Ray O'Connor

Raymond James O'Connor (6 March 1926 – 25 February 2013) was an Australian politician who served as the premier of Western Australia from 25 January 1982 to 25 February 1983. He was a member of parliament from 1959 to 1984, and a minister in the governments of David Brand and Charles Court. A controversial figure, he served six months jail in 1994 for stealing a $25,000 cheque from the Bond Corporation.

Early life

O'Connor was born on 6 March 1926 in Perth, Western Australia, to Alphonsus Maurice O’Connor, a police officer, and Annie Moran. O'Connor's father had an interest in politics, founding a branch of the Labor Party in Quairading. He left the Labor Party in the 1950s though, thinking that it was "becoming a bit communistic". Ray O'Connor attended school in the Wheatbelt towns of Narrogin and York, as well as St Patrick's Boys' School in Perth, leaving school at the age of 14. He played sports as a teenager and young adult, winning state titles in athletics for hurdles an discus in 1943. He also played as a ruckman for the East Perth Football Club from 1946 to 1950, including playing 14 games in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL) and winning the Prendergast Medal for best and fairest in the WANFL reserves in 1950.

O'Connor enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force in April 1944, joining the intelligence section. After doing jungle training in Canungra, Queensland, he served in New Britain and Bougainville, where he would first meet Charles Court, his commanding officer. After being discharged in January 1947, he studied accounting, but did not finish. He bought the Beehive Tearooms, a café in Forrest Place, in 1955.

Early political career

After encouragement from his father, O'Connor contested the Metropolitan Province of the Western Australian Legislative Council at the 1956 state election as an "independent Liberal" candidate, receiving 884 votes out of 15,159. From 1957 to 1960, he became a used car sales proprietor in Inglewood, and from 1957, he was a director of the Town and Country Terminating Building Society. This garnered him interest from the Liberal Party, so Keith Watson asked him to join the party in 1957 and contest the seat of North Perth in the Legislative Assembly, which was held by Labor's Stan Lapham. O'Connor won the seat off a 8.2% swing at the 1959 state election, the same election at which David Brand was elected Premier.

The electoral district of North Perth was abolished at the 1962 state election, so O'Connor transferred to the adjacent electoral district of Mount Lawley. In March 1965, he became the honorary minister assisting the minister for railways and transport, Charles Court. Following the passage of the Constitution Acts Amendment Act 1965 in August that year, the ministry was expanded by two, allowing O'Connor to take over from Court as the minister for transport. From February 1967, O'Connor was also the minister for railways. As the minister for transport, he introduced compulsory seatbelts.

O'Connor had a reputation for being a successful gambler, having allegedly won $100,000 betting on horse races once, although O'Connor denied this. He became involved in controversy when, during a debate on legislation to form the Totalisator Agency Board (TAB), he said that he had been offered a bribe to oppose the TAB. The chairman of the subsequent royal commission said he personally believed the bribe had been offered, but that could not be proven.

Brand lost the 1971 state election, and so O'Connor was no longer a minister following that. When Brand resigned from the Liberal Party's leadership in 1972, O'Connor considered contesting the subsequent leadership ballot, but declined, as his marriage had recently ended and he had claimed to be blackmailed. Charles Court became the leader of the Liberal Party. Two years later, Court won the 1974 state election, forming a coalition with the National Country Party, led by Ray McPharlin. The Court–McPharlin Ministry was formed on 8 April 1974, with O'Connor becoming the minister for transport again, with the position of minister for railways abolished. He was also the minister for police, the minister for traffic, and, from 1 May 1974, the minister for traffic safety. The National Country Party left the Coalition in May the following year, but it re-joined later the same month with a new leader, Dick Old. The consequences of this were that the ministry was reconstituted as the Court Ministry, with Deputy Liberal Leader Des O'Neil as the Deputy Premier instead of Dick Old. O'Connor retained all his ministries except traffic safety.

As police minister, O'Connor set the blood alcohol limit for drivers at 0.08. He also formed the Road Traffic Authority, making a single body responsible for traffic infringements. He was also the police minister when the murder of brothel keeper Shirley Finn occurred on 22 June 1975.

The ministry was reconstituted on 10 March 1977 following the 1977 state election, which the Liberal Party won again. O'Connor became the minister for works, minister for water supplies, and the minister for housing, lower profile ministries than police. Although Court gave no explanation for this, he was reportedly tired over O'Connor's controversies regarding law and order. On 24 July 1978, Bill Grayden resigned from the ministry. O'Connor received his portfolios of Labour and Industry, Consumer Affairs, and Immigration, first as an acting minister, then from 7 August as an actual minister. The ministry was reconstituted again on 25 August. O'Connor was made the minister for labour and industry, minister for consumer affairs, minister for immigration, minister for fisheries and wildlife, and minister for conservation and environment.

During Court's premiership, O'Connor was generally considered second in line, behind Deputy Premier Des O'Neil, to replace Court when he steps down as Liberal leader. After O'Neil unexpectedly retired at the 1980 state election, the Liberal MPs elected O'Connor as the party's deputy leader, thus making O'Connor the deputy premier, and Court's most likely successor if he were to step down. O'Connor also became the minister for labour and industry, minister for consumer affairs, minister for immigration, minister for regional administration, minister for the north-west, and minister for tourism. In anticipation of Court retiring soon, O'Connor would take Liberal MPs out to dinner, sometimes offering them ministries if they vote for him in a leadership election. According to upper house member Phil Lockyer, O'Connor "was a difficult bloke not to be friends with".

Premier

Court announced on 18 December 1981 that he planned to quit. According to Jim Clarko, speaking in an interview in 2012, O'Connor was the only option, with Bill Hassell, who only joined the ministry in 1980, the next best option. According to Tony Warton, Court's media advisor, his preferred successor was Peter Jones, a National Country Party minister. Court was concerned that O'Connor had promised too many MPs positions in cabinet and that O'Connor was not able to handle portfolios with large budgets, although Court believed he did "reasonably well with railways" and thought that his personality would help him deal with people. O'Connor ended up winning the leadership ballot unopposed, with Cyril Rushton elected deputy leader.

O'Connor and his ministry were sworn in by Governor Richard Trowbridge on 25 January 1982. Out of the thirteen ministers in the previous Court Ministry, ten were in the O'Connor Ministry. The ministers who left were Court, Bill Grayden, who was opposed to O'Connor becoming premier, and David Wordsworth. The only new minister was Bob Pike, with Clarko and Richard Shalders being appointed assistant ministers before being promoted on 14 May 1982.

He lost the 1983 state election to Brian Burke and the Labor Party.

Later life

O'Connor resigned from Parliament on 24 August 1984. He was succeeded as the member for Mount Lawley by George Cash.

A Western Australian Royal Commission into business dealings by the Government was conducted during 1991 and 1992. He was tried in 1995 on charges of stealing a 25,000 cheque from the Bond Corporation and was given a six-month jail sentence. As a result, his 1989 appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia was rescinded in 1995.

Personal life

O'Connor married his first wife, with whom he had four daughters and four sons, at St Francis Xavier's Church in East Perth on 17 June 1950. They divorced around 1972. His second marriage occurred on 14 March 1973. O'Connor was the uncle of West Coast Eagles coach Ron Alexander and the grandfather of Adelaide Crows player Ronin O'Connor.

Death

O'Connor died on 25 February 2013, aged 86.

See also

* Electoral results for the district of North Perth
* Electoral results for the district of Mount Lawley
* List of heads of government who were later imprisoned

References

Bibliography

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{{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, Ray
1926 births
2013 deaths
Australian politicians convicted of fraud
Australian rules footballers from Western Australia
Australian sportsperson-politicians
Criminals from Western Australia
Deputy Premiers of Western Australia
East Perth Football Club players
Leaders of the Opposition in Western Australia
Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Former Officers of the Order of Australia
Politicians from Perth, Western Australia
Premiers of Western Australia
South Fremantle Football Club players
Treasurers of Western Australia
Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia
Heads of government who were later imprisoned
Australian Army personnel of World War II