Barry O'Farrell
Encyclopedia
Barry Robert O'Farrell MP
, (born 24 May 1959) is an Australian politician and is the 43rd Premier of New South Wales, Minister for Western Sydney, Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party
and a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
representing Ku-ring-gai
for the Liberal Party since 1999.
Born in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1959, O'Farrell moved with his family to Darwin in the Northern Territory, where he finished his education at St John’s College. In 1975 O'Farrell moved to Canberra to study at the Australian National University
, where he gained a Bachelor of Arts. After serving as a party staffer and electorate officer for the Liberal Party of Australia
, O'Farrell was elected as the State Director of the New South Wales Liberal Party from 1992 to 1995.
At the March 1995 New South Wales state election
, O'Farrell stood for and was elected to the seat of Northcott
in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
. Since 1999, he currently serves as the member for the electoral district of Ku-ring-gai. After serving several years in various Shadow Ministries and as Deputy Leader from 1999 to 2002 and from 2003, in April 2007, following the resignation of party Leader Peter Debnam
, O'Farrell was elected as the Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party and consequently as Leader of the Opposition
, before becoming Premier in a landslide at the 2011 election
.
, Melbourne, in 1959. He is descended from poor Irish
immigrants who arrived in Victoria in the 1860s; and his paternal grandfather was an officer in the Victoria Police Force
in Ballarat. Spending his early years in North Melbourne
, he moved with his family to various places around Australia; his father was in the Australian Army, having joined up during the Second World War in 1943, and having been later part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force
in Japan. The O'Farrells moved to Darwin
during his adolescence and he finished his education at St John's College
.
In 1975 O'Farrell began studying at the Australian National University
in Canberra, residing at Ursula College
. During his second year of study, he was elected President of the Ursula College Student Council. In 1980 he received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Australian history
, politics and Indigenous studies
and has cited Professor Manning Clark
and Don Baker as major influences on his thinking.
After briefly serving John Moore
in the Department of Consumer Affairs
, O'Farrell became a member of the Liberal Party that same year, and worked in the offices of two South Australian Senators, Tony Messner
and Gordon Davidson
.
When John Howard
became Leader of the Opposition in 1985, his chief of staff, Gerard Henderson
, hired O'Farrell as a staffer. In 1988, O'Farrell came to Sydney to be Chief of Staff for Bruce Baird
, a cabinet minister in the New South Wales government. Four years later, with Baird's backing, O'Farrell defeated Tony Abbott
to become the State Director of the New South Wales Liberal Party. O'Farrell held this position until 1995, when Baird resigned his seat to move to federal politics.
on 25 March 1995 at the 1995 election
with 60.05% of the primary vote, 68.63% after preferences. As the Member for Northcott, O'Farrell protested against the Carr Government
decision to remove the Governor of New South Wales from Government House
in 1996 and attended the rally held against it held in front of Parliament House. He affirmed this during debate in parliament:
On 14 December 1998, State Opposition Leader Kerry Chikarovski
appointed O'Farrell Shadow Minister for Small Business and Information Technology. When his seat of Northcott was abolished in a pre-election redistribution, O'Farrell decided to contest the seat of Ku-ring-gai
, which had been vacated by the sitting member, Stephen O'Doherty
, who had moved to contest the seat of Hornsby
following the redistribution. O'Farrell was elected at the March 1999 election
, gaining 56.3% of the primary vote and 70.03% after preferences. When Ron Phillips was defeated at the election, thereby vacating the Deputy Leadership, O'Farrell stood for the position and was elected on 31 March 1999. Chikarovski then appointed him on 19 April 1999 to the senior role of Shadow Minister for Transport, dropping Small Business. At the failed 1999 Republic Referendum
, O'Farrell voted no, and reaffirmed his refusal to support any proposal that he thinks would be less effective than the current system of Constitutional Monarchy
. He represented Northcott until its abolition on 26 March 1999.
In a further Shadow Cabinet reshuffle on 4 January 2002, O'Farrell lost Information Technology and became Shadow Minister for Innovation. However, when John Brogden deposed Chikarovski as Leader on 28 March 2002, O'Farrell also lost the Deputy Leadership 11 votes to 9 to Chris Hartcher
. O'Farrell then lost his Shadow portfolios. However, on 1 September 2002, Brogden appointed him as Shadow Minister for Education and Training and Shadow Special Minister of State.
Following the March 2003 State election
loss, at which he was re-elected with an increased 61.11% and 71.60% of the two-party preferred vote, O'Farrell successfully contested the deputy's position, replacing Hartcher. Brogden then appointed him on 8 April 2003 as Shadow Minister for Health, dropping his Education portfolio. 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
. Debnam then appointed him as Shadow Leader of the House, Shadow Minister for Transport and Shadow Minister for Waterways on 20 March 2006. In a November reshuffle, he was dropped from Transport and Waterways and given the senior position of Shadow Treasurer.
After the Liberals were defeated in the March 2007 state election, O'Farrell announced his intention to challenge Debnam for party leadership, and on 4 April 2007, O'Farrell was elected unopposed as New South Wales Liberal Leader, with Jillian Skinner
becoming Deputy Leader. He later appointed himself Shadow minister for Western Sydney.
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. 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.
In 2008, the O'Farrell lead successful by-election campaigns in Lakemba, Ryde, and Cabramatta where the Coalition recorded the largest by-election swing against Labor in its history. The Liberals achieved a swing of 22.7% in Cabramatta and 13% in Lakemba. Ryde, once a safe Labor seat, was won by O'Farrell's Liberals, with a swing of 23.1%.
On 2 September 2009, in the wake of Health Minister John Della Bosca
's resignation following an affair, 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.
O'Farrell's fortunes rose in June 2010, when the Liberal Party candidate, Stuart Ayres
, won the Penrith by-election
with a swing of 25%. The by-election was caused by the resignation of Karyn Paluzzano
after she admitted to lying to the ICAC about abusing her parliamentary expenses. O'Farrell stated that "What we've seen this evening is the Liberal Party win its first seat in Western Sydney in 20 years...It demonstrates once and for all that Labor does not have a lock on Western Sydney".
In August 2010, independent MP and Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore
introduced the Adoption Amendment (Same Sex Couples) Bill as a private member's bill, which, among other things, had the purpose of giving same-sex couples the right to adopt as a couple instead of as individuals. Both O'Farrell and Premier Kristina Keneally
allowed a conscience vote on the bill. While initially reluctant to express his opinion, for fear of influencing a change in votes from colleagues, during the parliamentary debate O'Farrell supported the reforms: "I support this measure today ... for the sake of children but also because I don't believe our society should exclude because of gender, sexuality, faith, background or some other factor, people who have a contribution they can make...That's not the free and confident society I seek." The bill was subsequently passed by the Legislative Assembly by 46 votes to 44.
In late 2010, following the government announcement of the sale of NSW's electricity assets, O'Farrell called for a judicial inquiry into the matter. After rejecting a judicial inquiry, Premier Kristina Keneally shut down or 'prorogued' Parliament early to try to stop a parliamentary inquiry announced by O'Farrell. O'Farrell maintained pressure on the issue over the Christmas/New Year period arguing the public had a right to know whether fair price had been achieved, why eight directors had resigned over the sale and what impact the sale would have on power bills. On 6 January, Keneally bowed to pressure and agreed to attend an inquiry she had earlier called "unconstitutional". On 1 February 2011, O'Farrell became the fourth longest-serving Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party, after Sir Robert Askin
, Nick Greiner
and Sir Vernon Treatt
.
On the eve of the 2011 election, ABC radio reported that NSW Labor could be facing "the biggest loss in Australian political history", with the state-wide swing predicted at between 16 and 18 per cent. Asked to define himself ideologically O'Farrell told the ABC:
During the campaign in the lead-up to the 26 March 2011 election
, O'Farrell focused on the policies of health, planning, government expenditure and longevity as well as the reputation and the ability of the incumbent Labor government to deliver. Polling indicated a large Coalition victory. The final Newspoll saw a two-party-preferred
figure of 64.1 percent for the Coalition and 35.9 percent for the Labor Party. O'Farrell went on to lead the Coalition to win the election in a landslide with a swing of over 16%, the highest for a general election in Australia since World War II. The Liberal Party achieved an overall gain of 27 seats, while the National Party gained 5 seats, thereby achieving an overall majority in the Legislative Assembly of 45 seats. In his own seat of Ku-ring-gai, O'Farrell achieved 72.7% of the primary vote, 87% after preferences, for an overall majority of 37%, making his own seat the safest in the state.
on 28 March 2011. The ministry was sworn-in not long after on 3 April 2011 at a formal ceremony at Government House
by the Lieutenant Governor
, James Spigelman
. Upon taking office, O'Farrell, in a gesture of financial accountability and efficiency, reduced the size of the Premier's personal staff and moved the office from Governor Macquarie tower back to the historic Premier's office within Parliament House.
Following the swearing in of cabinet, on 4 April O'Farrell announced a "100 Day Action Plan", outlining the agenda of his government for his first one hundred days in office. One of O'Farrell's first moves was to rein in public expenditure by capping public service wage increases at 2.5% a year and
by abolishing the 'unattached list' for public servants that had been set up by the Carr Government that paid wages to staff with no permanent position because they would not allow forced redundancies. The new Government also enshrined the independence of the public service by the establishing of an independent Public Service Commission, to implement structural reform, chaired by former federal department head Dr. Peter Shergold
.
O'Farrell also fulfilled his election promise to repeal the controversial powers granted under part 3A of the Planning and Assessment Act that allowed the government to over-ride decisions by local councils about major developments. Another aspect was the creation of Infrastructure NSW
, which is to decide upon which infrastructure projects take precedence, funding requirements and overall delivery. O'Farrell then appointed former Liberal Premier Nick Greiner
as its Chairman.
On 13 May 2011 the O'Farrell Government moved to retrospectively change commercial contracts relating to the NSW Solar Rebate scheme that saw households paid a gross feed in tariff of 60 cents a kilowatt hour. Without compensation, the rebate tariff would have been reduced by 33% to 40 cents a kilowatt hour from 1 July 2011 through to the conclusion of the scheme in 2016. However, when the Legislative Council made it clear that they would not agree to roll the bonus back, the government conceded, but announced that they would no longer promote such schemes.
On October 7, 2011 O'Farrell announced the Governor of New South Wales Marie Bashir
would live in Government House, fifteen years after Bob Carr's decision to not have the Governor live there, arguing "that's what it was built for".
While working for Bruce Baird
in Sydney, O'Farrell met Rosemary Cowan, the personal assistant to Baird and daughter of former National Party
State and Federal MP Bruce Cowan
. They married in late 1992 and had two sons. O'Farrell and his family reside within his electorate at Roseville
. In April 2008, O'Farrell and his elder son walked the Kokoda Track.
Having been a member of Parliament for over 15 years, O'Farrell has been involved in various local organisations including Ku-ring-gai Amateur Swimming Club, the Ku-ring-gai Historical Society and as an honorary Member of the Rotary Club of Wahroonga
. O'Farrell is also the Vice Patron of the NSW Branch of the RSPCA
and the Sir David Martin Foundation
.
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, (born 24 May 1959) is an Australian politician and is the 43rd Premier of New South Wales, Minister for Western Sydney, Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party
Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party
The position of leader of the Liberal Party of Australia's New South Wales division is a formal role held by a Liberal member of the Parliament of New South Wales...
and a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
representing Ku-ring-gai
Electoral district of Ku-ring-gai
Ku-ring-gai is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by the current Premier of New South Wales, Barry O'Farrell of the Liberal Party of Australia, since 1999.-Electorate History:...
for the Liberal Party since 1999.
Born in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1959, O'Farrell moved with his family to Darwin in the Northern Territory, where he finished his education at St John’s College. In 1975 O'Farrell moved to Canberra to study at the Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
, where he gained a Bachelor of Arts. After serving as a party staffer and electorate officer for the Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
, O'Farrell was elected as the State Director of the New South Wales Liberal Party from 1992 to 1995.
At the March 1995 New South Wales state election
New South Wales state election, 1995
Elections to the 51st Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday 25 March 1995. All seats in the Legislative Assembly and half the seats in the Legislative Council were up for election. The minority Liberal Party of Australia-led Coalition government of Premier John Fahey was defeated by...
, O'Farrell stood for and was elected to the seat of Northcott
Electoral district of Northcott
Northcott was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales between 1968 and 1999.It was named after Sir John Northcott who served as Governor of New South Wales from 1 August 1946 to 1 August 1957...
in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
. Since 1999, he currently serves as the member for the electoral district of Ku-ring-gai. After serving several years in various Shadow Ministries and as Deputy Leader from 1999 to 2002 and from 2003, in April 2007, following the resignation of party Leader Peter Debnam
Peter Debnam
Peter John Debnam , is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Vaucluse between 1994 and 2011. Debnam is a former Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Western Sydney,...
, O'Farrell was elected as the Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party and consequently as Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition (New South Wales)
The role of the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in New South Wales is a title held by the leader of the largest minority party in the state lower house, the New South Wales Legislative Assembly...
, before becoming Premier in a landslide at the 2011 election
New South Wales state election, 2011
Elections to the 55th Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday, 26 March 2011. The 16-year incumbent Australian Labor Party government led by Premier Kristina Keneally was defeated in a landslide by the Liberal-National coalition opposition led by Barry O'Farrell.New South Wales has...
.
Early life and background
The youngest of three children, Barry Robert O'Farrell was born to Kevin and Mae O'Farrell in the Royal Women's HospitalRoyal Women's Hospital, Melbourne
The Royal Women's Hospital, located in the Melbourne suburb of Parkville, is Australia's largest specialist women's hospital, offering a full range of services in maternity, gynaecology, neonatal care and women's health. It also offers complementary services such as social work, physiotherapy and...
, Melbourne, in 1959. He is descended from poor Irish
Irish Australian
Irish Australians have played a long and enduring part in Australia's history. Many came to Australia in the eighteenth century as settlers or as convicts, and contributed to Australia's development in many different areas....
immigrants who arrived in Victoria in the 1860s; and his paternal grandfather was an officer in the Victoria Police Force
Victoria Police
Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of Victoria, Australia. , the Victoria Police has over 12,190 sworn members, along with over 400 recruits, reservists and Protective Service Officers, and over 2,900 civilian staff across 393 police stations.-Early history:The Victoria Police...
in Ballarat. Spending his early years in North Melbourne
North Melbourne, Victoria
North Melbourne is a large inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. It is bounded by the CityLink freeway to the west, Victoria Street to the south, O'Connell and Peel Streets to the east and Flemington Road to the north. Its...
, he moved with his family to various places around Australia; his father was in the Australian Army, having joined up during the Second World War in 1943, and having been later part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force
British Commonwealth Occupation Force
The British Commonwealth Occupation Force , was the name of the joint Australian, Canadian, British, Indian and New Zealand military forces in occupied Japan, from 21 February 1946 until the end of occupation in 1952...
in Japan. The O'Farrells moved to Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
during his adolescence and he finished his education at St John's College
St John's College, Darwin
St. John's College is a private Catholic secondary school based on the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart traditions. It is located in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, on Salonika Street. It is a co-educational college for day and boarding students...
.
In 1975 O'Farrell began studying at the Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
in Canberra, residing at Ursula College
Ursula Hall
Ursula Hall is a fully catered undergraduate and postgraduate residential hall of The Australian National University. Its residents are drawn primarily from rural and regional Australia and from overseas.-History:...
. During his second year of study, he was elected President of the Ursula College Student Council. In 1980 he received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Australian history
History of Australia
The History of Australia refers to the history of the area and people of Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding Indigenous and colonial societies. Aboriginal Australians are believed to have first arrived on the Australian mainland by boat from the Indonesian archipelago between 40,000 to...
, politics and Indigenous studies
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
and has cited Professor Manning Clark
Manning Clark
Charles Manning Hope Clark, AC , an Australian historian, was the author of the best-known general history of Australia, his six-volume A History of Australia, published between 1962 and 1987...
and Don Baker as major influences on his thinking.
After briefly serving John Moore
John Moore (Australian politician)
John Colinton Moore AO is a former Australian politician. He was a Liberal member of the House of Representatives for over 25 years, and a minister from 1980 to 1982 and 1996 to 2001....
in the Department of Consumer Affairs
Treasury Portfolio
In Australia, the Treasury Portfolio refers to the eleven organisations that nominally fall under the auspices of the Australian Treasurer. The agencies undertake a range of activities aimed at achieving strong sustainable economic growth and the improved well-being of Australians...
, O'Farrell became a member of the Liberal Party that same year, and worked in the offices of two South Australian Senators, Tony Messner
Tony Messner
Anthony John Messner AO is a former Australian politician and minister.Messner was born in Melbourne and educated at a state primary school in Queensland, Pulteney Grammar School, Adelaide and the South Australian Institute of Technology.Messner was elected as a Senator for South Australia at the...
and Gordon Davidson
Gordon Davidson (Australian politician)
Gordon Sinclair Davidson was an Australian politician. He was a grazier and church administrator before entering politics. In 1961, he was appointed to the Australian Senate as a Liberal Senator for South Australia, filling the casual vacancy caused by the death of Rex Pearson...
.
When John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
became Leader of the Opposition in 1985, his chief of staff, Gerard Henderson
Gerard Henderson
Gerard Henderson is a conservative Australian newspaper columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald.. He is also Executive Director of the Sydney Institute, a privately funded current affairs forum. His wife Anne Henderson is Deputy Director.-Education:Henderson attended the Jesuit Xavier College in...
, hired O'Farrell as a staffer. In 1988, O'Farrell came to Sydney to be Chief of Staff for Bruce Baird
Bruce Baird
Bruce George Baird, AM , is a former Australian politician.-Early life:Baird was born in Sydney, and was educated at the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne, holding a master's degree in business administration from the latter...
, a cabinet minister in the New South Wales government. Four years later, with Baird's backing, O'Farrell defeated Tony Abbott
Tony Abbott
Anthony John "Tony" Abbott is the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives and federal leader of the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott has represented the seat of Warringah since the 1994 by-election...
to become the State Director of the New South Wales Liberal Party. O'Farrell held this position until 1995, when Baird resigned his seat to move to federal politics.
Member of Parliament
O'Farrell accepted the opportunity created by Baird's departure and was preselected and subsequently elected to Baird's seat of NorthcottElectoral district of Northcott
Northcott was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales between 1968 and 1999.It was named after Sir John Northcott who served as Governor of New South Wales from 1 August 1946 to 1 August 1957...
on 25 March 1995 at the 1995 election
New South Wales state election, 1995
Elections to the 51st Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday 25 March 1995. All seats in the Legislative Assembly and half the seats in the Legislative Council were up for election. The minority Liberal Party of Australia-led Coalition government of Premier John Fahey was defeated by...
with 60.05% of the primary vote, 68.63% after preferences. As the Member for Northcott, O'Farrell protested against the Carr Government
Bob Carr
Robert John "Bob" Carr , Australian statesman, was Premier of New South Wales from 4 April 1995 to 3 August 2005. He holds the record for the longest continuous service as premier of NSW...
decision to remove the Governor of New South Wales from Government House
Government House, Sydney
Government House is located in Sydney, Australia alongside the Royal Botanic Gardens, overlooking Sydney Harbour, just south of the Sydney Opera House...
in 1996 and attended the rally held against it held in front of Parliament House. He affirmed this during debate in parliament:
On 14 December 1998, State Opposition Leader Kerry Chikarovski
Kerry Chikarovski
Kerry Anne Chikarovski was leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. She served as Leader of the Opposition between 1998 and 2002....
appointed O'Farrell Shadow Minister for Small Business and Information Technology. When his seat of Northcott was abolished in a pre-election redistribution, O'Farrell decided to contest the seat of Ku-ring-gai
Electoral district of Ku-ring-gai
Ku-ring-gai is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by the current Premier of New South Wales, Barry O'Farrell of the Liberal Party of Australia, since 1999.-Electorate History:...
, which had been vacated by the sitting member, Stephen O'Doherty
Stephen O'Doherty
Stephen Mark O'Doherty is a former Australian politician and member of the Liberal Party of Australia.O'Doherty was born in Melbourne and educated at Carlingford High School, a public school in the north-western suburbs of Sydney. He received a B.A...
, who had moved to contest the seat of Hornsby
Electoral district of Hornsby
Hornsby is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. Hornsby is one of two post-1927 electorates to have never been held by the Labor party and always by the Liberals, a predecessor party to the Liberals, or an independent, the other such district...
following the redistribution. O'Farrell was elected at the March 1999 election
New South Wales state election, 1999
Elections to the 52nd Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday, 27 March 1999. All seats in the Legislative Assembly and half the seats in the Legislative Council were up for election...
, gaining 56.3% of the primary vote and 70.03% after preferences. When Ron Phillips was defeated at the election, thereby vacating the Deputy Leadership, O'Farrell stood for the position and was elected on 31 March 1999. Chikarovski then appointed him on 19 April 1999 to the senior role of Shadow Minister for Transport, dropping Small Business. At the failed 1999 Republic Referendum
Australian republic referendum, 1999
The Australian republic referendum held on 6 November 1999 was a two-question referendum to amend the Constitution of Australia. The first question asked whether Australia should become a republic with a President appointed by Parliament following a bi-partisan appointment model which had...
, O'Farrell voted no, and reaffirmed his refusal to support any proposal that he thinks would be less effective than the current system of Constitutional Monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...
. He represented Northcott until its abolition on 26 March 1999.
In a further Shadow Cabinet reshuffle on 4 January 2002, O'Farrell lost Information Technology and became Shadow Minister for Innovation. However, when John Brogden deposed Chikarovski as Leader on 28 March 2002, O'Farrell also lost the Deputy Leadership 11 votes to 9 to Chris Hartcher
Chris Hartcher
Christopher "Chris" Peter Hartcher MP , an Australian politician, is the New South Wales Minister for Resources and Energy, Special Minister of State and Minister for the Central Coast in the O'Farrell-Stoner Liberal/National coalitition government...
. O'Farrell then lost his Shadow portfolios. However, on 1 September 2002, Brogden appointed him as Shadow Minister for Education and Training and Shadow Special Minister of State.
Following the March 2003 State election
New South Wales state election, 2003
Elections to the 53rd Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday 22 March 2003. All seats in the Legislative Assembly and half the seats in the Legislative Council were up for election...
loss, at which he was re-elected with an increased 61.11% and 71.60% of the two-party preferred vote, O'Farrell successfully contested the deputy's position, replacing Hartcher. Brogden then appointed him on 8 April 2003 as Shadow Minister for Health, dropping his Education portfolio. 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
Peter Debnam
Peter John Debnam , is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Vaucluse between 1994 and 2011. Debnam is a former Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Western Sydney,...
. Debnam then appointed him as Shadow Leader of the House, Shadow Minister for Transport and Shadow Minister for Waterways on 20 March 2006. In a November reshuffle, he was dropped from Transport and Waterways and given the senior position of Shadow Treasurer.
Leader of the Opposition
Jillian Skinner
Jillian Gell Skinner MP , an Australian politician, is the New South Wales Minister for Health and Minister for Medical Research in the O'Farrell-Stoner Liberal/National coalitition government...
becoming Deputy Leader. He later appointed himself Shadow minister for Western Sydney.
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. In June 2008, Newspoll reported that O'Farrell led Morris Iemma
Morris Iemma
Morris Iemma , is a former Australian politician and 40th Premier of New South Wales, succeeding Bob Carr after he resigned on 3 August 2005. Iemma led the Australian Labor Party to victory in the 2007 election before resigning as Premier on 5 September 2008, and as a Member of Parliament on 19...
in the preferred premier stakes – the first time any NSW Opposition Leader had led an incumbent Premier since May 1992.
In 2008, the O'Farrell lead successful by-election campaigns in Lakemba, Ryde, and Cabramatta where the Coalition recorded the largest by-election swing against Labor in its history. The Liberals achieved a swing of 22.7% in Cabramatta and 13% in Lakemba. Ryde, once a safe Labor seat, was won by O'Farrell's Liberals, with a swing of 23.1%.
On 2 September 2009, in the wake of Health Minister John Della Bosca
John Della Bosca
John Joseph Della Bosca is a former Australian politician, representing the Australian Labor Party in the New South Wales Legislative Council...
's resignation following an affair, O'Farrell introduced a Motion of no confidence
Motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence is a parliamentary motion whose passing would demonstrate to the head of state that the elected parliament no longer has confidence in the appointed government.-Overview:Typically, when a parliament passes a vote of no...
on the Premier Nathan Rees
Nathan Rees
Nathan Rees MP, , an Australian politician, was the 41st Premier of New South Wales and parliamentary leader of the New South Wales division of the Australian Labor Party from September 2008 to December 2009...
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.
O'Farrell's fortunes rose in June 2010, when the Liberal Party candidate, Stuart Ayres
Stuart Ayres
Stuart Ayres MP is an Australian politician. He is a Liberal Party of Australia Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since 19 June 2010, representing the electorate of Penrith.-Private life:...
, won the Penrith by-election
Penrith state by-election, 2010
A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Penrith on 19 June 2010. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of sitting member and Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Training Karyn Paluzzano, who had lied to an Independent Commission Against...
with a swing of 25%. The by-election was caused by the resignation of Karyn Paluzzano
Karyn Paluzzano
Karyn Lesley Paluzzano is a former Australian politician. She was an Australian Labor Party Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 2003 to 2010, representing the electorate of Penrith.-Private life:...
after she admitted to lying to the ICAC about abusing her parliamentary expenses. O'Farrell stated that "What we've seen this evening is the Liberal Party win its first seat in Western Sydney in 20 years...It demonstrates once and for all that Labor does not have a lock on Western Sydney".
In August 2010, independent MP and Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore
Clover Moore
Clover Moore , is an Australian politician, the Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney and an independent member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the electorate of Sydney. Moore is the first publicly elected female Lord Mayor of Sydney. Prior to the 2007 NSW state election, she...
introduced the Adoption Amendment (Same Sex Couples) Bill as a private member's bill, which, among other things, had the purpose of giving same-sex couples the right to adopt as a couple instead of as individuals. Both O'Farrell and Premier Kristina Keneally
Kristina Keneally
Kristina Kerscher Keneally MP, is an Australian politician and was the 42nd Premier of New South Wales. She was elected leader of the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales and thus Premier in 2009, but went on to lose government to the Liberal/National Coalition at the March 2011 state election...
allowed a conscience vote on the bill. While initially reluctant to express his opinion, for fear of influencing a change in votes from colleagues, during the parliamentary debate O'Farrell supported the reforms: "I support this measure today ... for the sake of children but also because I don't believe our society should exclude because of gender, sexuality, faith, background or some other factor, people who have a contribution they can make...That's not the free and confident society I seek." The bill was subsequently passed by the Legislative Assembly by 46 votes to 44.
In late 2010, following the government announcement of the sale of NSW's electricity assets, O'Farrell called for a judicial inquiry into the matter. After rejecting a judicial inquiry, Premier Kristina Keneally shut down or 'prorogued' Parliament early to try to stop a parliamentary inquiry announced by O'Farrell. O'Farrell maintained pressure on the issue over the Christmas/New Year period arguing the public had a right to know whether fair price had been achieved, why eight directors had resigned over the sale and what impact the sale would have on power bills. On 6 January, Keneally bowed to pressure and agreed to attend an inquiry she had earlier called "unconstitutional". On 1 February 2011, O'Farrell became the fourth longest-serving Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party, after Sir Robert Askin
Robert Askin
Sir Robert William Askin GCMG, was an Australian politician and the 32nd Premier of New South Wales from 1965 to 1975, the first representing the Liberal Party of Australia. He was born in 1907 as Robin William Askin, but always disliked his first name and changed it by deed poll in 1971...
, Nick Greiner
Nick Greiner
Nicholas "Nick" Frank Hugo Greiner AC, is an Australian businessman and former politician. He was the 37th Premier New South Wales from 1988 to 1992. He was Leader of the New South Wales Division of the Liberal Party from 1983 to 1992 and Leader of the Opposition from 1983 to 1988. He is married...
and Sir Vernon Treatt
Vernon Treatt
Sir Vernon Haddon Treatt KBE, MM, QC was an Australian lawyer, soldier, Rhodes Scholar and politician. Born in Singleton, New South Wales and educated at Shore School, Treatt interrupted his studies at the University of Sydney to enlist at the outbreak of the First World War...
.
On the eve of the 2011 election, ABC radio reported that NSW Labor could be facing "the biggest loss in Australian political history", with the state-wide swing predicted at between 16 and 18 per cent. Asked to define himself ideologically O'Farrell told the ABC:
During the campaign in the lead-up to the 26 March 2011 election
New South Wales state election, 2011
Elections to the 55th Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday, 26 March 2011. The 16-year incumbent Australian Labor Party government led by Premier Kristina Keneally was defeated in a landslide by the Liberal-National coalition opposition led by Barry O'Farrell.New South Wales has...
, O'Farrell focused on the policies of health, planning, government expenditure and longevity as well as the reputation and the ability of the incumbent Labor government to deliver. Polling indicated a large Coalition victory. The final Newspoll saw a two-party-preferred
Two-party-preferred vote
In politics, the two-party-preferred vote , or two-candidate-preferred vote , in an election or opinion poll uses preferential voting to express the electoral result after the distribution of preferences...
figure of 64.1 percent for the Coalition and 35.9 percent for the Labor Party. O'Farrell went on to lead the Coalition to win the election in a landslide with a swing of over 16%, the highest for a general election in Australia since World War II. The Liberal Party achieved an overall gain of 27 seats, while the National Party gained 5 seats, thereby achieving an overall majority in the Legislative Assembly of 45 seats. In his own seat of Ku-ring-gai, O'Farrell achieved 72.7% of the primary vote, 87% after preferences, for an overall majority of 37%, making his own seat the safest in the state.
Premier of New South Wales
O'Farrell was sworn in as Premier by the Governor of New South Wales, Marie BashirMarie Bashir
Marie Roslyn Bashir AC, CVO is the present Governor of New South Wales since 2001 and also the Chancellor of the University of Sydney since 2007. Born in Narrandera, New South Wales, Bashir graduated from the University of Sydney in 1956 and held various medical positions, with a particular...
on 28 March 2011. The ministry was sworn-in not long after on 3 April 2011 at a formal ceremony at Government House
Government House, Sydney
Government House is located in Sydney, Australia alongside the Royal Botanic Gardens, overlooking Sydney Harbour, just south of the Sydney Opera House...
by the Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales
The Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales is a government position in the state of New South Wales, Australia, acting as a deputy to the Governor of New South Wales....
, James Spigelman
James Spigelman
James Jacob Spigelman AC QC is a former Australian judge. He served as Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales from 19 May 1998 until 31 May 2011.-Early years and education:...
. Upon taking office, O'Farrell, in a gesture of financial accountability and efficiency, reduced the size of the Premier's personal staff and moved the office from Governor Macquarie tower back to the historic Premier's office within Parliament House.
Following the swearing in of cabinet, on 4 April O'Farrell announced a "100 Day Action Plan", outlining the agenda of his government for his first one hundred days in office. One of O'Farrell's first moves was to rein in public expenditure by capping public service wage increases at 2.5% a year and
by abolishing the 'unattached list' for public servants that had been set up by the Carr Government that paid wages to staff with no permanent position because they would not allow forced redundancies. The new Government also enshrined the independence of the public service by the establishing of an independent Public Service Commission, to implement structural reform, chaired by former federal department head Dr. Peter Shergold
Peter Shergold
Peter Roger Shergold AC is an Australian academic and former public servant. Until February 2008, he was the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet , and as such was the nation's most senior public servant and a key adviser to the Prime Minister of Australia...
.
O'Farrell also fulfilled his election promise to repeal the controversial powers granted under part 3A of the Planning and Assessment Act that allowed the government to over-ride decisions by local councils about major developments. Another aspect was the creation of Infrastructure NSW
Infrastructure NSW
Infrastructure NSW was created by incoming New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell in 2011. The aim of the agency is to manage the delivery of state infrastructure projects. In May, O'Farrell appointed former Liberal Premier Nick Greiner as Chairman, and in June, Paul Broad was appointed as the...
, which is to decide upon which infrastructure projects take precedence, funding requirements and overall delivery. O'Farrell then appointed former Liberal Premier Nick Greiner
Nick Greiner
Nicholas "Nick" Frank Hugo Greiner AC, is an Australian businessman and former politician. He was the 37th Premier New South Wales from 1988 to 1992. He was Leader of the New South Wales Division of the Liberal Party from 1983 to 1992 and Leader of the Opposition from 1983 to 1988. He is married...
as its Chairman.
On 13 May 2011 the O'Farrell Government moved to retrospectively change commercial contracts relating to the NSW Solar Rebate scheme that saw households paid a gross feed in tariff of 60 cents a kilowatt hour. Without compensation, the rebate tariff would have been reduced by 33% to 40 cents a kilowatt hour from 1 July 2011 through to the conclusion of the scheme in 2016. However, when the Legislative Council made it clear that they would not agree to roll the bonus back, the government conceded, but announced that they would no longer promote such schemes.
On October 7, 2011 O'Farrell announced the Governor of New South Wales Marie Bashir
Marie Bashir
Marie Roslyn Bashir AC, CVO is the present Governor of New South Wales since 2001 and also the Chancellor of the University of Sydney since 2007. Born in Narrandera, New South Wales, Bashir graduated from the University of Sydney in 1956 and held various medical positions, with a particular...
would live in Government House, fifteen years after Bob Carr's decision to not have the Governor live there, arguing "that's what it was built for".
Personal and community life
While working in Canberra O'Farrell became involved with a Liberal staffer. When he moved to Sydney in 1988, she joined him, and they married in the same year. They divorced within a year and O'Farrell maintains the privacy of his former wife.While working for Bruce Baird
Bruce Baird
Bruce George Baird, AM , is a former Australian politician.-Early life:Baird was born in Sydney, and was educated at the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne, holding a master's degree in business administration from the latter...
in Sydney, O'Farrell met Rosemary Cowan, the personal assistant to Baird and daughter of former National Party
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
State and Federal MP Bruce Cowan
Bruce Cowan
David Bruce Cowan, AM was an Australian politician and Minister of the Crown in the cabinets of Tom Lewis and Sir Eric Willis...
. They married in late 1992 and had two sons. O'Farrell and his family reside within his electorate at Roseville
Roseville, New South Wales
Roseville is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Roseville is located north-west of the Sydney central business district and sits across the local government areas of Ku-ring-gai and Willoughby...
. In April 2008, O'Farrell and his elder son walked the Kokoda Track.
Having been a member of Parliament for over 15 years, O'Farrell has been involved in various local organisations including Ku-ring-gai Amateur Swimming Club, the Ku-ring-gai Historical Society and as an honorary Member of the Rotary Club of Wahroonga
Wahroonga, New South Wales
Wahroonga is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wahroonga is located 22 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council and Hornsby Shire....
. O'Farrell is also the Vice Patron of the NSW Branch of the RSPCA
RSPCA Australia
RSPCA Australia is an Australian organisation that promotes animal welfare. It is funded in part by the Australian Government but relies on corporate sponsorship, fundraising events and voluntary donations for its income.RSPCA Australia defines its purpose as being the leading authority in animal...
and the Sir David Martin Foundation
David Martin (Governor)
-Honours:-External links:...
.