Andrew McLachlan

Andrew Lockhart McLachlan is an Australian politician and has been a member of the South Australian Legislative Council since the 2014 state election, representing the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia. Prior to entering Parliament, McLachlan was a lawyer, army officer and a businessman working in the financial services industry.

McLachlan holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Adelaide, a Master of Laws from the University of Edinburgh and a Master of Business Administration from the Australian Graduate School of Management (University of Sydney and University of New South Wales).

He commenced his legal career as a young lawyer in regional South Australia, based in Port Augusta.

McLachlan has held senior leadership and executive positions in the financial services industry. He also served on the national executive of the Trustee Corporations Association of Australia and on the compliance and investment boards of the Financial Services Council. He served as the Director of the International Centre for Financial Services at the University of Adelaide. Prior to taking up executive appointments, McLachlan worked as a lawyer specialising in superannuation, banking and finance law. McLachlan is also a Fellow of the Taxation Institute of Australia and the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.

McLachlan was elected to the South Australian Legislative Council at the 2014 state election for an eight-year term.

In March 2015, the 99-year grave licence at Centennial Park for an ANZAC World War I veteran who had fought at Gallipoli expired. No family was located to pay for the continuation of the lease, and there was a possibility of the site being reused. As a fellow veteran, McLachlan paid the licence renewal fee to preserve the historical site.

In July 2015, McLachlan crossed the floor and voted against the Statutes Amendment (Serious and Organised Crimes) Amendment Bill 2015, better known at the time as the 'Bikies Bill', which was contrary to the Liberal Party's position at the time. McLachlan had argued that Parliament should not act like a court and the provision in the Bill breached the principle of the separation of powers. He was the only Liberal Member of Parliament to vote against the Bill. McLachlan is a strong supporter of the rule of law.

In late 2015 McLachlan introduced a Bill that would give legal protections to the identity of individuals who provide sensitive information to journalists. This is a common protection in other Australian jurisdictions, however; in South Australia the current law requires journalists to identify sources during court proceedings or commissions of inquiry, otherwise face a potential prison sentence. The Bill was ultimately not supported by the Government.