.
McDonald was born inBrisbane.[2] Her father Don McDonald served as state and federal president of the National Party during the 1990s.[3][4] The family company MDH Pty Ltd was established by her paternal grandfather Jim McDonald in the 1940s and runs numerouscattle stations acrossQueensland, spanning over 38,000 square kilometres (15,000 mi2) as of 2013.[5] Her maternal grandfatherGeorge Fisher was a prominent mining executive, while her auntJudy Gamin was a Queensland state MP.[6]
McDonald grew up on Devoncourt Station, located in the locality ofKuridala outside ofCloncurry. She began her schooling through theSchool of the Air based inMount Isa before boarding atStuartholme School in Brisbane.[7] She later completed the degrees ofBachelor of Commerce andBachelor of Economics from theUniversity of Queensland.[2]
McDonald is achartered accountant.[8] From 2014 to 2019 she served as managing director of Super Butcher, a subsidiary of her family business MDH which had five stores and employed 80 people as of 2016.[7] She was appointed to the board ofBeef Australia in 2016.[8] She joined the council of theRoyal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland in the same year.[9]
McDonald joined theNational Party of Queensland at the age of 19.[7] She served a term as state secretary beginning in 2003.[3] When the party merged with the stateLiberal Party in 2008, she became a founding trustee of the newLiberal National Party of Queensland (LNP).[7] She served as chief of staff toAndrew Cripps, the Queensland Minister for Natural Resources and Mines from 2012 to 2015.[10]
In July 2018 McDonald won LNPpreselection for the Senate.[3] She was elected to parliament at the2019 federal election, to a term beginning on 1 July 2019, and sits in the Nationals partyroom. She serves on several Senate committees and is the chair of the rural and regional affairs and transport legislation committee.[2]
McDonald reportedly voted forBarnaby Joyce in the2021 Nationals leadership spill, despite having previously supportedMichael McCormack.[11] She was subsequently appointed as theMorrison government's Special Envoy for Northern Australia, a non-ministerial position.[12]
In 2021, she supported a Senate inquiry into veganfood labels.[13]
Following the Coalition's defeat at the2022 federal election, McDonald was appointed to new opposition leaderPeter Dutton'sshadow ministry, with responsibility for the resources and Northern Australia portfolios,[2] and was retained duringSussan Ley's shadow ministry.
In January 2026, following a recall of parliament to vote on theCombatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Bill 2026, McDonald resigned from the shadow ministry after crossing the floor to vote against the bill.[14]
McDonald advocates the agricultural development of inland Australia. She has endorsed the assumptions of theBradfield Scheme and supports the construction of the Hell's Gate Dam on the upperBurdekin River as well as the expansion of the existingBurdekin Dam.[3][15] In March 2019The Australian described her as "avowedly pro-coal".[7]
McDonald has nominatedLawrence Springborg,Tim Fischer andJoh Bjelke-Petersen as political role models.[3]
McDonald is a single mother to three children. She moved toTownsville after her election to parliament, having previously lived in the Brisbane suburb ofClayfield.[7]
McDonald was diagnosed withCOVID-19 in March 2020. She was only the third North Queenslander to contract the virus.[16] She described it as a "mild case" and said she was unsure how she became infected.[17]
