Shadow Portfolio — 19 August 2026

Senator McDonald, Deputy Leader of the Nationals in the Senate, used two Senate contributions on 18 August to press separate opposition attacks: honouring Vietnam War veterans while targeting Minister Keogh over veterans' allied health funding, and opposing Labor's capital gains tax changes as a threat to junior mining exploration, regional jobs and energy security.

**Vietnam Veterans Recognition and Veterans' Health**

Senator McDonald honoured the 60,000 Australians who served in the Vietnam War, noting that 524 gave their lives and many more returned wounded in body or mind [TA-260818-senate-c7f1fa3d546f:s035]. She said many veterans came home carrying lasting wounds and that the nation had failed to properly recognise their sacrifice. McDonald accused Minister Keogh of seeking to deny and cap veterans' allied health needs, warning that this could lead to suicides and loss, and urged him to meet veterans respectfully [TA-260818-senate-c7f1fa3d546f:s035].

**Capital Gains Tax and Junior Mining Exploration**

In her adjournment speech, Senator McDonald criticised Labor's capital gains tax changes as reckless, saying they undermine the risk-and-reward balance that drives mineral exploration [TA-260818-senate-c7f1fa3d546f:s139]. She cited a Minerals Council of Australia study indicating the changes would cut junior explorers' investor returns by 19 percent, and an AMEC survey where 85.1 percent of investors said they would reduce or exit such investments.

McDonald noted that junior ASX-listed explorers account for more than 70 percent of Australia's geological discoveries, yet around 80 percent record a net loss each year, relying heavily on retail investors. She warned that reduced investment would lead to fewer drilling programmes, fewer mines, fewer regional jobs, and lower tax revenue for hospitals, schools and roads.

**Export Finance and Critical Minerals**

Senator McDonald criticised the termination of Export Finance Australia's ability to finance domestic coal, oil and gas projects while it continues to guarantee a $170 million offshore wind farm in Taiwan and a $258 million loan to an Indian solar project. She said Australian public finance is being used to derisk foreign renewable projects but not the industries that employ Australians.

She claimed critical-minerals projects cannot access funding from the Critical Minerals Facility, Export Finance Australia or the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, leaving them waiting for U.S. assistance.

**Coalition Alternative**

The coalition's approach, as McDonald outlined it, is to fight Labor's capital gains tax changes, reinstate the Junior Minerals Exploration Incentive with $100 million, restore environmental approvals, and use a tax-back guarantee to lower taxes while securing affordable energy [TA-260818-senate-c7f1fa3d546f:s139].