Paul Thomas Francis O'Grady (14 July 1960 – 18 January 2015) 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 Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...
from 1988 to 1996 and was the first openly gay member of the
New South Wales Parliament
The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Each ...
.
Early life and career
O'Grady was born in
Ryde
Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...
in Northern Sydney, and worked as a shop assistant and a union organiser for the shop assistants section within the
Australian Workers' Union
The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s and currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exerci ...
. He joined the
Labor Party in at the age of 15 in 1975, becoming involved within
Young Labor Australian Young Labor, also known as the Young Labor Movement or simply Young Labor, is the youth wing of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) representing all ALP members aged between 15 to 26. The organisation operates as a federation with independen ...
. Having known he was gay from an early age, O'Grady
came out
Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.
Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
to his parents at age 16:
O'Grady soon joined the moderate 'Soft' Left faction of the party and won a ballot for the Assistant Secretary of Australian Young Labor 1984, but failed to gain enough support to run as President of NSW Young Labor. O'Grady also worked as a party research officer for the NSW Treasurer,
Ken Booth, from 1981 until 1988.
[
]
Political career
He was elected as a Labor member of the Legislative Council in 1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
. Making his maiden speech to the council during a debate on the Summary Offences Bill on 2 June 1988, O'Grady spoke out against excess of NSW Police Force
The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands (P ...
powers and for the decriminalisation of prostitution while also thanking his primary supporters and inspirations in the Labor movement: "I owe a great deal to the faith and trust that people such as former Deputy Premier Jack Ferguson
Laurie John Ferguson (4 September 1924 – 17 September 2002) was an Australian politician and member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch). He served in Neville Wran's state gove ...
, Delcia Kite and John Faulkner
John Philip Faulkner (born 12 April 1954) is an Australian former Labor Party politician who was a Senator for New South Wales from 1989 to 2015. He was a Cabinet Minister in the Keating, Rudd and Gillard Governments.
After his election to ...
placed in me during the years that I have been active in the Labor Party. I thank also the person for whom I worked for seven years–Ken Booth. He really is one of the most genuine, decent and humane human beings I have ever met."
Although O'Grady was gay, he did not openly declare it until 1990, several years after his election, thus becoming the first openly gay member of the New South Wales Parliament. In June 1990 O'Grady gave an interview with the Sydney Star Observer, which served as a catalyst for his public outing, and which was then followed by a television interview with Jana Wendt
Jana Bohumila Wendt ( ; born 9 May 1956) is an Australian Gold Logie award-winning television journalist, reporter and writer.
Early life
Wendt was born in Melbourne to Czech parents who emigrated to Australia in 1949. Wendt attended Presentat ...
on the Nine Network
The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
. This interview was the catalyst for a media avalanche that surprised even him. Some of his conservative upper house colleagues were less than enthused, with the ALP President of the Legislative Council Johno Johnson
John Richard "Johno" Johnson GCSG (26 July 1930 – 9 August 2017) was an Australian politician. He served as President of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1978 to 1991.
Career
Born in Murwillumbah, New South Wales, he was a groc ...
commenting "Of course, homosexuality is unnatural, but at least there is no second generation of homosexuals is there?", and in response O'Grady noted that most politicians were more socially conservative than the people who elected them: "there is no doubt I have experience more discrimination in Parliament House than anywhere else. Unlike politicians, who are driven by opinion polls, I think the electorate is reasonably tolerant, and recognises that there are all sorts of different views. I do not think voters are worried about the sexual preferences of politicians. What they are looking for is integrity in their politicians".
O'Grady went on to champion the gay and lesbian community in parliament, inviting all MPs to join him in marching in the 1992 Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "Fat ...
. The multi-party delegation included Elisabeth Kirkby
Elisabeth Wilma Burton Kirkby (born 26 January 1921), alternatively Elizabeth Kirkby, is a British Australian retired politician. Kirkby entered politics serving with the Australian Democrats in the New South Wales Legislative Council as Stat ...
, Clover Moore
Clover Margaret Moore (née Collins, born 22 October 1945) is an Australian politician. She has been the List of Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney, Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney since 2004 and is currently the longest serving Lord Mayor of Syd ...
, Ernie Page, Jan Burnswoods
Janice Carolyn Burnswoods (born 29 December 1943) is a former Australian politician. She received a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma of Education from the University of Melbourne, and was later employed at the University of Melbourne, the Universit ...
, Meredith Burgmann
Meredith Anne Burgmann (born 26 July 1947) is an Australian politician and Labor Party member and a former President of the New South Wales Legislative Council.
Early years
Burgmann was born in July 1947 at Beecroft, New South Wales to pare ...
and Jeff Shaw
Jeffrey Lee Shaw (born July 7, 1966) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox of the American League (AL), and the Montreal Expos, Cinci ...
, who would later back up his support with some key reforms as attorney-general including the review of discrimination in law and the ' Gay panic' legal defence. In July 1992, O'Grady led a day of protest against Defence Minister Robert Ray's decision to reinforce the Australian Defence Force
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...
's ban on LGBT personnel, declaring that "We should not have to be fighting in 1992 on this issue". O'Grady presented a submission to the subsequent Labor Caucus Committee on the possibility of overturning the ban and in September the committee recommended it be overturned. In November 1992 the ban was abolished by the Keating Government.
In 1992 O'Grady made headlines by demanding that his boyfriend, Murray Ward, a university lecturer, be extended the same travel and other benefits as other parliamentarians' heterosexual partners, a request that he continued to ask for the next three years.[ In 1993 O'Grady revealed to the Sydney Star Observer that ]000 Emergency
000 Emergency, also known as Triple Zero or Triple 0, and sometimes stylised Triple Zero (000), is the primary national emergency telephone number in Australia. The Emergency Call Service is operated by Telstra, and overseen by the Australian C ...
phone operators had refused him assistance when he and Ward were attacked by a gang on William Street, asking him three times if it was a life-threatening situation before hanging up: "My life was not in danger but my point is this – any citizen has a right to report crime or potential crime and if the police are serious about combating street violence against gays and lesbians then they have to intervene ''before'' someone is bashed." However, in May 1994 Murray Ward died and it was revealed that O'Grady had found his 26-year-old partner dead from an accidental heroin overdose in his Paddington
Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...
flat.
O'Grady initially considered running for preselection as the Labor candidate in the Legislative Assembly seat of Bligh against independent MP Clover Moore
Clover Margaret Moore (née Collins, born 22 October 1945) is an Australian politician. She has been the List of Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney, Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney since 2004 and is currently the longest serving Lord Mayor of Syd ...
, for the March 1995 state election. However he later withdrew in favour of former Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras president, Susan Harben, who was nevertheless defeated by Moore at the election. On 30 May 1995 O'Grady was given leave by the Labor Party to introduce a private member's bill
A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...
into the council to provide for 'regulation to protect medical practitioners who assist the terminally ill to end their lives', which would make such a bill the first time a bill concerning euthanasia
Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different eut ...
would be considered by the Parliament. He had not done so, however, at the time of his resignation.
Although elected Elected may refer to:
* "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973
* ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008
*The Elected, an American indie rock band
See also
*Election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...
for a second eight-year term at the March 1995 state election, O'Grady resigned due to health concerns on 3 January 1996 and the vacancy he created was filled by Peter Primrose
Peter Thomas Primrose (born 26 September 1955) is an Australian politician.
He has been a Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since 1996. He has served in various portfolios including Shadow Minister for Local Governm ...
. Six months after his resignation from parliament in July 1996, after various circulating rumours, O'Grady announced on television that he had AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
. He made his announcement on the current affairs programme "Witness", hosted by Jana Wendt
Jana Bohumila Wendt ( ; born 9 May 1956) is an Australian Gold Logie award-winning television journalist, reporter and writer.
Early life
Wendt was born in Melbourne to Czech parents who emigrated to Australia in 1949. Wendt attended Presentat ...
, stating: "I’m 35. I resigned from parliament in January. My parliamentary career is behind me. I have AIDS. It is progressing. I will fight on. Mind over matter."[ He also noted that despite concerns over the personal nature of his admission, he made it as "the discrimination against HIV is something which needs to be dealt with out there in the public arena".][ His admission was met with overwhelming support including the Labor Premier ]Bob Carr
Robert John Carr (born 28 September 1947) is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the NSW Branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He later en ...
, who said: "Having a politician say, 'This is my life, HIV and Aids', is a reminder to everyone that a lot more of this is going to happen in our society." For his part, O'Grady noted that he thought more about his partner, Murray Ward, than his diagnosis: "I get more maudlin about Murray than I do about me. It crippled me. And in a sense I have probably missed him more in the past six months, because we did have plans post-parliament, and he's not around to participate".
Later life
A few years later, with health significantly improved, O'Grady returned to work as a staffer for the ALP, including as Chief of Staff to the Minister for Tourism and Sport and Recreation in the Carr and Iemma governments, Sandra Nori
Sandra Christine Nori (born 16 June 1953 in Newcastle, New South Wales) is a former Australian politician and presently a company director and Member of Macquarie University Council.
Nori was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assemb ...
from 2003 to 2007. While Chief of Staff, O'Grady became involved in the controversy surrounding cabinet minister Milton Orkopoulos
Milton Orkopoulos (born 22 July 1957) is an Australian former state politician and convicted sex offender. A member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2006, Orkopoulos was appointed Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Mini ...
and his being charged for underage sexual offences. It was claimed in November 2006 by Nationals MP, Adrian Piccoli
Adrian Piccoli (born 24 March 1970) is a former Australian politician who represented the electoral district of Murray in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 2015 to 2017, and the district of Murrumbidgee from 1999 to 2015. He was th ...
that O'Grady had tipped him off about Orkopoulos' behaviour several months before he was formally charged by police, which O'Grady denied. He did admit, however, that he had learned in August 2006 that Orkopoulos was under investigation from his former electorate officer, Gillian Sneddon, who wanted his advice. O'Grady then arranged a meeting with David Tierney, a friend of Premier Iemma, to indirectly inform the Premier's office of the investigations. This did not happen and Iemma regarded the case against Orkopoulos as 'rumour and innuendo' up until his formal charging on 8 November, leading to criticism arising from the allegation that Iemma had left a minister in his cabinet knowing he was under investigation for such serious offences.
In 2011, O'Grady was diagnosed with cancer and underwent preliminary treatment. In late 2011, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) commenced an inquiry that heard allegations that former ALP MLC and Minister Ian Macdonald
Ian MacCormick (known by the pseudonym Ian MacDonald; 3 October 1948 – 20 August 2003) was a British music critic and author, best known for both ''Revolution in the Head'', his critical history of the Beatles which borrowed techniques from a ...
, while Minister, accepted sexual favours in return for introducing businessman to executives of state-owned energy companies and also alleged that property developer Ron Medich acted as a broker for Macdonald and was seeking to do business with government agencies where Macdonald had influence as a Minister. O'Grady, while in hospital for treatment of cancer, then went on the ABC television program, Stateline, and criticised the party for its culture of corruption, dodgy financial deals and treatment of former Orkopoulos staffer Gillian Sneddon, predicting that the NSW Labor Party would have a long period in opposition unless such issues were thoroughly dealt with.
In May 2013, O'Grady appeared before the ICAC again during a separate investigation of allegations that Macdonald, as a government minister, had rorted a government coal licence tender which lead to a $30 million windfall for Labor 'powerbroker' and coal field property-owner Eddie Obeid
Edward Moses Obeid (born 25 October 1943) is a retired Australian politician, and convicted criminal, who served as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1991 and 2011, representing the Labor Party. He was the Minister f ...
and his family. When asked questions in response to a previous statement from Obeid that Macdonald had never been in his office, O'Grady noted that he was "incredulous" and thought there had been a mistake in the record. O'Grady, who as an MLC had his office next door to Obeid, noted that he had seen Macdonald "coming and going back and forth all the time" and later described to media that Obeid and Macdonald were "partners in crime" and that there was a "goat track" worn between their two offices.
O'Grady died at Sacred Heart Hospice in Darlinghurst
Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney. I ...
on 18 January 2015. His long-term partner, Murray Ward, had died in 1994. O'Grady's contribution to public life was commemorated by the Federal Member for Newcastle, Sharon Claydon
Sharon Catherine Claydon (born 26 April 1964) is an Australian politician. She has been a Labor member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of Newcastle in New South Wales, since September 2013.
Early life
Cla ...
, in a constituency statement on 23 February 2015, noting: Several years later, during the second reading debate on the '''', the Member for Grayndler, Anthony Albanese
Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since 2019 and the member of parlia ...
, also reflected on O'Grady and his role in the moves toward LGBT equality:
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogrady, Paul
1960 births
2015 deaths
Australian people of Irish descent
Australian trade unionists
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council
LGBT legislators in Australia
Australian gay men
Australian LGBT rights activists
Gay politicians
Politicians from Sydney
AIDS-related deaths in Australia
Deaths from cancer in New South Wales
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales