David O'Brien (politician)

David Roland Joseph O'Brien (born 2 September 1970) is an Australian politician who represented the National Party in the Victorian Legislative Council.[1]

David O'Brien
Member of the Victorian Legislative Council for Western Victoria Region
In office
27 November 2010 – 29 November 2014
Personal details
Born (1970-09-02) 2 September 1970
Melbourne
Political partyNational Party
Alma materMonash University
OccupationBarrister, hotelier, farmer

Early life and education

O'Brien was born in Melbourne and educated at Sacred Heart Primary School, and then overseas at Marion Donaldson Elementary School (in Tucson, Arizona), Rygaards International School (in Copenhagen, Denmark) and Hendrik Louw School (in Strand, South Africa). He returned to Melbourne where he attended Xavier College, then studied law and economics at Monash University.

Prior to being elected to Parliament, he practised as a Barrister at the Supreme Court of Victoria and as a solicitor at King & Wood Mallesons. O'Brien has also been the licensee of the Penshurst Hotel and involved in primary production and live music.

Political career

O'Brien was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council as a Member for the Western Victoria Region at the 2010 election. Previously he was the unsuccessful Nationals candidate for the seat of South West Coast at the 2006 election. He is the only National to be elected to the upper house from Western Victoria since the changeover to the regional proportional representation system at the 2006 election.

O'Brien was the Deputy Leader of the Nationals in the Legislative Council, but lost his seat in 2014 to James Purcell, representing Vote 1 Local Jobs. Whilst in Parliament he served on the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee, the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee, the Family and Community Development Committee, the Accountability and Oversight Committee, the Legal and Social Issues Committee, the House Committee and in 2014 as chair of the Rural and Regional Committee. Prior to the 2014 election, O'Brien considered switching to the safe lower house seat of Lowan, which commentators views as a logical move to safeguard O'Brien's parliamentary career and position himself as a future party leader.[2] However, it is believed that the move was blocked by then-deputy leader Peter Walsh, who preferred to see the seat filled by a woman.

In September 2015, O'Brien was pre-selected by the National Party to contest the Polwarth state by-election following the resignation of the Liberal MP Terry Mulder.[3] He was unsuccessful.

References
  1. Sinnott, Alex (15 December 2010). "O'Brien's majority". The Warrnambool Standard. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  2. Sinnott, Alex (29 February 2020). "Nationals MP O'Brien tipped for Lowan". ABC News. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  3. Judd, Bridget (7 September 2015). "Victorian National Party to contest by-elections for seats of South-West Coast, Polwarth". ABC News. Retrieved 7 September 2015.


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