Barry James O'Sullivan (born 24 March 1957) is an Australian politician who was a senator for

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 , establishe ...

from 11 February 2014 until 30 June 2019. 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 sat with the Nationals in federal parliament. A former police detective, grazier, property developer and LNP executive treasurer, O'Sullivan was appointed by the

Queensland Parliament The Parliament of Queensland is the legislature of Queensland, Australia. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists of the Monarch of Australia and the Legislative Assembly. It has been the only unicameral st ...

to the Senate seat vacated by

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 ...

, who had resigned to contest the House of Representatives seat of

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

at the 2013 federal election.Remeikis, Amy
LNP's Barry O'Sullivan headed for Senate
''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 12 September 2013. He was elected to a three-year term at the 2016 federal election.

Background and early police career

O'Sullivan was educated at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School at Wandal and the Christian Brothers' College, Rockhampton (now

The Cathedral College, Rockhampton The Cathedral College is an independent Catholic systemic secondary day and boarding school for boys and girls, located in Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia. It was founded in 1991 as a Catholic co-educational college for students in Year 8 to ...

). Upon leaving school, he was employed as an office boy at the '' Rockhampton Morning Bulletin'' and ''

The Longreach Leader ''The Longreach Leader'' is a newspaper published in Longreach, Queensland, Australia. History The first issue was published on 5 January 1923. In early October 2021 the owners of the paper advised that production of the weekly paper would be ...

'' newspapers before joining a road construction crew building the Beef Development Road from the Five Ways north of

Cloncurry Cloncurry is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Cloncurry had a population of 2,719 people. Cloncurry is the administrative centre of the Shire of Cloncurry. Cloncurry is known a ...

to the Gregory River crossing. O'Sullivan joined the Queensland Police Service (QPS) in 1976. His career commenced in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

serving in Inala, the City Beat, the Metro Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB), the Burglary Unit, the Fraud Squad and the Drug Squad. In 1979 he transferred to the Rockhampton CIB and in 1981 moved to the Moranbah CIB (a one-man detective office) serving the police districts of Nebo, Glenden, Dysart, Moranbah, the eastern end of the Clermont district and the southern end of the

Charters Towers Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits unde ...

District. O'Sullivan was provided a research grant to attend the United States' FBI Academy to study the profiling of serial offenders. At the end of the

Fitzgerald Inquiry The Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct (the Fitzgerald Inquiry; 1987–1989) into Queensland Police corruption was a judicial inquiry presided over by Tony Fitzgerald QC. The inquiry resulted ...

, O'Sullivan was appointed as one of the Queensland "change" agents to implement the recommendations in the Central Police Region, which stretched from Bowen to Gladstone and across to the Northern Territory border. He was appointed acting staff officer to the assistant commissioner in the central region, having the responsibility of supervising the project that restructured the framework of the Queensland Police Service in line with the Fitzgerald recommendations. In 1990 O'Sullivan worked with the Corrective Services Commission by the

Queensland Public Service The Queensland Public Service provides public services to the people of Queensland, Australia on behalf of the Government of Queensland. Typically these are services that are deemed important by the government and which the government believes ...

to facilitate the implementation of the recommendations from the Black Deaths in Custody Royal Commission and the Kennedy Review into Queensland prisons. Over some fifteen years of police service, O'Sullivan was awarded two imperial honours: the Bronze Medal for Bravery; and the Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. O'Sullivan was awarded also the commissioner's Commendation for Bravery, the commissioner's Commendation for Service, and twice obtained the commissioner's Favourable Record.

Business career

Upon retiring from the police force, O'Sullivan established an insurance loss adjuster practice that specialised in the preparation of briefs of evidence in civil litigation cases associated with worldwide catastrophic aviation accidents (principally international flights). O'Sullivan also established Jilbridge (currently NewLands) – a vertically integrated construction and development business (both civil and structural) based in

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 ...

, which currently employs over 100 staff. O'Sullivan and his family have operated livestock properties and contracted earthmoving services across leased and owned holdings at Cooyar, Ravensborne and Goondiwindi. On 6 August 2014, the '' Sydney Morning Herald'' reported that O'Sullivan owned 50 properties, making his property portfolio the largest of any parliamentarian in Canberra. The same analysis reports that the average federal politician each owns 2.5 properties.

LNP treasurer

In the lead up to the merger of the Liberal and National Parties, O'Sullivan was asked to assist in overseeing the registration of the new entity, the LNP. He was appointed honorary treasurer. O'Sullivan served in that role during the 2008 merger until his pre-selection to the Senate seat vacated by

, who had resigned to contest the House of Representatives seat of

at the 2013 federal election. O'Sullivan served on the Candidate Review Committee between 2009 and 2013, going on to be appointed chair of the committee in 2010. In mid-2012, O'Sullivan was appointed by Queensland public works minister Bruce Flegg to conduct an audit of two state government agencies, GoPrint and GoPlant. The state opposition called the appointment "totally inappropriate", saying that an accounting firm should have conducted the audit rather than an LNP official. Premier Campbell Newman conceded that O'Sullivan's appointment was inappropriate, and that he was not aware of the appointment until it was reported in the media, but stressed that O'Sullivan was not paid for his work.LNP party treasurer Barry O'Sullivan in secret probe of GoPrint and GoPlant businesses
''The Courier Mail'', 12 July 2012.

Senate

On 12 September, the day the appointment was originally planned to take place, Queensland Premier Campbell Newman postponed the debate and vote until 17 October due to O'Sullivan's involvement in an ongoing investigation by the

Crime and Misconduct Commission The Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) is an independent Queensland Government entity created to combat and reduce the incidence of major crime and to continuously improve the integrity of, and to reduce the incidence of misconduct in, the Q ...

.Queensland Premier Campbell Newman delays appointment of Barry O'Sullivan to Barnaby Joyce's vacant senate position
news.com.au, 12 September 2013. Newman again postponed the adjournment of parliament to affirm O'Sullivan's Senate appointment until at least February 2014, citing the need to give the CMC time to conclude their investigation. The CMC investigation was to determine whether LNP officials (including O'Sullivan) had offered MP Bruce Flegg inducements to stand aside in the seat of Moggill to make way for Campbell Newman to enter parliament. In December 2013, the commission found no evidence for the allegations. O'Sullivan was appointed to the Senate by the Queensland Parliament on 11 February 2014. O'Sullivan is a public opponent of

same sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

, and was one of twelve senators who voted against the 2017 bill. In 2017 when

Cory Bernardi Cory Bernardi (born 6 November 1969) is an Australian conservative political commentator and former politician. He was a Senator for South Australia from 2006 to 2020, and was the leader of the Australian Conservatives, a minor political party ...

moved a motion to ban abortion on gender grounds O'Sullivan was one of the ten who voted yes on the motion. It was voted down with (10-36). After being criticized for attempting to stop pro-choice groups, the senator on 14 November 2018 stated in Parliament, in order to avoid other politicians making attacks over O'Sullivan's anti-abortion views, that "I'm going to declare my gender today - as I can - to be a woman, and then you'll no longer be able to attack me." O'Sullivan released a draft bill to enable a royal commission into the banking sector. In July 2018, O'Sullivan was defeated for LNP preselection by Susan McDonald. McDonald's father is former Nationals party president, Don McDonald.

Personal life

Barry O'Sullivan married Annie Van Lathum of Barcaldine in 1976. The couple had four children. Annie died in 2008. The extended O'Sullivan family now includes seven grand children. O'Sullivan's grandson, Patrick, made headlines across the nation after he was flung from an amusement park ride while at a school fete just north of

in 2013. Patrick fell 10 metres, suffered serious head injuries and was rushed to the Mater Children's Hospital in a critical condition. According to the Register of Members' Interests, O'Sullivan has a large portfolio of real estate, with stakes in at least 49 investment properties.http://www.aph.gov.au/~/media/Committees/Senate/committee/interests_ctte/statements2014/OSullivanB_Astat_140725.pdf

References

External links

Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator Barry O'Sullivan on TheyVoteForYou.org.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:OSullivan, Barry 1957 births Living people Detectives and criminal investigators Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland Liberal National Party of Queensland members of the Parliament of Australia Australian police officers 21st-century Australian politicians