James Paterson

Paterson, along with fellow MP Andrew Hastie, were denied entry into China for a study tour in November 2019. Some believe this is due to criticism the pair has raised about Chinese actions towards the Uighurs in Xinjiang province as well as attempted influencing of opinion about China within Australia.

In August 2017, Paterson described himself as a "conditional" supporter of same-sex marriage, and during the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey he drafted a same-sex marriage bill as an alternative to one proposed by Senator Dean Smith. He would later back down from putting up a bill.

In March 2016, the Victorian division of the Liberal Party of Australia nominated Paterson to fill the casual vacancy in the Senate caused by the resignation of Michael Ronaldson. Paterson was appointed by a joint sitting of the Parliament of Victoria on 9 March 2016.

Educated at McKinnon Secondary College and the University of Melbourne, Paterson worked as a special adviser for Senator Mitch Fifield, and for several months as an intern for U.S. congressman Lincoln Díaz-Balart. He then worked as a writer for the Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) before joining the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) as editor of the IPA Review publication. In the IPA, Paterson was promoted to director of communications and development, before being promoted to deputy executive director in September 2014.

James William Paterson (born 21 November 1987) is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for Victoria since 2016, representing the Liberal Party.