Ross Cadell

Biography

Ross Cadell, a member of the National Party, is an Australian politician who was elected to the Senate on the Coalition’s ticket in New South Wales during the 2022 federal election. Cadell was born in Waratah, New South Wales on 4 April 1969 and grew up in Newcastle. Prior to entering politics, he worked as an event manager for the Newcastle National Maritime Festival and then in motorsport sponsorship, including as manager for former F1 driver Alex Yoong. He later became the sponsorship manager for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League before becoming the commercial director of Prodigy Motorsport, a Newcastle-based motorsport team.

In 2020, Cadell became the special projects director for the Port of Newcastle, where he was responsible for lobbying the New South Wales government to develop a deepwater freight container terminal in Newcastle. Cadell’s political career began in 1998 when he was elected state president of the Young Liberals. He later joined the National Party and worked for the party as an organizer and campaign manager from 2010. He served as the party’s state director from 2018 to 2020 and managed Barnaby Joyce’s campaign in the 2017 New England by-election.

In June 2021, Cadell won preselection as the National Party’s lead Senate candidate in New South Wales for the upcoming federal election. He defeated former party leader and deputy prime minister John Anderson in the preselection ballot and was placed second on the joint Coalition ticket with the Liberal Party. Cadell was elected to a six-year Senate term beginning on 1 July 2022.