Raymond James O'Connor (6 March 1926 – 25 February 2013) was an Australian politician who served as the

premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive br ...

from 25 January 1982 to 25 February 1983. He was a member of the

Parliament of Western Australia The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia, which constitutes the legislative branch of the state's political system. The parl ...

from 1959 to 1984, and a minister in the governments of

David Brand Sir David Brand Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG (1 August 1912 – 15 April 1979) was an Australian politician. He was the longest-serving premier of Western Australia, in office from 1959 to 1971, and was state leader of the Liberal Pa ...

and

Charles Court Sir Charles Walter Michael Court (29 September 1911 – 22 December 2007) was an Australian politician who was the premier of Western Australia from 8 April 1974 to 25 January 1982. A member of the Western Australian Liberal Party, Liberal Par ...

. O'Connor was born in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

and attended schools in the Wheatbelt towns of

Narrogin Narrogin is a town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, southeast of Perth, Western Australia, Perth on the Great Southern Highway between Pingelly, Western Australia, Pingelly and Wagin, Western Australia, Wagin. In the age of st ...

and

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

as well as St Patrick's Boys' School in Perth, leaving school at the age of 14. He competed in athletics and played

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

as a teenager and young adult, including playing 14 matches for

East Perth East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that eas ...

in the

Western Australian National Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL "waffle" or "W-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting f ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served in the

Second Australian Imperial Force The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initial strength of one ...

New Britain New Britain () is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi Island, Umboi the Dampie ...

and Bougainville. O'Connor joined 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. For example, while the political systems ...

in 1957 and was elected to the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

. From 1965 to 1971, he was a minister in the Brand government. During this time, he served as the minister for railways and

minister for transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

, in which he oversaw the gauge standardisation project of the railway between Perth and

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie-Boulder (or just Kalgoorlie) is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder as the surroundi ...

. He became a minister again when Court was elected premier in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

. He was police minister when the murder of

Shirley Finn Shirley June Finn, given name, née Shewring (2 November 1941 – 22 or 23 June 1975), was an Australian brothel keeper, nightclub operator and socialite who was shot dead at about midnight on 22–23 June 1975 in Perth, Western Australia. Her b ...

occurred in 1975, which remains unsolved but was likely done by a corrupt police officer. O'Connor became deputy premier in 1980. When Court resigned as premier in January 1982, O'Connor was elected by his party to succeed him. The 1983 state election occurred 13 months later, in which the O'Connor government was defeated by Brian Burke and the Labor Party. The election was mainly fought on economic issues, particularly unemployment. O'Connor became

opposition leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

but was removed in a

leadership spill In Australian politics, a leadership spill (or simply a spill) is a declaration that the leadership of a parliamentary party is vacant and open for contest. A spill may involve all or some of the leadership positions (leader and deputy leader in ...

in February 1984. After resigning from Parliament in 1984, O'Connor started a consultancy business. He was made an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

. During the

WA Inc WA Inc was the name for a set of public-private partnerships in Western Australia in the 1980s associated with the Western Australian Development Corporation, which became a political scandal. The state government, which was led for much of t ...

royal commission, it was determined that O'Connor had misappropriated a A$25,000

Bond Corporation Alan Bond (22 April 1938 – 5 June 2015) was an English-born Australian businessman noted for his high-profile and often corrupt business dealings. These included his central role in the WA Inc scandals of the 1980s; the biggest corporate co ...

cheque for himself. In May 1993, he was charged with stealing the cheque, and in February 1995, was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He was released on parole six months later. As a result of his conviction, his appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia was terminated.

Early life

Raymond James O'Connor was born on 6 March 1926 in

, Western Australia, as one of eight children of Annie

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Moran and Alphonsus Maurice O'Connor, a police officer. He was of Irish and English descent and was brought up as a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. 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 because he thought that it was "becoming a bit communistic" and was disillusioned with the leadership of

H. V. Evatt Herbert Vere "Doc" Evatt, (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a justice of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General of Australia, Attorney-General and Minister for For ...

. Ray O'Connor attended school in the Wheatbelt towns of

and

as well as St Patrick's Boys' School in Perth, leaving school at the age of 14. O'Connor played sports as a teenager and young adult, winning state titles in athletics for

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

and discus in 1943. He also played as a ruckman for the

East Perth Football Club The East Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Royals, is an Australian rules football club based in Leederville, Western Australia, current playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). Formed in 1902 as the Unio ...

from 1946 to 1950, including playing 14 games in the

(WANFL) and winning the Prendergast Medal for

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

in the WANFL reserves in 1950. From 1942 to 1944, O'Connor worked for farming machinery company Southern Cross Windmills. In

, he was involved with the Bougainville campaign. O'Connor enlisted with the

in April 1944. After doing jungle training in

Canungra, Queensland Canungra is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Scenic Rim Region of South East Queensland, South East Queensland, Australia. In the , Canungra had a population of 1,436 people. Geography Located in South Eas ...

, he embarked at

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

on 5 June 1945 and disembarked at

Torokina Torokina is a coastal village on Bougainville Island, in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, eastern Papua New Guinea. It is administered under Torokina Rural LLG. It is located on the western coast of the island. During World War II ...

on the island of Bougainville five days later, where he was transferred to the 61st Battalion. Bougainville was where he first met

, a senior officer and future

. In September 1945, O'Connor was transferred to the 26th Battalion and moved from Bougainville to

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...

. In October 1945, he was transferred to the 13th Field Company, where he was promoted to

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

in February 1946. He embarked at Rabaul on 29 May 1946 and arrived back in Australia eight days later. His boxing experience in the army and his initials "ROC" led him to later gain the nickname "Rocky". After being discharged in January 1947, he studied accounting but did not finish. In 1955, he bought the Beehive Tearooms, a café in

Forrest Place Forrest Place is a pedestrianised square located within the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. The street was created in 1923, and has a history of being a focal point for significant political meetings and demonstrations ...

, Perth.

Early political career

After encouragement from his father, O'Connor contested the

Metropolitan Province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of Ecclesiastical jurisdiction, jurisdiction in Christianity, Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical struc ...

of the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative A ...

at the 1956 state 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 ...

Liberal" candidate, receiving 884 votes out of 15,159. He campaigned against the abolition of the Legislative Council, saying that it needed to be rejuvenated and have more young people elected to it. From 1957 to 1960, he was a used car sales proprietor in

Inglewood Inglewood may refer to: Places Australia *Inglewood, Queensland * Shire of Inglewood, Queensland, a former local government area *Inglewood, South Australia *Inglewood, Victoria *Inglewood, Western Australia Canada * Inglewood, Ontario *Inglewoo ...

, from 1957, he was a director of the Town and Country Terminating Building Society, and from 1964 to 1966, he was a director of the Town and Country Permanent Building Society. This garnered him interest from the

, so Liberal MLC 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 percent swing at the 1959 state election on 21 March, the same election in which

became

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

. The electoral district of North Perth was abolished at the 1962 state election due to a redistribution, so O'Connor transferred to the adjacent electoral district of Mount Lawley. Before becoming a minister, O'Connor's interests were in police and housing. He often suggested changes to the Police Act to the party room, believing it was out of date. In March 1965, he became the honorary minister assisting the minister for

railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...

and

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

, Charles Court. Following the passage of the Constitution Acts Amendment Act 1965 in August that year,

the ministry In constitutional usage in Commonwealth realms, a ministry (usually preceded by the definite article, i.e., the ministry) is a collective body of government minister (government), ministers led by a head of government, such as a prime minister. ...

was expanded by two, allowing O'Connor to take over from Court as the minister for transport, and from February 1967, as the minister for railways as well. As the minister for transport, O'Connor introduced compulsory seatbelts for passenger vehicles. He said that although he personally opposed compulsory seatbelts as an "infringement on individuals' rights", cabinet approved it so he had to introduce the legislation for it. In an interview in 1996, he said that compulsory seatbelts "turned out to be the right thing, no doubt about that". As the minister for railways, he oversaw the gauge standardisation project of the railway between Perth and

, which enabled people to travel to and from the eastern states by rail without changing trains. In February 1970, he travelled on the inaugural

Indian Pacific The ''Indian Pacific'' is a weekly experiential tourism-oriented passenger train service that runs in Australia's east–west rail corridor between Sydney, on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, and Perth, on the shore of the Indian Ocean – ...

train from

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

to Perth, a journey only made possible by the gauge standardisation. O'Connor had a reputation for being a successful gambler, having allegedly won A$100,000 betting on horse races once, although he denied this. He became involved in controversy when, during a debate on legislation to form the

Totalisator Agency Board The Totalisator Agency Board, universally shortened to TAB or T.A.B., is the name given to monopoly Tote board, totalisator organisations in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. They operate betting shops and Online gambling, online betting ...

(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. The Liberals lost the 1971 state election, and O'Connor moved with the rest of the party to the opposition benches. When Brand resigned from the Liberal Party's leadership in 1972, it was commonly accepted that Charles Court would succeed him. A group of MPs put O'Connor forward as a token candidate to make sure that Court did not take the leadership for granted. O'Connor indicated he would accept the nomination, but declined during the party room meeting, so Court was elected unopposed. O'Connor later said that he withdrew because his marriage had recently ended and he had claimed to be blackmailed. O'Connor contested the deputy leadership ballot but lost to Des O'Neil. Two years later, the Liberals won the 1974 state election, and formed a

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

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 and the position of minister for railways being abolished. He was also the minister for police, the minister for traffic, and, from 1 May 1974, the minister for traffic safety. In May 1975, the National Country Party left the Coalition due to a policy dispute between McPharlin and Court. The National Country Party re-joined the Coalition later that month after McPharlin was replaced as leader by Dick Old. The ministry was reconstituted as the

Court ministry The Court ministry was the 27th ministry of the Government of Western Australia, led by Liberal Premier Sir Charles Court and deputy Des O'Neil ( Ray O'Connor replaced O'Neil following his retirement in 1980). It commenced on 5 June 1975, follo ...

, which resulted in the Liberal Party gaining the position of Deputy Premier instead of the National Party. O'Connor retained all his ministries except traffic safety. As police minister, O'Connor set the

blood alcohol limit Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes. BAC is expressed as mass of alcohol (drug), alcohol per volume of blood. ...

for drivers at 0.08. He also formed the Road Traffic Authority, making a single body responsible for traffic and enforcement of infringements. In response to a growing number of labour strikes across the 1970s, he introduced an amendment to Section 54B of the Police Act in November 1976 so that a permit from the

police commissioner A police commissioner is the head of a police department, responsible for overseeing its operations and ensuring the effective enforcement of laws and maintenance of public order. They develop and implement policies, manage budgets, and coordinate ...

was required for a gathering of more than three people in a public place. The amendment said that "reasonable grounds" were required for refusal but that there was no right to an appeal. This was heavily criticised as eroding civil liberties and was one of the most controversial actions of the Court government. Although O'Connor was the relevant minister, Court took responsibility for the act himself. O'Connor was the police minister when the murder of well known socialite and brothel keeper

occurred on 22 June 1975. A coronial inquest was held between 2017 and 2019 which heard evidence that she was bribing the police to avoid having her brothel shut down, and that she threatened to blow the whistle on the persons involved unless she had her large tax bill paid. The inquest also heard evidence about O'Connor's relationship with Finn. There were longstanding rumours that O'Connor was in a secret relationship with Finn but O'Connor had long denied them. A witness alleged that Finn was murdered by policeman

Don Hancock Donald Leslie Hancock (5 January 1937 – 1 September 2001) was a Western Australian policeman. He is principally known for his involvement in the investigation of the Perth Mint Swindle, and his death in a car bombing in 2001. Early life H ...

as a favour for O'Connor as he was supposedly one of the politicians Finn was going to expose. Another witness alleged that O'Connor was the person who actually carried out the murder, but the coroner ruled out his testimony due to several inconsistencies. The inquest ruled in 2020 that it was unable to determine who killed Finn. The Deputy State Coroner wrote: The ministry was reconstituted on 10 March 1977 following the 1977 state election, which the Liberal Party won. O'Connor became the minister for works, minister for water supplies, and the minister for housing, all lower profile ministries than police. Although Court gave no explanation for this, he was reportedly tired of 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 Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent businesse ...

, and

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

, first as an acting minister, then from 7 August as the minister. The ministry was reconstituted on 25 August. O'Connor lost his former ministries, and added fisheries and wildlife, and conservation and the environment, to those he had taken over from Grayden. O'Connor handled so many different ministries that he became known as the "minister for just about everything". As immigration minister, O'Connor often criticised the amount of Vietnamese immigrants coming into Western Australia, which sparked debate with federal immigration minister

Michael MacKellar Michael John Randal MacKellar (27 October 1938 – 9 May 2015) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party and served in the House of Representatives from 1969 to 1994, representing the Division of Warringah. He was Mini ...

. O'Connor objected to immigrants coming to Australia without any check for criminal records or their health, and said that "we should give them money, petrol, turn their boat round and send them home". Throughout Court's premiership, O'Connor was generally considered second in line, behind Deputy Premier Des O'Neil, to replace Court if he were to stand 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. O'Connor retained the labour and industry, consumer affairs, and immigration portfolios, and gained regional administration and the

north-west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

, and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

. In February 1981, he was relieved of the portfolios of regional administration and the north-west and tourism. In anticipation of Court retiring soon, O'Connor would take Liberal MPs out to dinner, sometimes offering them ministries if they voted for him in a leadership election. According to upper house member

Phil Lockyer Philip Harry Lockyer (born 28 September 1946) is a former Australian politician. He was born at Mount Magnet to pastoral property manager Thomas Catchlove Lockyer and Florence Lillian Elsdon. He was educated by correspondence before attending Ha ...

, O'Connor "was a difficult bloke not to be friends with".

Premier

Court announced on 18 December 1981 that he planned to resign on 25 January 1982. According to fellow MP

Jim Clarko James George Clarko (21 July 1932 – 7 April 2020) was an Australian politician. He was a Liberal Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1974 to 1996, representing the electorates of Karrinyup (1974–1989) and Ma ...

, speaking in an interview in 2012, O'Connor was the only option, with

Bill Hassell William Ralph Boucher Hassell, best known as Bill Hassell, (born 6 June 1943) is an Australian former Liberal Party politician who was Leader of the Opposition in Western Australia during the mid-1980s. He was a member of the Western Australian ...

, 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 cabinet positions 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. Nevertheless, O'Connor won the leadership ballot unopposed, and Cyril Rushton was elected deputy leader. O'Connor and his ministry were sworn in by Governor

Richard Trowbridge Rear Admiral Sir Richard John Trowbridge, (21 January 1920 – 4 May 2003), was a senior officer in the Royal Navy and the 25th Governor of Western Australia, serving from 25 November 1980 to 24 November 1983. He was the last non-Australian vi ...

on 25 January 1982. O'Connor chose to make himself

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

, saying that it was a portfolio best handled by the premier. Out of the thirteen ministers in the previous Court ministry, ten were in the O'Connor ministry. The ministers who left were Court, Grayden, who was opposed to O'Connor becoming premier, and

David Wordsworth David John Wordsworth (born 9 June 1930) is a former Australian politician who was a Liberal Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 1971 to 1993. He served as a minister in the government of Sir Charles Court. Wordswort ...

. The new ministers were

Ian Laurance Ian James Laurance (born 30 April 1940) is a former Australian politician who was a Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1974 to 1987, representing the seat of Gascoyne. He was a minister in the government ...

Barry MacKinnon Barry John MacKinnon (born 29 October 1944) is a former Australian politician who was a Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1977 to 1993. He was the state leader of the Liberal Party (and thus Leader of t ...

and Bob Pike. Clarko and Richard Shalders were appointed assistant ministers before later being made ministers on 14 May 1982. Soon after becoming premier, O'Connor sacked more than 200 workers at the Hospital Laundry Linen Service for striking and threatened to deregister their union. The workers were demanding a pay rise of $25 per week whereas the government was offering them an $11 per week pay rise. They were then told they could keep their jobs if they returned to work on 5 February. That day, they voted overwhelmingly against returning to work and they fought with police and picketed outside their workplace. By 3pm that day, they accepted the $11 per week pay rise and returned to work. Later in February, the government approved a pay rise for nurses, who had been part of a prominent campaign against depressed wages a year previously. O'Connor was described in the

Australian Journal of Politics and History The ''Australian Journal of Politics and History (''AJPH) is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes articles about history, political studies, and international affairs, concentrating on Australia, New Zealand and the Asia-P ...

as "anxious to assert that his administration would be compassionate and people-oriented". Three

by-elections A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

occurred on 13 March 1982: the Nedlands by-election to replace Court, the Swan by-election to replace retiring Labor MLA Jack Skidmore, and the South Metropolitan by-election to replace retiring Labor MLC

Howard Olney Howard William Olney (born 7 October 1934) is the Australian Aboriginal Lands Commissioner. Olney was born in Nedlands and attended Perth Modern School and the University of Western Australia. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1957 and as a ma ...

. The Nedlands by-election had around a 10 percent swing towards the Labor Party, but nevertheless, Court's son

Richard Court Richard Fairfax Court (born 27 September 1947) is a former Australian politician and diplomat. He served as Premier of Western Australia from 1993 to 2001 and as Australian Ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2020. A member of the Liberal Party ...

was elected. In the Swan by-election, Gordon Hill retained the seat for Labor with a 3.6 percent swing to Labor, and in the South Metropolitan by-election,

Garry Kelly Garry Kenneth Kelly (26 May 1948 – 11 July 2002) was an Australian politician who served as a Labor Party member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia from 1982 to 1993. He stood for parliament eight times in total, winning four el ...

retained the seat for Labor with a 4.3 percent swing to Labor. O'Connor blamed the poor results for the Liberals on the unpopular federal

Fraser government The Fraser government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. It was made up of members of a Liberal–Country party coalition in the Australian Parliament from November 1975 to March 1983. Init ...

. On 31 July, another by-election occurred for the North Province following the resignation of Liberal turned independent MLC

Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He is known for having several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Grandma's Hands" (1971), "Use Me ( ...

. Tom Stephens of the Labor Party won with a 14 percent swing towards Labor. By August, unemployment in Western Australia was rising faster than the other states. The state budget was released at the end of September 1982. It came with a freeze on all state taxes. On 30 December, O'Connor launched a job bank scheme, and appointed Hassell to the newly created ministry of employment in anticipation of the upcoming election being centred around job creation. In January 1983, O'Connor announced the date of the 1983 state election would be 19 February. With the federal government unpopular, he asked for Prime Minister

Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and is the fourth List of ...

to stay out of the campaign, saying "'we can run our own show and don't need any help or hindrance from Canberra". To O'Connor's dismay, Fraser set the date of the 1983 federal election for 4 March, two weeks after the state election. ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

'' reported that O'Connor was "stunned and infuriated" at the announcement and that Fraser had not consulted with O'Connor.

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. He held office as the Australian Labor Party, leader of the La ...

, who grew up in Western Australia and was popular within the state, was elected leader of the Labor Party at the federal level, which helped the Labor Party in the state election. The Labor Party countered the O'Connor government's job bank by announcing its own plans for job creation, which involved the establishment of a jobs taskforce to create 25,000 new jobs over the next three years. The election resulted in a swing of between five and six percent away from the Liberal Party on a

two-party-preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP), is the result of an opinion poll or a projection of an election result where preferences are distributed to one of the two major parties, the Labor Party and the Liberal/Natio ...

basis, enough for the Labor Party to win 32 out of the 57 Legislative Assembly seats and win the election. Labor leader Brian Burke succeeded O'Connor as premier on 25 February 1983.

Later life

O'Connor continued on as Liberal leader and

leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

following his government's defeat. The Liberal and National parties decided to form a joint shadow ministry, and so the O'Connor shadow ministry was formed in mid-March with Liberal and National members. It consisted of all the ministers of the O'Connor government who were still in Parliament plus Grayden and Ian Thompson. By early 1984, O'Connor was encountering pressure to resign as his media and parliamentary skills were no match for Burke's, and he had taken a six week family holiday to Europe at the end of 1983. On 10 February, Thompson, a formerly staunch supporter of O'Connor, resigned from the shadow ministry and called for him to resign as leader. A meeting of the 39 Liberal MPs was called for 15 February, at which Thompson proposed a motion that the leader and deputy leader positions be declared vacant. The motion was passed, and so a leadership spill occurred among the MPs. O'Connor, along with Hassell, MacKinnon, and Rushton contested the spill. Hassell was elected leader and MacKinnon was elected deputy leader. Afterwards, O'Connor stated that he would resign from politics by the end of the year. The ballot was the first

in the state Liberal Party's history. O'Connor resigned from Parliament on 24 August 1984. He was succeeded as the member for Mount Lawley by George Cash. Following that, O'Connor formed a consultancy called Ray O'Connor Consultancy with

Laurie Connell Lawrence Robert "Laurie" Connell (died 27 February 1996) was a Western Australian business entrepreneur. As chairman of the Rothwells merchant bank, he was well known for his dealings with the Government of Western Australia and his close rela ...

. O'Connor owned one third of the company and Connell owned two thirds. The company received a yearly $25,000 retainer each from Connell,

Multiplex Multiplex may refer to: Science and technology * Multiplex communication, combining many signals into one transmission circuit or channel ** Multiplex (television), a group of digital television or radio channels that are combined for broadcast * ...

and another company, and O'Connor was additionally paid $500 per week. The company did work for the Burke government and for Connell, including lobbying local governments to approve developments. In the

1989 Australia Day Honours The 1989 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 1989 by the Governor General of Australia, Sir Ninian Stephen. The Aust ...

, O'Connor was appointed an

for "service to the government and politics and to the Western Australian Parliament".

WA Inc

Burke resigned as premier in February 1988 and was replaced by

Peter Dowding Peter McCallum Dowding SC (born 6 October 1943) is an Australian lawyer and former politician who was the premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1988 until his resignation on 12 February 1990 due to a leadership spill. He was a member o ...

, who himself resigned in February 1990 amid unpopularity due to the

scandal, a series of controversial government investments and deals with private enterprise dating back to the Burke government. The Labor Party replaced him with

Carmen Lawrence Carmen Mary Lawrence (born 2 March 1948) is an Australian academic and former politician who was the premier of Western Australia from 1990 to 1993, the first woman to become the premier of an Australian state. To date she is the only female p ...

, who initially resisted calls for a royal commission into WA Inc. After months of pressure, she announced in November 1990 that the royal commission would go ahead. To take the heat off Labor, Lawrence included investigating the Court and O'Connor governments in the commission's terms of reference as well as the Burke and Dowding governments. While giving evidence to the commission, Terry Burke, a former member of parliament and the brother of Brian Burke, said that O'Connor had told him in 1987 that he was the middleman between Bond Corporation and

City of Stirling The City of Stirling is a local government area in the northern suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth about north of Perth's central business district. The City covers an area of and has a population of over 223,000, making ...

councillors in a bribery scandal. It was alleged that Bond Corporation was bribing Stirling councillors in 1984 to approve the Observation City hotel development in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

. The commission was played a recording of the conversation secretly taped by Terry Burke where O'Connor said he was given a $30,000 bribe by former Bond Corporation managing director Peter Beckwith on behalf of subsidiary Austmark International. O'Connor said he then passed the bribe to Stirling councillor George Cash. O'Connor gave evidence on 28 February 1992, where he admitted to having the conversation with Burke but said that he was lying so that he could find out information from the Burke government that would be useful to the Liberal Party. He admitted to lobbying Stirling councillors on behalf of Austmark but said that no bribes took place. On 30 January 1992, Brian Burke testified that O'Connor had originally told him the story, but thought that O'Connor was trying to set him up, so he got O'Connor to retell the story to Terry Burke, who used a tape recorder to record the conversation. Neither of the Burke's told the police as they said they had no evidence. Cash, by now a senior opposition MP, commenced

defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

action against O'Connor soon after his appearance at the commission. In February 1992, O'Connor resigned from the Liberal Party amid speculation that the party would kick him out. In the same month, the commission began investigating O'Connor's finances, suspecting him of having stolen a $25,000 cheque from Bond Corporation in April 1984. The cheque was made out to a "Mt Lawley campaign fund" and recorded by Bond Corporation as a political donation. The investigation found a $25,000 deposit into O'Connor's bank account at the same time, which O'Connor was unable to explain. By that point, the record of the transaction had been destroyed which prevented investigators from determining where the money came from just based on the bank's records. Unrelated to the cheque, the investigation found that O'Connor had not paid tax on the $500 per week he received from Connell for his consultancy business. The commission handed down its first report on 20 October 1992, which made adverse findings against O'Connor. The commission found that the Bond Corporation cheque was given to O'Connor with the intention of using the money to bribe the Stirling council, but O'Connor kept the money for himself and that no bribery took place. The report stated that "O'Connor was given every opportunity to explain the source of the sum deposited to the credit of his account on 19 April 1984, but was unable to do so in any believable way. Mr O'Connor misappropriated for his own purposes the monies which were the proceeds of the Bond Corporation cheque." O'Connor was charged on 11 May 1993 with one count of stealing and two counts of criminal defamation relating to his statements saying that George Cash accepted a bribe. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released on bail. In November 1993, he had a preliminary hearing which determined there was enough evidence for O'Connor to go on trial. The trial for the stealing charge began on 13 February 1995 in the

District Court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

. Evidence was given that O'Connor had a $98,000

overdraft An overdraft occurs when something is withdrawn in excess of what is in a current account. For financial systems, this can be funds in a bank account. In these situations the account is said to be "overdrawn". In the economic system, if there i ...

and a $27,000 tax bill, which prosecutors alleged was O'Connor's motive for stealing the cheque. The jury gave a unanimous verdict that O'Connor was guilty on 17 February. This made him the first conservative MP to be convicted of offences relating to WA Inc, after Brian Burke and David Parker from the Labor Party had been convicted earlier. On 21 February, O'Connor was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He served his sentence at the minimum-security

Wooroloo Prison Farm Wooroloo Prison Farm is an Australian minimum-security prison located in Wooroloo, Western Australia, Wooroloo, Western Australia. It was established in 1972 under an arrangement that it would offer some of its amenities to the community of Woor ...

. In June 1995, his trial for the defamation charges occurred, in which he was found guilty of both counts. He was given an 18-month

good behaviour bond In the Australian legal system, a good behaviour bond is a type of non-custodial Sentence (law), sentence which involves the condition of the offender's "good behaviour" for a set period. The condition of "good behaviour" primarily requires the o ...

. He was released on parole on 20 August 1995 after serving six months of his sentence. As a result of his conviction, his appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia was terminated on 18 October 1995. After 2001, O'Connor was reinstated as a member of the Liberal Party when party leader

Colin Barnett Colin James Barnett (born 15 July 1950) is an Australian former politician who was the 29th Premier of Western Australia. He concurrently served as the state's Treasurer at several points during his tenure and had previously held various other ...

put forward a motion that his membership be restored. Barnett said "as leader I moved at a state council meeting that Ray's membership be restored on the grounds that he had made a great contribution to the party, he had made an error and done his time, that we should put that behind us, move on, and readmit him."

Personal life and death

O'Connor married his first wife Beverley Vilma Lydiate, with whom he had four daughters and four sons, at St Francis Xavier's Church in

on 17 June 1950. They divorced around 1972. His second marriage, to Vesna Frances Stampalia (

Dragicevich), occurred on 14 March 1973. O'Connor was the uncle of

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and first competed in 1987 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known ...

coach

Ron Alexander Ronald James Alexander (born 10 December 1950) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Fitzroy Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the East Perth Football Club and East Fremantle Football Club in the ...

and the grandfather of

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia that was founded in 1990. The Crows have fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since 199 ...

player Ronin O'Connor. O'Connor died on 25 February 2013 in a nursing home in Scarborough, aged 86. His funeral occurred on 7 March 2013 at the Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Woodlands and he was cremated at

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

Notes

References

Bibliography

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