Keith O'Connell (24 November 1923 — 28 November 2006) was an Australian politician. He was a

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 labour ...

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 ...

from 1971 to 1984, representing

Gosford Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern extre ...

until 1973 and Peats thereafter. O'Connell was born in East Greta and attended government schools at Morisset East and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

before becoming an electrical fitter. In 1952 he became a storekeeper at Toukley. He was elected to

Wyong Shire Council Wyong Shire was a local government area located in the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The incorporation of the Wyong area dates back to 7 March 1906 when the entire area of the Brisbane Water Police District outside of the T ...

in 1959, where he served until 1971. He was chairman of

Brisbane Water Brisbane Water is a wave-dominated barrier estuary located in the Central Coast region, north of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Brisbane Water has its origin at the confluence of the Narara and Coorumbine Creeks, to the south–east ...

County Council from 1960 to 1971 and a member of the local government electricity association from 1960 to 1971, becoming President in his last year. He was also a member of the New South Wales Electricity Authority (1961–1971). In 1971, O'Connell was selected as the

candidate for

and defeated sitting

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Ted Humphries Edward Harris Humphries (25 September 1914 – 27 January 1994) was an Australian politician. He was a Liberal Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1965 to 1971, representing the seat of Gosford Gosford is the city a ...

. In 1973, the creation of Peats left Gosford with a Liberal majority, and O'Connell contested the new seat instead. He held the seat easily until his retirement in 1984, which allowed

Paul Landa David Paul Landa, QC (29 May 194124 November 1984) was an Australian politician. In public life, he was called "Paul Landa". He was a Labor member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1973 to 1984, and the member for Peats in the ...

, Labor's leader in the Legislative Council, to shift to the Assembly. O'Connell died in 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnell, Keith 1923 births 2006 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians