Jonathan O'Dea

Jonathan O'Dea
MP
Member of the New South Wales Parliament
for Davidson
Assumed office
24 March 2007
Preceded by Andrew Humpherson
Majority 36.5 points (2011)[1]
Personal details
Born (1966-03-09) 9 March 1966
Sydney
Political party Liberal Party of Australia
Spouse(s) Jacqueline O'Dea
Alma mater University of Sydney
Occupation Financial manager
Website Parliamentary webpage

Jonathan Richard O'Dea MP (born 9 March 1966), an Australian politician, is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Davidson for the Liberal Party of Australia since 2007.[2]

Early life

O'Dea was born in Sydney in 1966 to Michael and Marianne O'Dea, one of nine brothers and sisters.[3] He was educated on the North Shore of Sydney at St Aloysius College and St Ignatius' College, Riverview,[4] and attended the University of Sydney where he gained a Bachelor of Arts (BA), a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and a Master of Laws (LLM). He has also undertaken further studies and was awarded a Graduate Diploma of Legal Studies and a Master of Business Administration (MBA). He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD).[2] While at university, O'Dea was the Vice-President of the University of Sydney Students' Representative Council between 1986 and 1987.[4]

Admitted as a solicitor, O'Dea practiced for five years before moving into commercial and senior management roles. He joined the Liberal Party in 1994, serving in numerous capacities,[4] and was elected as a Councillor on North Sydney Council from 1991 until 1995.

In addition to his regular work, from 1995 to 2009 he was a non-executive board director with the private health insurer HCF. From 2000 to 2004, O'Dea also served part-time as Deputy Convenor for the Australian Classification Review Board.[4]

Political career

In 2005 O'Dea was the general manager of the Crown Insurance Group and a director with HCF and was named as a potential candidate for the seat of Pittwater, following the resignation of the sitting member and Opposition leader, John Brogden.[5] However, O'Dea did not stand in the subsequent by-election and Pittwater fell to Alex McTaggart, running as an independent candidate.[6]

In a Liberal Party preselection battle before the 2007 state election, O'Dea defeated the sitting member for Davidson, Andrew Humpherson.[7] Humpherson had cross-factional backing among many delegates, but had lost support in local branches after reportedly instructing party members to quit branches supportive of O'Dea, thereby reducing their voting power. Despite Humpherson having the support of the Party Leader, Peter Debnam, O'Dea won the vote 54 votes to 52 and Humpherson chose to not re-contest the election.[7] In March 2007, O'Dea was elected to Parliament with a majority of 24.7 points. In June 2007, he was appointed a member of the Committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).[2] From 2008 in Opposition, O'Dea served as the chair of the NSW Coalition WasteWatch Committee. In 2011 he was elected Chair of the crucial cross-party Public Accounts Committee of the NSW Parliament.[8]

In September 2009, O'Dea was accused in a local newspaper, the Manly Daily, of failing to adequately represent his constituents, by Ku Ring Gai Councillor Tony Hall, who urged O'Dea to "get off his backside" and lobby New South Wales Planning Minister Kristina Keneally to protect the area from excessive development. O'Dea responded, defending his record: "Along with (Opposition Leader and MP for Ku-ring-gai) Barry O’Farrell I have fought long and hard against inappropriate planning and overdevelopment...in the past 12 months I have taken part in 30 formal meetings with authorities and community representatives regarding Ku-ring-gai planning matters, three involved the planning minister and community representatives".[9]

On 18 October 2010, the Liberal Party announced that O'Dea had been endorsed as the party's candidate for Davidson ahead of the 2011 State election.[10] O'Dea was elected with a swing of 13.8 per cent and won the seat with 86.5 per cent of the vote on a two party preferred basis.[1] His main competitor was Labor's Mathew Gilliland.

Before the 2015 State election, O'Dea was ranked the most responsive MP in NSW by the 'FairGo' organisation for the parliamentary term. After another resounding election win at the election on 28 March 2015, O'Dea was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism and Major Events.

Personal life

O'Dea resides in the suburb of Lindfield with his wife Jacqueline and their four children.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 Green, Antony (5 April 2011). "Davidson". NSW Votes 2011 (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Mr Jonathan Richard O'Dea, BA, LLM, MBA MP". Members of the NSW Legislative Assembly. Parliament of New South Wales. 28 April 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  3. ↑ "Inaugural speech of the Member for Davidson". Hansard – Legislative Assembly of New South Wales. Parliament of New South Wales. 30 May 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "About Jonathan". Jonathan O'Dea. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
  5. ↑ "Police to investigate Brogden suicide note leak". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). 2 October 2005.
  6. ↑ "Liberals lose Brogden's seat". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). 26 November 2005.
  7. 1 2 "Humpherson loses preselection". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 4 November 2006. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
  8. ↑ "Jonathan O'Dea, Member for Davidson". Members of Parliament. Liberal Party of Australia. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  9. ↑ "MP defends his record". Manly Daily (News Limited). 25 September 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  10. ↑ "Liberal Party Endorses Jonathan O'Dea for Davidson". NSW candidates 2011. Liberal Party of Australia. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2010.

External links

Parliament of New South Wales
Preceded by
Andrew Humpherson		 Member for Davidson
2007 – present 		Incumbent
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, November 30, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.