Matthew James Canavan (born 17 December 1980) is an Australian politician who has served as the leader of the National Party of Australia since 2026. He has been a senator for Queensland since 2014, and served as a minister in the Turnbull and Morrison governments from 2016 to 2020.

Born in Southport, Queensland, Canavan graduated from the University of Queensland with bachelor's degrees in arts and economics. He then worked as a senior economist for the Productivity Commission and KPMG and as a director of the Productivity Commission. Canavan was chief-of-staff to Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce from 2010 to 2013. He was first elected to the Senate at the 2013 federal election, running on the Liberal National Party ticket in Queensland.

Canavan was appointed minister for Northern Australia in February 2016 and was elevated to cabinet after the 2016 election with the additional role of minister for resources. In July 2017, amid a wider parliamentary eligibility crisis, he resigned from cabinet after he might hold Italian citizenship by descent in violation of section 44 of the constitution. He was reappointed to cabinet in October 2017 after the High Court ruled that he was not an Italian citizen.

In February 2020, Canavan resigned again from cabinet to support Joyce in his unsuccessful bid for National Party leadership. After the 2025 election, he unsuccessfully challenged David Littleproud in a leadership spill. He was elected party leader in March 2026 following Littleproud's resignation as leader.

Canavan was born on 17 December 1980 in Southport, a suburb of the Gold Coast. He is of Italian descent; his mother's parents were born in Lozzo di Cadore, in the Italian province of Belluno. His father Bryan worked as a manager at Woolworths and sales representative with Nestlé, while his mother Maria worked as a teller with the Commonwealth Bank. His brother John is a mining executive, and managing director of Winfield Energy, which had a significant interest in the Rolleston coal mine until 2020.

Canavan grew up in Slacks Creek in the City of Logan. He attended Chisholm Catholic College, where he was active in Edmund Rice Camps. While at University, Canavan identified as a communist until a political disagreement with volunteers for the International Socialist Organisation. He holds the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Economics (Hons.) from the University of Queensland. After graduating from university he moved to Canberra to work at the Productivity Commission. He was a senior research economist (2003–2008) and later director (2009–2010), briefly moving to Brisbane as a senior executive at KPMG (2008–2009). From 2010 to 2013, Canavan served as chief of staff to Senator Barnaby Joyce, at the time serving as shadow minister for finance. He later rejected an offer to move to Andrew Robb's office, despite Joyce's demotion to a less senior portfolio.

Canavan was elected to the Senate as a member of the Liberal National Party, representing Queensland at the 2013 federal election for the term beginning 1 July 2014. He sits with the National Party in the Senate, although he had been a member of the Liberal club during his latter days at UQ.

In the first Turnbull ministry, Canavan served as the minister for Northern Australia between 18 February and 19 July 2016. He was the first member of cabinet born in the 1980s.