Michael George Forshaw (born 11 January 1952[citation needed]) is an Australian politician who served as a member of the Australian Senate for the state of New South Wales from May 1994 to June 2011, representing the Australian Labor Party.

[2] Forshaw began employment with the Australian Workers' Union in 1975 as an Industrial Officer and was elected as the union's Assistant General Secretary in 1989.

[2] In 1991 Forshaw was elected as the General Secretary of the AWU when he negotiated the amalgamation of the AWU with the Federation of Industrial Manufacturing & Engineering Employees (formerly the Federated Ironworkers' Association of Australia) to form the AWU-FIMEE Amalgamated Union.

From 1993 until entering the Senate in 1994 Forshaw was the Joint National Secretary of the AWU-FIMEE Amalgamated Union (which changed its name back to the AWU in 1995).

A member of Labor's right faction,[3] on 2 March 2010 Forshaw announced his decision to retire, citing he was making way for outgoing state party boss Matt Thistlethwaite.