Benson Saulo to contest Macnamara for the Liberal Party

Benson Saulo, an Indigenous man whose career has spanned international finance to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, has been revealed as the Liberal Party’s candidate for the federal seat of Macnamara.

With an incredibly diverse professional background that has seen him work in finance, international relations, and economic development, it’s fair to say that Mr Saulo, who was once a member of The Greens, isn’t your typical Liberal politician.

The 36-year-old gives the Liberal Party a new lease on life in the seat held by Labor MP Josh Burns, who comfortably retained the seat with a 4.9 per cent swing at the 2022 Federal Election.

While Mr Burns has improved his party’s margins since first being elected in 2019, it wasn’t all that long ago the seat formerly known as Melbourne Ports was a very close contest.

At the 2016 election, the Liberal candidate at the time, Owen Guest, comfortably won the primary vote count, but it was Labor’s Michael Danby who would sneak home on Greens preferences.

With a very strong candidate in Mr Saulo, the Liberal Party is now hoping for a change of fortunes in Macnamara – a seat which has been held by the Labor Party since Federation.

“I think that my experience and the work that I’ve done over the past 15 years has positioned me to be a really effective Liberal Member for Macnamara,” Mr Benson told Southbank News.

It’s going to take a lot of hard work – we know that it is a three-way race. But I think if we can build on momentum and get out in front of people and really engage on issues that they care about, I’m very hopeful that that at the next election we can make history.

Born to an Aboriginal mother and a Papua New Guinean father, he is a proud descendant of the Wemba Wemba and Gunditijmara Aboriginal nations of Victoria, and of the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea.

Mr Saulo has been making an impact from a young age. Growing up in Tamworth in New South Wales, he began working as a bank teller at just 15 years old.

He worked in the banking sector for several years before representing Australian interests on the global stage in his roles as a member of the UNESCO National Commission, and as an Australian Youth Representative to the United Nations.

He has previously volunteered for Melbourne-based charities, like the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria, and was recently appointed as the chair of The Torch – a charity supporting Indigenous offenders and ex-offenders in Victoria through its Indigenous Arts in Prisons and Community programs.

In 2021 he was appointed as Australia’s Consul-General and Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner based in Houston – the first Indigenous person to be appointed as a Consul-General in Australia’s history.

He also recently held the position of managing partner at First Australians Capital – a national Indigenous-led investment fund manager, where he continues to play a role as a strategic advisor.

While his passion for youth empowerment, Indigenous affairs and climate change saw him briefly become a member of The Greens party, he said after a period of “political homelessness”, he found his home with the Liberals.

“I’ve been a member with the Liberal Party since 2018, and the values really resonate with me,” he said.

“It was really on reflection of my personal story and values, and then my parents’ story, that I embraced the importance of not waiting for someone to give you permission to be self-determining, but to be able to step into that space.”

“It’s why shifting and shaping communities and enabling people to participate in enterprises is really at the heart of my approach to Indigenous affairs, but then also more broadly.”

Locally, the Elwood-based father of two said he loved the Macnamara community and pledged to fight for both residents and businesses who were struggling with cost-of-living pressures and rising inflation if elected.

As he works to make history at the next election, he added that he hoped to inspire others along the way.

“I’d love to be the first Indigenous Member of Parliament for Macnamara and really show people what’s possible and also inspire young Indigenous kids as well to say, ‘if you care about something, put your hand up and people will back you’.” •