Barry James O'Sullivan (born 24 March 1957) is an Australian politician who was a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for Queensland from 11 February 2014 until 30 June 2019. He is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) and sat with the Nationals in federal parliament. A former police detective,

grazier Grazier may refer to: *A person engaged in pastoral farming People *Margaret Hayes Grazier (1916–1999), an American librarian and educator *Colin Grazier (1920–1942), a Royal Navy sailor * John Grazier (born 1945), an American painter * Kevin ...

, property developer and LNP executive treasurer, O'Sullivan was appointed by the Queensland Parliament to the Senate seat vacated by Barnaby Joyce, who had resigned to contest the House of Representatives seat of New England at the 2013 federal election.Remeikis, Amy
LNP's Barry O'Sullivan headed for Senate
''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 12 September 2013. He was elected to a three-year term at the 2016 federal election.

Background and early police career

O'Sullivan was educated at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School at Wandal and the Christian Brothers' College,

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

(now The Cathedral College, Rockhampton). Upon leaving school, he was employed as an office boy at the ''

Rockhampton Morning Bulletin ''The Morning Bulletin'' is an online newspaper servicing the city of Rockhampton and the surrounding areas of Central Queensland, Australia. From 1861 to 2020, ''The Morning Bulletin'' was published as a print edition, before then becoming an ...

'' and '' The Longreach Leader'' newspapers before joining a road construction crew building the Beef Development Road from the Five Ways north of Cloncurry to the Gregory River crossing. O'Sullivan joined the

Queensland Police Service The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is the principal law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto ...

(QPS) in 1976. His career commenced in Brisbane serving in Inala, the City Beat, the Metro Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB), the Burglary Unit, the Fraud Squad and the Drug Squad. In 1979 he transferred to the

CIB and in 1981 moved to the Moranbah CIB (a one-man detective office) serving the police districts of Nebo, Glenden, Dysart,

Moranbah Moranbah is a coal mining town and locality in the Isaac Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Moranbah had a population of 8,735 people. In addition to the permanent population, Moranbah also has a large fly-in fly-out popula ...

, the eastern end of the Clermont district and the southern end of the Charters Towers District. O'Sullivan was provided a research grant to attend the United States'

FBI Academy The FBI Academy is the Federal Bureau of Investigation's law enforcement training and research center near the town of Quantico in Stafford County, Virginia. Operated by the bureau's Training Division, it was first opened for use on May 7, 197 ...

to study the profiling of serial offenders. At the end of the Fitzgerald Inquiry, O'Sullivan was appointed as one of the Queensland "change" agents to implement the recommendations in the Central Police Region, which stretched from Bowen to Gladstone and across to the Northern Territory border. He was appointed acting staff officer to the assistant commissioner in the central region, having the responsibility of supervising the project that restructured the framework of the Queensland Police Service in line with the Fitzgerald recommendations. In 1990 O'Sullivan worked with the Corrective Services Commission by the

Queensland Public Service The Queensland Public Service provides public services to the people of Queensland, Australia on behalf of the Government of Queensland. Typically these are services that are deemed important by the government and which the government believes ...

to facilitate the implementation of the recommendations from the Black Deaths in Custody Royal Commission and the Kennedy Review into Queensland prisons. Over some fifteen years of police service, O'Sullivan was awarded two imperial honours: the Bronze Medal for Bravery; and the Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. O'Sullivan was awarded also the commissioner's Commendation for Bravery, the commissioner's Commendation for Service, and twice obtained the commissioner's Favourable Record.

Business career

Upon retiring from the police force, O'Sullivan established an insurance loss adjuster practice that specialised in the preparation of briefs of evidence in civil litigation cases associated with worldwide catastrophic aviation accidents (principally international flights). O'Sullivan also established Jilbridge (currently NewLands) – a vertically integrated construction and development business (both civil and structural) based in Toowoomba, which currently employs over 100 staff. O'Sullivan and his family have operated livestock properties and contracted earthmoving services across leased and owned holdings at Cooyar, Ravensborne and Goondiwindi. On 6 August 2014, the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

'' reported that O'Sullivan owned 50 properties, making his property portfolio the largest of any parliamentarian in Canberra. The same analysis reports that the average federal politician each owns 2.5 properties.

LNP treasurer

In the lead up to the merger of the Liberal and National Parties, O'Sullivan was asked to assist in overseeing the registration of the new entity, the LNP. He was appointed honorary treasurer. O'Sullivan served in that role during the 2008 merger until his pre-selection to the Senate seat vacated by Barnaby Joyce, who had resigned to contest the House of Representatives seat of New England at the 2013 federal election. O'Sullivan served on the Candidate Review Committee between 2009 and 2013, going on to be appointed chair of the committee in 2010. In mid-2012, O'Sullivan was appointed by Queensland public works minister

Bruce Flegg Bruce Stephen Flegg (born 10 March 1954, Sydney) is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 2004 to 2015, representing the electorate of Moggill in south-western Brisbane for the Liberal Party ...

to conduct an audit of two state government agencies, GoPrint and GoPlant. The state opposition called the appointment "totally inappropriate", saying that an accounting firm should have conducted the audit rather than an LNP official. Premier Campbell Newman conceded that O'Sullivan's appointment was inappropriate, and that he was not aware of the appointment until it was reported in the media, but stressed that O'Sullivan was not paid for his work.LNP party treasurer Barry O'Sullivan in secret probe of GoPrint and GoPlant businesses
''The Courier Mail'', 12 July 2012.

Senate

On 12 September, the day the appointment was originally planned to take place, Queensland Premier

Campbell Newman Campbell Kevin Thomas Newman (born 12 August 1963) is a former Australian politician who served as the 38th Premier of Queensland from 26 March 2012 to 14 February 2015. He served as the member for Ashgrove in the Legislative Assembly of Quee ...

postponed the debate and vote until 17 October due to O'Sullivan's involvement in an ongoing investigation by the Crime and Misconduct Commission.Queensland Premier Campbell Newman delays appointment of Barry O'Sullivan to Barnaby Joyce's vacant senate position
news.com.au, 12 September 2013. Newman again postponed the adjournment of parliament to affirm O'Sullivan's Senate appointment until at least February 2014, citing the need to give the CMC time to conclude their investigation. The CMC investigation was to determine whether LNP officials (including O'Sullivan) had offered MP

inducements to stand aside in the seat of Moggill to make way for Campbell Newman to enter parliament. In December 2013, the commission found no evidence for the allegations. O'Sullivan was appointed to the Senate by the Queensland Parliament on 11 February 2014. O'Sullivan is a public opponent of same sex marriage, and was one of twelve senators who voted against the 2017 bill. In 2017 when Cory Bernardi moved a motion to ban abortion on gender grounds O'Sullivan was one of the ten who voted yes on the motion. It was voted down with (10-36). After being criticized for attempting to stop pro-choice groups, the senator on 14 November 2018 stated in Parliament, in order to avoid other politicians making attacks over O'Sullivan's anti-abortion views, that "I'm going to declare my gender today - as I can - to be a woman, and then you'll no longer be able to attack me." O'Sullivan released a draft bill to enable a royal commission into the banking sector. In July 2018, O'Sullivan was defeated for LNP preselection by

Susan McDonald Susan Eileen McDonald (born 7 February 1970) is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for Queensland since 2019. She is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) and sits with the National Party in federal parliament. ...

. McDonald's father is former Nationals party president, Don McDonald.

Personal life

Barry O'Sullivan married Annie Van Lathum of Barcaldine in 1976. The couple had four children. Annie died in 2008. The extended O'Sullivan family now includes seven grand children. O'Sullivan's grandson, Patrick, made headlines across the nation after he was flung from an amusement park ride while at a school fete just north of Toowoomba in 2013. Patrick fell 10 metres, suffered serious head injuries and was rushed to the Mater Children's Hospital in a critical condition. According to the Register of Members' Interests, O'Sullivan has a large portfolio of real estate, with stakes in at least 49 investment properties.http://www.aph.gov.au/~/media/Committees/Senate/committee/interests_ctte/statements2014/OSullivanB_Astat_140725.pdf

References

External links

Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator Barry O'Sullivan on TheyVoteForYou.org.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:OSullivan, Barry 1957 births Living people Detectives and criminal investigators Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland Liberal National Party of Queensland members of the Parliament of Australia Australian police officers 21st-century Australian politicians