Barry Leonard O'Rourke (born 17 November 1963) is an Australian politician. He served as the

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 for

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

in the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

from 2017 until his retirement in 2024.

Career

Following the unexpected retirement of Labor MP Bill Byrne for health reasons, O'Rourke contested Labor preselection for Byrne's seat of

. His main opponent was Margaret Strelow, the mayor of Rockhampton, who was endorsed by the Premier,

Annastacia Palaszczuk Annastacia Palaszczuk ( , born 25 July 1969) is an Australian politician who served as the 39th premier of Queensland from 2015 to 2023. She held office as the leader of the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2012 unt ...

. On 27 October 2017, O'Rourke defeated Strelow, who subsequently announced she would contest the election as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

. At the November state election, O'Rourke was elected to succeed Byrne as the member for Rockhampton. Strelow recorded 23.5% of the vote and was second on the initial count, but Liberal National preferences pushed the One Nation candidate ahead of her and O'Rourke was elected on Strelow's preferences. On 13 November 2023, O'Rourke announced his intention to retire from politics at the 2024 election, citing health issues. On 15 July 2024, During his weekly spot on local radio station 4RO, O'Rourke revealed he used the

electoral roll An electoral roll (variously called an electoral register, voters roll, voters list, poll book or other description) is a compilation that lists persons who are entitled to vote for particular elections in a particular jurisdiction. The list is ...

to obtain addresses of people who leave negative comments on his Facebook page so he can visit them in person, which prompted accusations of intimidation from federal LNP MP

Michelle Landry Michelle Leanne Landry (née Martin; born 15 October 1962) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2013 federal election, representing the Division of Capricornia. Landry served as the Assist ...

and One Nation's James Ashby. However, Premier

Steven Miles Steven John Miles (born 15 November 1977) is an Australian politician who was the 40th premier of Queensland, in office for 10 months from 2023 to 2024. He is the state leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and previously served as deputy ...

defended O'Rourke, describing it as "an entirely appropriate use of the electoral roll."

References

Parliamentary Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:ORourke, Barry 1963 births Living people Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland Australian people of Irish descent Australian Roman Catholics 21st-century Australian politicians People from Ayr, Queensland