Senate
Matthew Canavan
Matthew Canavan is a The Nationals senator for Queensland. First elected 1 July 2014.
- 2016 Became Northern Australia minister
- 2017 Resigned ministry over citizenship
- 2017 High Court upheld eligibility
- 2017 Returned to cabinet
- 2021 Left resources ministry
- The Nationals
Before this: won Queensland Senate seat (2013).
What do they focus on?
Not enough tracked speeches or amendments to say yet.
Bars show tracked speeches and amendments by policy area.
How do they vote?
Share of recorded votes on the same side as each party's majority.
619 tracked votes while with The Nationals.
How do they compare?
- Years in parliament i Total time served across every stint in either chamber, up to the end of the tracked record. 12 yrs 0.2 avg 8.5 yrs 33.3
- Votes against their party i Recorded votes cast against their own party's majority side. The average is across party members only. 6 avg 0.6 26
- Bills introduced i Bills they introduced to Parliament, counted across the tracked record. 9 avg 2.8 46
- Amendments sponsored i Amendments to bills they put forward during debate, counted across the tracked record. 29 avg 7.9 226
His occasional votes alongside the Greens on parliamentary process and social-media regulation, plus populist votes with One Nation, reflect issue-specific dissent rather than a shift from his conservative Nationals politics. Topic strips exclude accountability and process votes; read small counts loosely.
What have they done lately?
Recent recorded activity includes late June and early July 2026. On 1 July, Canavan spoke in support of unfair trading rules while seeking tighter definitions and a delay for small businesses; on 2 July, he voted No on personal-data and financial-services extension questions, and Aye on the small-business delay question. On 29 June, he voted No against cooperative workplace rules. On 25 June, he opposed the tax reform bill in a speech and voted No on its second reading, while voting Aye or No on several specific amendment questions. The tracked coverage is 766 bills through 6 July 2026.
When do they vote against their party?
6 times across 619 tracked votes. Most recently:
- 28 Nov 2024 Delay further consideration until 2025
- 28 Nov 2024 Senate advances under-16 social media ban
- 28 Nov 2024 Senate keeps reasonable-steps rule
- 28 Nov 2024 Canavan platform-definition package defeated
What do they say in debate?
51 tracked speeches across 48 bills.
- 23 backing a bill
- 5 with reservations
- 23 against
- 0 no clear position
Go deeper
Every figure links to a cited page.
About these numbers
Based on 766 tracked bills from the 47th and 48th Parliaments, current to 6 July 2026. This is a sample of parliamentary activity, not the complete record.
Career markers come from dated public records. Voting figures use division lists only. For party members, the left-to-right marker begins at the party position. It moves only when the member votes against that party and on the same side as a neighbouring party; other cross-party combinations do not affect it. Independents and minor-party members are placed by their votes in divisions where the Greens and the Coalition took opposite sides. If this position differs from a member’s broader public politics, a note appears below the strip.