Aileen MacDonald is an Australian politician who is a member of the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

, representing the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. She was first appointed in 2022 to replace

Catherine Cusack Catherine Cusack (born 21 December 1968) is a British actress. She is best known for portraying Nanny Carmel Finnan in the long-running ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' in 1992 and 1993. Early life and career Cusack was born on 21 Decem ...

. MacDonald was a member of the NSW Liberal party's State Executive from 2011 to 2012 and 2018 to 2022. She was Country Vice President of the NSW Liberal Women's Council from 2000 to 2003, 2005 to 2007, 2012 to 2015 and 2017 to 2019. She was appointed Shadow Minister for Youth Justice in 2023.

Career

From 1989 to 2012, MacDonald and her husband ran an agricultural supplies business. In 2009, MacDonald joined the Rotary Club of

Guyra Guyra is a town situated midway between Armidale and Glen Innes on the Northern Tablelands in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It is within Armidale Regional Council and at the 2021 census, it had a population of 2,077. M ...

and the Chamber of Commerce and was President of the club between 2016 and 2018. MacDonald was Chairperson of

Armidale Regional Council The Armidale Region is a local government area in the New England and Northern Tablelands regions of New South Wales, Australia. This area was formed in 2016 from the merger of the Armidale Dumaresq Shire with the surrounding Guyra Shire. T ...

’s Regional Growth and Economic Development Committee from 2016 to 2017, and contested the

2017 New South Wales local elections The 2017 New South Wales local elections were held on 9 September 2017 to elect the councils of 46 of the 128 local government areas (LGAs) in New South Wales. Several councils also held mayoral elections and/or referendums. Background Follow ...

in Armidale. In 2018, MacDonald developed 'Renew

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 23,967 as of the 2021 census. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands reg ...

' based on the successful ‘Renew

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

’ model. MacDonald was awarded the 2019 Citizen of Guyra award for her involvement in economic development and service to the community. She was awarded the Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in June 2020 as part of the Queen's Birthday Honours. Immediately prior to entering Parliament, MacDonald was the President of Business New England, and President of the Business NSW Regional Advisory Council.

Personal life

MacDonald and her husband

Scot Scottish people or Scots (; ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland (or ...

have three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacDonald, Aileen Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Living people 21st-century Australian politicians Women members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Australian women politicians