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 {{Australia-Labor-NewSouthWales-MP-stub