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Barry O'Farrell

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Barry O'Farrell
JP, MLA
Leader of the Opposition of New South Wales
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 April 2007
DeputyJillian Skinner
Preceded byPeter Debnam
Member of the New South Wales Parliament
for Ku-ring-gai
Incumbent
Assumed office
27 March 1999
Preceded byStephen O'Doherty
Majority21,974 (29%)[1]
Personal details
Born (1959-05-24) 24 May 1959 (age 65)
Melbourne, Victoria
NationalityAustralian
Political partyLiberal Party of Australia
SpouseRosemary O'Farrell
ChildrenThomas and William O'Farrell
ResidenceRoseville, New South Wales
OccupationPolitician
CabinetNSW Shadow Ministry
Websitehttp://www.barryofarrell.com

Barry Robert O'Farrell, JP, MLA, (born 24 May 1959) is an Australian politician and Leader of the New South Wales Opposition. He was elected as the member for the Electoral district of Ku-ring-gai in 1999.

O'Farrell, was elected as Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party and as Leader of the Opposition in April 2007, following the resignation of Peter Debnam.[2] He is the Shadow Minister for Western Sydney in his O'Farrell/Stoner Liberal/Nationals Opposition.[3]

Early life

O'Farrell was born in Melbourne in 1959 and moved to various places around Australia, due to his father being in the Army.[4] His family moved to Darwin and he finished his education at St John’s College.[3]

O'Farrell moved to Canberra to study at the Australian National University, living in Ursula Hall. In 1980 he received a Bachelor of Arts in Australian history, politics and Indigenous studies (BA).[3] O'Farrell became a member of the Liberal Party that same year, and was an advisor to John Howard and Bruce Baird in the late 1980s and early 1990s respectively.[3] O'Farrell was State Director of the NSW Liberal Party from 1992–1995 and became a Justice of the Peace.[3]

Member of Parliament

O'Farrell was elected to the seat of Northcott on 25 March 1995 at the 1995 Election and represented Northcott until its abolition on 26 March 1999.[3] He then served Ku-ring-gai (since 1999) in the NSW Legislative Assembly, which replaced Northcott. From 1998 onwards he served in the Shadow cabinet in various portfolios, including Transport (1999−2002), Education (2002−2003), Health (2003−2005) and later as Shadow Treasurer (2006−2007).[3]

O'Farrell was elected Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party to then Leader, Kerry Chikarovski, in 1999 and served until 2002 when John Brogden was elected Leader.[5] O'Farrell successfully contested the deputy's position following the 2003 State election, replacing Chris Hartcher.[6] At the failed 1999 Republic Referendum, O'Farrell voted no and later stated that he would not support any proposal that he thinks would be less effective than the current system of Constitutional Monarchy.[2]

After the resignation of John Brogden as leader on 29 August 2005, O'Farrell was considered the foremost contender for leadership. However, following Brogden's suicide attempt the next day, he withdrew his candidacy stating he did not believe he could ensure party unity and remained as Deputy Leader, leaving the road clear for Peter Debnam.[7][8]

Opposition leader

After the Liberals were defeated in the March 2007 state election, O'Farrell announced his intention to challenge Debnam for party leadership.[9] After initially saying that he would contest, Debnam found he did not have sufficient support in the party room and decided not to contest the leadership challenge which left the way clear for O'Farrell to take the leadership position. On 4 April 2007 O'Farrell was elected unopposed as New South Wales Liberal Leader, with Jillian Skinner becoming Deputy Leader.[10]

Barry O'Farrell, with Victor Dominello, Andrew Stoner, NSW Leader of The Nationals, and Gladys Berejiklian

In May 2008, following the resignation of three senior party figures, it was revealed that O'Farrell had brokered a package of reforms designed to overcome factional infighting which had plagued the NSW Liberals for years. The reforms were endorsed at a State Council meeting on 31 May. Despite the risks involved, O'Farrell's role in the reform process was seen to have enhanced his leadership[11] In June 2008, Newspoll reported that O'Farrell led Morris Iemma in the preferred premier stakes - the first time any NSW Opposition Leader had led an incumbent Premier since May 1992.[12]

October 2008 triple by-elections

On 18 October 2008, the Liberal Party contested three state electorates (Lakemba, Ryde, Cabramatta) in by-elections due to the resignation of the Premier and two of his ministers. This resulted in the largest by-election swing against Labor in its history.[13] The results showed a significant swing towards the Liberal Party with a swing of 22.7% in former health minister Reba Meagher's seat of Cabramatta[13] and a swing of 13% against Labor in former premier Morris Iemma's seat of Lakemba. Ryde, once a safe Labor seat, with a swing of 23.1% delivered former deputy premier John Watkins' seat to Victor Dominello.[13]


Political positions

On 2 September 2009, in the wake of the John Della Bosca resignation for inappropriate conduct with a mistress, O'Farrell introduced a motion of no confidence on the Premier Nathan Rees and the NSW Government. O'Farrell was hoping to push an early election saying that "The job of changing New South Wales for the better needs to start today. The best thing that Nathan Rees could do is to allow the people to have their say through an early election". The motion was put to the house but defeated on party lines. Despite this, all independent members of the Legislative Assembly voted for the motion.[14]

In March 2009, O'Farrell called for the NSW political system to be reformed by looking at recall provisions to end fixed four-year terms for incompetent governments.[15] He also proposed that it should start with provisions for the Governor to be able to sack a corrupt or useless government. While speaking to The Sydney Institute, O'Farrell stated that he would appoint an independent team to examine whether the NSW Constitution could be changed to include these provisions, with a proposed referendum in 2015.[15]

In September 2009, O'Farrell and National Party Leader Andrew Stoner launched a policy to reform the New South Wales planning laws. The policy, titled "Putting The Community Back Into Planning", aims to reform the State's planning system, with a return of planning powers to local communities and councils. The policy also outlined the scrapping of the unpopular [16] Part 3A of the Environment Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW).[17]

Personal life

O'Farrell resides within his electorate at Roseville with his wife Rosemary O'Farrell and their two young children. His wife Rosemary is the daughter of former National Party member Bruce Cowan.[18]

References

  1. ^ "ABC Elections Guide". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  2. ^ a b "Transcript of interview with Barry O'Farrell". Stateline. ABC Television. 2007-04-13. Retrieved 2007-04-18. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Mr Barry Robert O'Farrell, MP". Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
  4. ^ "About Barry". Barry O'Farrell personal website. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  5. ^ "Chikarovski dumped as NSW Liberal leader". ABC News. 2002-03-28.
  6. ^ "Brogden re-elected Lib leader". The Age. 2003-04-03.
  7. ^ "The lean, mean fighting machine". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2005-08-31.
  8. ^ "Turmoil at top blamed for failure at ballot box". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2005-08-31.
  9. ^ "O'Farrell to challenge Debnam". ABC. 2007-03-26.
  10. ^ "O'Farrell new Libs leader". The Courier Mail. 2007-04-04.
  11. ^ Sunday Telegraph 1 June 2008
  12. ^ The Australian, Wednesday 25 June 2008
  13. ^ a b c "A turning point for the Libs". The Daily Telegraph. 2008-10-20. Retrieved 2009-05-20. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ "Della Bosca scandal sparks no-confidence motion". ABC News. 2009-09-02. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  15. ^ a b "NSW Liberals will sack poorly performing governments". The Daily Telegraph. 2009-03-19. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  16. ^ "Sartor's spirit needs exorcising". The Daily Telegraph. 2008-09-13. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
  17. ^ "NSW Liberal/National Policy announcment" (PDF). Barry O'Farrell personal website. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  18. ^ O'Dwyer, Erin (8 April 2007). "Trade-off for O'Farrell's rise: less footy with Coalition kids". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2007-05-08.

See also

Parliament of New South Wales
Preceded by Member for Northcott
1995–1999 		District abolished
Preceded by Member for Ku-ring-gai
1999–present 		Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Deputy Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party
1999–2002 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Deputy Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party
2003–2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party
2007–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Opposition of New South Wales
2007–present 		Incumbent

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