James McGrath (Australian politician)

McGrath was elected to the Senate at the 2013 federal election. In 2014, he delivered his maiden speech, calling for the GST rate to rise to 15 per cent, federal health and education departments to be abolished, youth radio station Triple J and ABC to be privatised and defended people's right to say "hurtful and bigoted and stupid and dumb things".[6]

McGrath assisted in toppling both Conservative leader Tony Abbott, and Moderate leader, Malcolm Turnbull.[7] The night before Turnbull 'rolled' Abbott, McGrath joined the dinner with a close group of plotters.[8] McGrath was even labelled by some as Turnbull's 'key numbers man'.[9] During the Channel 7 election coverage, Australian radio broadcaster Alan Jones engaged McGrath in a heated debate. Jones accused McGrath of being ‘too panicked’ and had taken the LNP down the path of Labor by supporting Turnbull.[10] Jones told McGrath: ‘There are a lot of bed-wetters in the Liberal Party and you seem to be the captain of the bed-wetters.’[11]

Under Turnbull, McGrath was rewarded with a promotion to assistant minister to the Prime Minister.[12] He served as Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister in the Turnbull Government from September 2015 to August 2018, and Assistant Minister to the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection from February to July 2016.[13]

Having supported Malcolm Turnbull in the 2015 leadership spill, McGrath reversed his support for Turnbull in 2018.[14] Consequently, he resigned from his executive position on 22 August 2018. Mcgrath was not promoted back into the outer ministry following his rebellion against Turnbull and the subsequent Morrison Government. [15]

In 2008, McGrath ‘resigned’ from Boris Johnson's mayoral campaign for allegedly 'racist' comments.[16][17] McGarth was asked if the election of a right-wing conservative might trigger a 'mass exodus of older Caribbean migrants' and he replied that '[Blacks should] go if they don't like it here'.[18]

In 2011, McGrath was revealed to have paid a disgruntled Labor staffer for dirt files on government MPs.[19] McGrath orchestrated the research through disgruntled Labor staffer, Rovert Hough. In sum, $3,075 was given to Hough to research the file.[20][21] The sheet organised by McGrath included information on politicians sex lives, sexual promiscuity, drinking habits, health matters and family breakdowns. The dirt sheet even included details of the schools of the children of government MPs.[22][23] Though McGrath was merely reprimanded for his actions, there were strong calls for him to be sacked for his involvement in commissioning the research.[24]

On 5 October 2019, Senator McGrath posted a picture on his Facebook page with the caption "Car 1. Flock of cockatoos 0." The picture depicted a dead and mangled cockatoo in the roof rack of a vehicle, presumably Senator McGrath's. This led to widespread condemnation online. After being alerted to the post, the RSPCA Queensland spokesman Micheal Beatty said that the post was ‘grossly insensitive and completely juvenile’.[25]

It was soon revealed that this was not the first post of its kind by the senator, who in 2007 posted a picture of two dead birds caught in the grill of a car with the caption "I think dinner tonight has been sorted thanks to my bullbar. Suggestions for how to cook the roadkill?" . In other posts he has suggested hitting as many as six kangaroos in a single evening and has referred to cockatoos as "menaces" and that "Anyone who thinks cockatoos are cute needs their head read by a suitably qualified medical professional" .

Senator McGrath later updated the original caption suggesting that the context of the post had been "missed" and that the post was highlighting "the dangers faced by drivers" in the country.