Ian Macfarlane

Who is Ian Macfarlane?

Ian Elgin Macfarlane is an Australian politician. He was elected as a member of the Australian House of Representatives in October 1998, representing the Division of Groom, Queensland for the Liberal National Party. As a minister in the Coalition Government under John Howard he held the portfolio of Minister for Small Business from January 2001, before being promoted to the Cabinet role of Industry, Tourism and Resources in November 2001. Since the defeat of the Coalition in the 2007 federal election he has served in the shadow portfolios of Trade as well as Infrustructure and Water, and is currently Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources

He was born in Kingaroy, Queensland, and was a farmer and president of the Queensland Graingrowers Association before entering politics. He acquired the nickname "Chainsaw" due to his raspy voice from ABC rural reporter Judy Kennedy. He now attributes the moniker to his ability to "cut through red tape", and it was alluded to in his 1998 election campaign through the slogan "The Right Voice for Groom".

In a speech given in Adelaide on 20 February 2006, Clive Hamilton identified Macfarlane as one of Australia's climate change "dirty dozen", a group of climate change sceptics with considerable influence over Australian Government policy. However, in an interview with Four Corners on 9 November 2009, Macfarlane admitted that he had changed his stance on climate change, conceding that he now recognised man's role in the process. Acting as Climate Change Spokesman for the Coalition in 2009, he spent 5 weeks in negotiations around a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme with Minister for Climate Change Penny Wong, before a leadership spill deposed party leader Malcolm Turnbull and replaced him with current leader Tony Abbott, and the policy was overturned.