The Honourable Ian Macdonald BA MLC |
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Member of Legislative Council of New South Wales | |
In office 19 March 1988 – 7 June 2010 |
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Succeeded by | Luke Foley |
Minister for Primary Industries | |
In office 3 May 2004 – 17 November 2009 |
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Preceded by | Tony Kelly |
Succeeded by | Steve Whan |
Minister for State and Regional Development | |
In office 2 April 2007 – 5 June 2010 |
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Preceded by | David Campbell |
Succeeded by | Eric Roozendaal |
Minister for Major Events | |
In office 11 March 2010 – 5 June 2010 |
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Succeeded by | Kevin Greene |
Minister for Mineral and Forest Resources | |
In office 3 August 2005 – 5 June 2010 |
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Preceded by | Tony Kelly |
Succeeded by | Paul McLeay |
Personal details | |
Born | 7 March 1949 |
Political party | Australian Labor Party |
Spouse(s) | Larisa |
Ian Michael Macdonald BA MLC (born 7 March 1949), a former Australian politician, was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1988 to 2010 representing the Australian Labor Party. Between 2003 and 2010, Macdonald held a range of ministerial responsibilities in the Carr, Iemma, Rees, and Keneally ministries.[1]
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Raised as one of five children by his mother in a single parent household,[2] Macdonald graduated from La Trobe University with a Bachelor of Arts (honours) in history and worked for the Australian Council of Overseas Aid, and a range of Commonwealth and State government agencies before his election to parliament in 1988.[1]
At the time of entering Parliament, he was a farmer near Carcoar in the Central West of New South Wales.[3]
Elected to the Legislative Council in 1998, Macdonald was appointed Minster for Agriculture and Fisheries in 2003 and then the Primary Industries portfolio and a range of other portfolios in the first and second Iemma and Rees ministries including Natural Resouces, Mineral Resources, State Development, and Energy. However, granted extraordinary powers by Labor State Conference on 17 November 2009, Rees sacked Macdonald (along with others) from the ministry because of Macdonald's efforts to destabilise Rees in his position.[4][5]
Macdonald then played a large part in the sacking of Rees in favour of Keneally. Macdonald was previously a member of the New South Wales Socialist Left faction, but was formally expelled in December 2009 for his role in Rees's downfall. Keneally restored Macdonald to the ministry following her election as Premier, making him the Minister for Major Events, Mineral and Forest Resources, State and Regional Development and Central Coast.
Macdonald was plagued by scandal surrounding a trip to Dubai made in 2008, which led him to resign from the ministry on 4 June 2010[6] on the same day as the resignation of Minister Graham West. Macdonald's Dubai trip was investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption after a government report found he misused public funds.[7]
On 7 June 2010 Macdonald resigned from parliament with immediate effect.[8][9] He was replaced by Luke Foley, the Assistant Deputy Secretary of the New South Wales Labor Party.[10]
In November 2011 the Independent Commission Against Corruption commenced an inquiry that heard allegations that Macdonald, while Minister, accepted sexual favours in return for introducing businessman to executives of state-owned energy companies. It was also alleged that property developer Ron Medich acted as a broker for Macdonald and was seeking to do business with government agencies where Macdonald had influence as a Minister.[11] Appearing before the Commission to defend the allegations, Macdonald claimed that he was under the influence of alcohol and suffering the effects of depression at the time of the alleged incident.[12] The inquiry is ongoing.