Sir Desmond Henry O'Neil (27 September 1920 – 25 September 1999) was an Australian politician who was a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

member of the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from 1959 to 1980. He was a minister in the governments of Sir

David Brand Sir David Brand KCMG (1 August 1912 – 15 April 1979) was an Australian politician. A member of the Liberal Party, he was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1945 to 1975, and also the 19th and longest-serving Premi ...

and Sir

Charles Court Sir Charles Walter Michael Court, (29 September 1911 – 22 December 2007) was a Western Australian politician, and the 21st Premier of Western Australia from 1974 to 1982. He was a member of the Liberal Party. Early life Court's family e ...

, and served as

deputy premier A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

to Court between 1975 and 1980.

Early life

Born in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, to Lillian Frances (née Egan) and Henry McLelland O'Neil, O'Neil went to Aquinas College, and later attended

Claremont Teachers College Claremont Teachers College was Western Australia’s first post-secondary teaching institution. It opened in 1902 and closed in 1981, when it became a College of Advanced Education and later a campus of Edith Cowan University. The building is on ...

. Enlisting in the

Citizen Military Forces The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen ...

and later the Australian Imperial Force, during World War II he saw service in New Guinea, serving with the signal corps of the 3rd Division with the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. On returning to Australia, O'Neil worked as a schoolteacher in country Western Australia, and was headmaster of schools at Roebourne, Dowerin, Wilga, Nyamup, and Donnelly River.

Politics

At the 1959 state election, O'Neil contested the seat of Canning, located in the southern suburbs of Perth, despite having only joined the Liberal Party the previous year. The seat had been held by

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

candidate William Gaffy since 1956 (and by Labor since 1953), but O'Neil secured 51.04% on first preferences as

's Liberal–

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

coalition won the first of four consecutive elections. At the 1962 election, O'Neil successfully transferred to the newly created seat of East Melville, which was a safe seat for the Liberals throughout its existence. His old seat of Canning was lost to the Labor candidate, Don May. After the 1965 election, O'Neil was made Minister for Housing and Minister for Labour, positions that he held until the Brand government's defeat at the 1971 election. Following Brand's retirement as leader of the Liberal Party in 1972,

, his deputy, was elected to succeed him as

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

, with O'Neil replacing Court as deputy leader.

John Tonkin John Trezise Tonkin AC (2 February 1902 – 20 October 1995), popularly known as "Honest John", was an Australian politician. A member of the Labor Party, he served as a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for a record 44 ...

's one-term Labor government was defeated in 1974, and O'Neil was made Minister for Housing, Minister for Works, and Minister for Water Supplies. Court initially governed in coalition with the National Country Party, led by

Ray McPharlin Walter Raymond McPharlin (21 February 1916 – 13 July 1991) was the Country Party member for Mount Marshall in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1967 to 1983. He played football for East Fremantle from 1938 to 1939 and in 1 ...

, but the coalition collapsed in May 1975, and O'Neil consequently replaced McPharlin as deputy premier when a new ministry was constituted the following month, also becoming

Minister for the North-West Minister for Regional Development is a position in the government of Western Australia, currently held by Alannah MacTiernan of the Labor Party. The position was first created in 1977, for the government of Charles Court, and has existed in most ...

. The ministry was again reconstituted following the 1977 election, with O'Neil losing the housing, works, and water portfolios, but gaining the roles of Chief Secretary, Minister for Police, and Minister for Regional Administration.

Later life

O'Neil remained deputy premier and minister until his retirement at the 1980 state election, with

Anthony Trethowan Anthony Markham "Tony" Trethowan (19 December 1945 – 6 May 2015) was an Australian politician and Anglicanism, Anglican minister who was a Liberal Party of Australia (Western Australian Division), Liberal Party member of the Western Australian ...

succeeding him in East Melville. He had been created a

knight bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

in the 1980 New Year Honours.O'NEILL, Desmond Henry
ic– It's An Honour. Retrieved 19 March 2015. Following his retirement, he served as chairman of the State Lotteries Commission from 1980 to 1984, and was also chairman of the WA Greyhound Racing Association from 1981 to 1985. O'Neil died at Castledare Retirement Village in 1999. He had married Nancy Jean Culver in 1944, with whom he had two daughters.

References

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