Nigel Scullion

Nigel Gregory Scullion (4 May 1956—) is a former Australian politician and fisherman.

Born in London, UK, Scullion emigrated to Australia as a teenager; he attended high school in Deakin, Canberra. Before entering the Senate he was a professional fisherman and graduated from the Australian Rural Leadership Program.

Scullion was a Senator for the Northern Territory from 2001 to 2019. He was a member of the Country Liberal Party (CLP) but sat with the National Party in federal parliament. He held ministerial office under four prime ministers, and notably Minister for Indigenous Affairs from September 2013 until his retirement from politics in May 2019. 

Scullion supported both Bob Brown's 2010 bill and David Leyonhjelm's 2018 attempt to restore the territories’ right to legislate for voluntary euthanasia, saying the 1997 Commonwealth law struck at the very heart of democracy:

"You have to be in the shoes of Territorians to understand just how narked we feel that somehow it's okay in Western Australia to debate this matter ... but for some reason or another because we're a territory we simply can't do it." (Drape and Salna, 2010).

(via Wikipedia)

Drape, J., & Salna, K. (2010, October 28). Euthanasia debate gets emotional start. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/national/euthanasia-debate-gets-emotional-start-20101028-174bq.html

Karp, P. (2018, August 14). David Leyonhjelm confident voluntary euthanasia bill will pass Senate. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/aug/14/david-leyonhjelm-confident-voluntary-euthanasia-bill-will-pass-senate