Frank O'Neill (1893–1975) was an Australian politician and a member of the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...
for a single term between 1953 and 1956. He was a member of the
Labor Party (ALP).
O'Neill was born in
Newcastle, New South Wales
Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area, w ...
and was the son of a postmaster.
He was educated at
Sydney Boys High School
Sydney Boys High School (”SBHS”), otherwise known as The Sydney High School (“SHS”) or High, is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex school, single-sex Selective school (New South Wales), academically s ...
.
and worked as a clerk in the New South Wales Public Service. O'Neill joined the Labor Party at an early age and, as a member of the Socialization Units, was an opponent of the leadership of
Jack Lang in the 1930s. He was the president of
Robert Heffron's breakaway
Industrial Labor Party
The Industrial Labor Party or Heffron Labor Party was a short-lived but influential political party active in New South Wales between 1936 and 1939. It was a splinter group of the Labor Party (ALP) and was formed by Bob Heffron after he and Car ...
in 1938-39 and became a member of the Labor Party's executive when the Industrial Party rejoined the official party in 1939. O'Neill was elected to parliament as the Labor member for
Georges River
The Georges River, also known as Tucoerah River, is an intermediate tide-dominated drowned valley estuary, located to the south and west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The river travels for approximately in a north and then easterly ...
at the
1953
Events
January
* January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.
* January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo.
* January 14
** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...
state election. The incumbent Labor member
Arthur Williams left Georges River, which was traditionally a Liberal seat, to contest the safer seat of
East Hills. The 1953 election saw Labor make significant gains in marginal seats. At the next election, in
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...
, Labor's vote dropped because of divisions within the federal Labor Party and the formation of the
DLP. As a result, O'Neill lost the seat to the Liberal party's
Douglas Cross
Douglas Donald Cross (8 September 1892 – 9 July 1970) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1948 until 1953 and from 1956 until his death . He was a member of the Liberal Party.
Biog ...
,
and retired from public life. He did not hold party, parliamentary or ministerial office.
References
1893 births
1975 deaths
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales
20th-century Australian politicians
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