Daniel David O'Brien (born 2 April 1974) is an Australian politician, and a Member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

representing the

electoral district of Gippsland South The electoral district of Gippsland South (initially known as South Gippsland) is a Lower House electoral district of the Victorian Parliament. It is located within the Eastern Victoria Region of the Legislative Council. Gippsland South exten ...

for the Nationals. O'Brien was born and raised in

Traralgon Traralgon ( ) is a town located in the east of the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia and the most populous city of the City of Latrobe. The urban population of Traralgon at the was 26,907. It is the largest and fastes ...

in Victoria's Gippsland region. He began his career as a journalist, and later became chief of staff to Peter Ryan, then a senior advisor to Deputy Prime Minister

Mark Vaile Mark Anthony James Vaile (born 18 April 1956) is a former deputy prime minister of Australia and former leader of the National Party of Australia. Vaile is currently a non-executive director of a number of public listed corporations. Early li ...

, and worked in the trade department of the Australian embassy in Jakarta. He then became chief of staff to Senator

Barnaby Joyce Barnaby Thomas Gerard Joyce (born 17 April 1967) is an Australian politician who served as the 17th deputy prime minister of Australia under Malcolm Turnbull from 2016 to 2018 and under Scott Morrison from 2021 to 2022. He was the leader of the ...

, but within six months was preselected to replace a member for

Eastern Victoria Region Eastern Victoria Region is one of the eight electoral regions of Victoria, Australia, which elects five members to the Victorian Legislative Council (also referred to as the upper house) by proportional representation. The region was created in 2 ...

, Peter Hall, who had resigned from the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...

on 17 March 2014. O'Brien was appointed to replace Hall at a joint sitting of the Victorian Parliament on 26 March. In February 2015, O'Brien sought and gained pre-selection for the lower house seat of Gippsland South, in the March 2015 by-election brought about by the resignation of Peter Ryan. He won the by-election on 14 March.

References

External links

Parliamentary voting record of Danny O'Brien at Victorian Parliament TrackerParliamentary biography
1974 births Living people Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Australian political consultants People from Traralgon 21st-century Australian politicians {{Australia-National-politician-stub