Llewellyn Stephen O'Brien (born 26 June 1972) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

since the 2016 federal election, representing the

Division of Wide Bay The Division of Wide Bay is an Australian electoral division in the state of Queensland. Geography Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed ...

. He was

deputy speaker The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

of the House from February 2020 to April 2022. He is a member of the

Liberal National Party of Queensland The Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) is a major political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed in 2008 by a merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal Party and the National Party. At a federal level and in most other ...

(LNP) and sits with the Nationals in federal parliament.

Early life

O'Brien was born on 26 June 1972 in

Mona Vale, New South Wales Mona Vale is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 28 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in an area known as the Northern Beaches. Formerly the administrative centre of Pittwater Cou ...

. He left school at the age of 15 to become a full-time carer for his mother, who had been diagnosed with

motor neurone disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

and died a year later. He subsequently worked as a labourer and factory process operator. He met his future wife Sharon when he was 17. O'Brien is one of just 4 members of the

46th Parliament of Australia The 46th Parliament of Australia was a meeting of the legislative branch of the Australian federal government, composed of the Australian Senate and the Australian House of Representatives. The 2019 federal election gave the Coalition of t ...

who did not graduate from high school, the others being

Julie Collins Julie Maree Collins (born 3 July 1971) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has represented the Tasmanian seat of Franklin since the 2007 federal election. She held ministerial positions in the G ...

Jacqui Lambie Jacquiline Louise Lambie (born 26 February 1971) is an Australian politician who is the leader and founder of the Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN). She is a Senator for Tasmania since 2019, and was previously a Senator from 2014 to 2017. Lambie, an ...

and Terry Young.

Police career

Prior to his election, O'Brien served as a police officer. He joined the

Queensland Police The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is the principal law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto ...

in 1999. In his first speech in Parliament he spoke of his own decade long experience of living with

posttraumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...

brought about while serving as a traffic accident investigator. In December 2013, O'Brien was accused of having misused police resources for political purposes. He was investigated and faced managerial action, but was cleared of the allegations by Queensland Police. O'Brien has received both State and National medals for his Police service between 1999 and 2016. In 2010 he was awarded the Queensland Police Service Medal. In 2011 he was awarded the Queensland Flood and Cyclone Citation. In April 2015 he was awarded a 15-year clasp to the Queensland Police Service Medal. In 2016 he was awarded both the

National Police Service Medal The National Police Service Medal (NPSM) is a special service award within the Australian honours system to provide "recognition for the unique contribution and significant commitment of those persons who have given ethical and diligent service a ...

and the National Medal for ethical and diligent service.

Political career

O'Brien became a member of the

National Party of Queensland The National Party of Australia – Queensland (NPA-Q), commonly known as Queensland Nationals, or the National Party of Queensland, was the Queensland-state branch of the National Party of Australia (NPA) until 2008. Prior to 1974, it was known ...

in 2006, and joined the

upon its formation in 2008. He has served in many roles within the parties, including Vice President, Regional Chairman, State Executive, Branch Chairman and Campaign Chairman. After the retirement announcement of long serving Member of Wide Bay and Deputy Prime Minister

Warren Truss Warren Errol Truss, (born 8 October 1948) is a former Australian politician who served as the 16th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development in the Abbott Government and the Turnbull Governm ...

, O'Brien was preselected for the 2016 federal election and won the seat. He has served on the Joint Standing Committees for the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity; and Law Enforcement; as well as the House of Representatives Standing Committees for Indigenous Affairs; and Infrastructure, Transport and Cities. In 2016, O'Brien was also appointed as the Queensland Chair of the Federal Government's Black Spot Advisory Panel for 2016/17 by Minister for Infrastructure and Transport

Darren Chester Darren Jeffrey Chester (born 13 September 1967) is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the House of Representatives for Gippsland in Victoria, representing the Nationals since 2008. Chester had served as the Minister for Veterans ...

. In February 2020, O'Brien moved a spill motion for

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 ...

to challenge Michael McCormack for leadership of the National Party. The challenge failed, and on 10 February O'Brien announced that he would no longer sit in the Nationals party room, but would remain a member of the LNP and continue to support the Morrison government. O'Brien was subsequently elected as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, having been nominated unexpectedly by the Opposition against the Government's nominated choice,

Damian Drum Damian Kevin Drum (born 28 July 1960) is an Australian politician who has represented Murray and Nicholls in the Australian House of Representatives since the 2016 federal election as a member of The Nationals. Drum served as the Assistant Mi ...

. O'Brien rejoined the Nationals partyroom on 7 December 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Llew 1972 births Living people Liberal National Party of Queensland members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Wide Bay Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian police officers 21st-century Australian politicians