Nigel Scullion

Nigel Gregory Scullion (born 4 May 1956) is a former Australian politician who was a Senator for the Northern Territory from 2001 to 2019. He was a member of the Country Liberal Party (CLP) and sat with the National Party in federal parliament. He held ministerial office under four prime ministers.

The Honourable Nigel Scullion
Minister for Indigenous Affairs
In office 18 September 2013 – 29 May 2019
Prime Minister	Tony Abbott Malcolm Turnbull Scott Morrison
Preceded by	Jenny Macklin
Succeeded by	Ken Wyatt
Deputy Leader of the National Party of Australia
In office 3 December 2007 – 13 September 2013
Leader	Warren Truss
Preceded by	Warren Truss
Succeeded by	Barnaby Joyce
Minister for Community Services
In office 30 January 2007 – 3 December 2007
Prime Minister	John Howard
Preceded by	John Cobb
Succeeded by	Jenny Macklin
Senator for the Northern Territory
In office 10 November 2001 – 18 May 2019
Preceded by	Grant Tambling
Succeeded by	Sam McMahon
Personal details
Born	Nigel Gregory Scullion 4 May 1956 London, England
Citizenship	Australian British (1956–2001)[1]
Political party	Country Liberal Party
Other political affiliations	The Nationals (federal caucus) Coalition
Spouse(s)	Jenny Scullion (divorced) Carol Sexton
Children	3
Occupation	Fisherman

Scullion was a professional fisherman prior to entering politics. He was first elected to the Senate at the 2001 federal election, and briefly served as Minister for Community Services in the Howard Government in 2007. He was deputy leader of the National Party from 2007 to 2013, the first senator to hold the position, and served two terms as the party's Senate leader (2007–2008 and 2013–2019). In 2013, Scullion was appointed Minister for Indigenous Affairs in the Abbott Government. He held the same position in the Turnbull and Morrison Governments before retiring from parliament at the 2019 election. He was the only minister to hold the same portfolio in those three governments.

Early life

Scullion was born in London, England, then lived in Deakin, Canberra, during high school. He is married with 3 children.[2] Before entering the Senate he was a professional fisherman and graduated from the Australian Rural Leadership Program.[3]

Career

Scullion received media attention early in his career when questions arose over how his business relationships with government bodies might have affected his eligibility to sit in parliament.[4][5] Investigations continued for some time, but in the end did not affect his membership of Parliament.[6][7]

On 30 January 2007, he was appointed Minister for Community Services in the Australian Government. He held office for only 10 months before the Howard Government was defeated in an election.

In February 2007, Scullion was elected to the position of deputy Senate leader of the federal National Party and was subsequently promoted to the positions of deputy parliamentary leader of the National Party and leader of the party in the Senate on 3 December 2007, following the coalition's defeat.[8] On 6 December 2007 he was named as Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in the shadow ministry chosen by new Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson.[9] In 2008, he was defeated by Barnaby Joyce for the Senate leadership,[10] but retained the deputy leadership of the National Party.[11]

Scullion was re-elected at the 2010 election and appointed Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs by Opposition leader, Tony Abbott.[12] In February 2012, Scullion appeared in the second episode of Kitchen Cabinet with Annabel Crabb, when they went into the mud flats for crustaceans, which she has recalled as the most memorable show.[13] Following Joyce's move to the House of Representatives in 2013, Scullion reclaimed his position of Senate leader but lost the deputy parliamentary leadership to Joyce.

On 11 February 2016 Joyce was elected leader of the Nationals with Fiona Nash as his deputy. As Nash was also a Senator, Scullion had to relinquish the Senate leadership to Senator Nash. In fact, Senator Nash had been Senator Scullion's Senate deputy prior to her election as deputy leader of the parliamentary party.

After the High Court ruled that Joyce and Nash were ineligible during the 2017 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis, Scullion was appointed interim parliamentary leader of the National Party.[14] On 26 January 2019 he announced he would not recontest his Senate seat at the forthcoming election.[15]

References

1. Crabb, Annabel (29 July 2017). "Section 44 forcing politicians into extraordinary feats of intrepidity". Radio Australia. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
2. "Senator the Hon Nigel Scullion". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
3. "Biography for SCULLION, the Hon. Nigel Gregory". Parliament of Australia – Parlinfo Search. 8 December 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
4. Loizou, John; Hinde, Suellen (7 May 2002). "Senator faces spotlight". Northern Territory News.
5. Faulkner, John; et al. (14 May 2002), "Senate Debates", Hansard, Parliament of Australia, pp. 1393–1398
6. "Senator probe". Northern Territory News. 25 September 2003.
7. Maharaj, Rajiv (17 February 2004). "Funds inquiry clears Territory senator". Northern Territory News.
8. "Truss wins Nationals leadership". ABC News. 3 December 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
9. Parliament of Australia, Shadow Ministry list, 6 December 2007 Archived 25 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved January 2008.
10. "Nationals won't toe Libs' line: Joyce". Retrieved 15 September 2016.
11. Barnaby Joyce promoted to Nats Senate leader: Fairfax 17/9/2008 Archived 17 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 September 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
13. Leys, Nick (2 September 2013). "Ten questions for Annabel Crabb". The Australian. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
14. Knaus, Christopher (28 October 2017). "Turnbull: Nationals happy for Julie Bishop to be acting prime minister". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
15. "Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion to become third minister to quit politics". ABC News. 26 January 2019.

External links

• Nigel Scullion, Senate Biography
• Nigel Scullion's personal home page
• Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator Nigel Scullion on TheyVoteForYou.org.au