Michael Macklin
Australian politician
Michael John Macklin (born 25 February 1943 in London) is an Australian former Franciscan friar, educator and fundraiser who was an Australian Democrats senator for Queensland (1981–1990). He later served as executive dean of the faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of New England (2002–2007).
Early life
Macklin migrated as a child with his family to Australia. He grew up in Ayr in northern Queensland and finished his schooling in Sydney. Having spent a number of years as a Franciscan friar, he commenced university studies in Brisbane, became a teacher, married Jennie in December 1970, and completed Master's and PhD degrees at the University of Queensland, where he lectured in Philosophy of Education for eight years.
Political career
Macklin was the founding member of the Australian Democrats in Queensland and led the party in that state from 1977 to 1980, when he was elected to the Senate.
He became the party's first whip and was elected deputy leader under Janine Haines following the retirement of Don Chipp. From 24 March to 30 June 1990, he served as interim parliamentary leader after the resignation of Haines from the Senate to contest a House of Representatives seat. He served on eleven parliamentary committees, including those having oversight of the National Crime Authority and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.
Post-parliamentary career
Macklin undertook fundraising activities, including for the Australian Democrats.
The public source identifies “Michael Macklin” as australian politician. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Michael, Macklin and Australian.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6832422. VIAF identifies the subject as 93069708. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1943, 1981, 1990 and 2002.
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This entry incorporates text from “Michael Macklin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.