Llew O'Brien

Llewellyn Stephen O'Brien (born 26 June 1972) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2016 federal election, representing the Division of Wide Bay. He has been deputy speaker of the House since February 2020. He is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) and sits with the Nationals in federal parliament.[1]

For other people with similar names, see Lewis O'Brien (disambiguation).

Llew O'Brien

MP
Deputy Speaker of the House
Assumed office
10 February 2020
Preceded byKevin Hogan
Member of Parliament
for Wide Bay
Assumed office
2 July 2016
Preceded byWarren Truss
Personal details
Born (1972-06-26) 26 June 1972
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Political partyLiberal National
Other political
affiliations		Nationals (parliamentary)
Spouse(s)Sharon O'Brien
OccupationPolice officer
AwardsQueensland Police Service Medal
Websitehttp://llewobrien.com.au

Police career
O'Brien receiving the 15 year clasp to the QPS Medal for ethical and diligent service, April 2015

Prior to his election, O'Brien served as a police officer. He joined the Queensland Police in 1999.[2] In his first speech in Parliament he spoke of his own decade long experience of living with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder brought about while serving as a traffic accident investigator.[3] In December 2013, O'Brien was accused of having misused police resources[4] for political purposes.[5][6] He was investigated and faced managerial action, but was cleared of the allegations by Queensland Police.[7]

O'Brien has received both State and National medals for his Police service between 1999 and 2016. In 2010 he was awarded the Queensland Police Service Medal. In 2011 he was awarded the Queensland Flood and Cyclone Citation. In April 2015 he was awarded a 15-year clasp to the Queensland Police Service Medal. In 2016 he was awarded both the National Police Service Medal and the National Medal for ethical and diligent service.[2]

Political career

O'Brien became a member of the National Party of Queensland in 2006, and joined the Liberal National Party of Queensland upon its formation in 2008. He has served in many roles within the parties, including Vice President, Regional Chairman, State Executive, Branch Chairman and Campaign Chairman.[8]

After the retirement announcement of long serving Member of Wide Bay and Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss, O'Brien was preselected for the 2016 federal election and won the seat.[9] He has served on the Joint Standing Committees for the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity; and Law Enforcement; as well as the House of Representatives Standing Committees for Indigenous Affairs; and Infrastructure, Transport and Cities.[2] In 2016, O'Brien was also appointed as the Queensland Chair of the Federal Government's Black Spot Advisory Panel for 2016/17 by Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester.[10]

See also: 2020 National Party of Australia leadership spill

In February 2020, O'Brien moved a spill motion for Barnaby Joyce to challenge Michael McCormack for leadership of the National Party. The challenge failed, and on 10 February O'Brien announced that he would no longer sit in the Nationals party room, but would remain a member of the LNP and continue to support the Morrison government.[1] O'Brien was subsequently elected as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, having been nominated unexpectedly by the Opposition against the Government's nominated choice, Damian Drum.[11]

O'Brien rejoined the Nationals partyroom on 7 December 2020.[12]

References
  1. Doran, Matthew; Borys, Stephanie (3 February 2020). "Barnaby Joyce backer Llew O'Brien quits Nationals party room". ABC News. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  2. "Mr Llew O'Brien MP". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Wide Bay LNP member 'misused police resources'". Sunshine Coast Daily. 13 January 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  5. "Queensland State Election: LNP member accessed police information". Brisbanetimes.com.au. 12 January 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  6. Joshua Robertson (14 January 2015). "Nine things you probably didn't know about the Queensland election". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  7. Medhora, Shalailah (10 April 2016). "LNP official cleared by police over preselection stoush to replace Warren Truss". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  8. Remeikis, Amy (10 April 2016). "LNP's O'Brien preselected for Wide Bay". Brisbane Times.
  9. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/warren-truss-from-bean-farmer-to-deputy-pm--and-now-retirement/news-story/c3396e03f0867c20de8cc6cf73ec59bd (registration required)
  10. "Llew O'Brien appointed as chair of black spot panel". Fraser Coast Chronicle. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  11. Doran, Matthew; Borys, Stephanie (10 February 2020). "Barnaby Joyce backer Llew O'Brien quits Nationals party room only to win a shock promotion". ABC News. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  12. Murphy, Jamieson (7 December 2020). "Rebel Nationals MP Llew O'Brien rejoins party after 10-month sabbatical". FarmOnline. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
Warren Truss		 Member for Wide Bay
2016–present		 Incumbent
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