Edward Lynam O'Brien (born 7 May 1974) is an Australian politician. 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 has represented the seat of Fairfax in 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. He sits with the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

in federal parliament. Prior to entering politics he was a businessman with considerable experience across Asia and a leader of various community organisations, including chairman of the

Australian Republic Movement The Australian Republic Movement (ARM) is a non-party-partisan organisation campaigning for Australia to become a republic. ARM and its supporters have promoted various models of a republic including parliamentary republic and it is, again, revi ...

(2005–2007).

Early life

O'Brien was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. He is the youngest of nine children and one of seven sons born to Tom and Bernice O'Brien. His father's family were the founders of the

Defiance Flour Mill Defiance Flour Mill is a heritage-listed mill at 269–291 Ruthven Street, Toowoomba, Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Toowoomba architect William Hodgen and built in 1911 by WT Smith. It was added to the Queensland H ...

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...

. The mill evolved into "a well-known Queensland business dynasty in flour manufacturing" and O'Brien's first job was as a trainee baker. O'Brien holds degrees from the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

(Bachelor of Arts),

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

(Master of Economics) and

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

(Master of Business Administration), and he studied Chinese Mandarin at the

National Taiwan Normal University National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU; ), or ''Shīdà'' is an institution of higher education and normal school operating out of three campuses in Taipei, Taiwan. NTNU is the leading research institute in such disciplines as Education and Lin ...

under an Asia Pacific Fellowship.

Career

Before entering politics O'Brien worked overseas for an extended period in business development roles. He lived in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong for periods. O'Brien's first roles were with Defiance International, an offshoot of his family company, and he later worked with the Australian Ricegrowers' Cooperative and with

Accenture Accenture plc is an Irish-American professional services company based in Dublin, specializing in information technology (IT) services and consulting. A ''Fortune'' Global 500 company, it reported revenues of $61.6 billion in 2022. Accentur ...

, where he worked for over a decade, including Director of Growth and Strategy for the Asia Pacific and Emerging Markets, based out of Beijing. After returning to Australia he became the Queensland managing director of lobbying firm

Barton Deakin Barton Deakin is an Australian and New Zealand government relations and lobbying firm. The firm is openly partisan and works primarily with Coalition governments and oppositions in Australia and the National Party in New Zealand. It employs sta ...

. In 2014 he established his own consultancy firm, Ted O'Brien & Associates. O'Brien served as chairman of the

Australian Republican Movement The Australian Republic Movement (ARM) is a non-party-partisan organisation campaigning for Australia to become a republic. ARM and its supporters have promoted various models of a republic including parliamentary republic and it is, again, revi ...

from 2005 to 2007. During his tenure the organisation shifted its headquarters from Sydney to Canberra. It was reported that he and the national executive would "concentrate their Canberra lobbying on Coalition MPs, who are essential to any political move to revisit the question of a republic". O'Brien also served as chairman of the South-East Queensland branch of

Ronald McDonald House Charities Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) is an independent American nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to create, find, and support programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children. RMHC has a global network of c ...

and on the board of the Queensland Catholic Education Advisory Board.

Politics

Early candidacies

O'Brien first ran for parliament at the

2007 federal election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...

, losing to the incumbent

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

(ALP) member

Arch Bevis Archibald Ronald Bevis (born 10 April 1955) is an Australian Labor Party politician who served as the Member for Brisbane from 1990 to 2010. Bevis held a variety of ministerial, shadow ministerial, and parliamentary leadership positions. Ear ...

in the

Division of Brisbane The Division of Brisbane is an Australian electoral division in the state of Queensland. History The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. It is named after ...

. He campaigned on the slogan "Time for Ted". O'Brien was the chairman of the Liberal National Party Futures Committee from 2011 to 2013. In November 2012, he won LNP

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...

for the

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

, defeating former national rugby coach John Connolly. He faced a high-profile challenger at the 2013 federal election, with mining magnate

Clive Palmer Clive Frederick Palmer (born 26 March 1954) is an Australian businessman and politician. He has iron ore, nickel, and coal holdings. Palmer owns many businesses such as Mineralogy, Waratah Coal, Queensland Nickel at Townsville, the Palmer C ...

contesting Fairfax as the leader of his

Palmer United Party The United Australia Party (UAP), formerly known as Clive Palmer's United Australia Party and the Palmer United Party (PUP), is a currently deregistered Australian political party formed by mining magnate Clive Palmer in April 2013. The party ...

. Following a recount, Palmer defeated O'Brien by 53 votes on the

two-candidate-preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

vote.

Federal politics

In May 2015, O'Brien again won LNP preselection for Fairfax. It was initially expected that Palmer would seek re-election in the same seat, but he eventually decided to leave federal politics. O'Brien subsequently regained Fairfax for the LNP at the 2016 federal election. O'Brien has served on a number of House of Representatives committees, including as chair of the Standing Committee on Environment and Energy from July 2019, a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and trade, and Chair of the Trade Sub-Committee. In 2019 he was nominated to represent the

Morrison Government The Morrison government was the federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison of the Liberal Party of Australia, between 2018 and 2022. The Morrison government commenced on 24 August 2018, when it was sworn ...

on the Olympic Candidature Leadership Group overseeing South-East Queensland's prospective bid for the

2032 Summer Olympics The 2032 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXV Olympiad and also known as Brisbane 2032, will be an international multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featu ...

Political views

O'Brien is an advocate of

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

. In 2019 he chaired a parliamentary inquiry into nuclear energy. In September 2020, O'Brien called for Australia to negotiate a free-trade agreement with Taiwan, citing similar agreements with New Zealand and Singapore.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Ted Liberal National Party of Queensland members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Fairfax 1974 births Living people 21st-century Australian politicians Alumni of the London School of Economics University of Melbourne alumni Australian republicans Australian lobbyists University of Queensland alumni People from Brisbane