Ted O'Brien (Australian politician)

Edward Lynam "Ted" O'Brien (born 7 May 1974) is an Australian politician. He has been the Coalition (Australia) member for Fairfax in the Australian House of Representatives since being elected at the 2016 federal election.^[1]

O'Brien won the seat in the 2016 election, after having lost it to Clive Palmer by only 53 votes in the 2013 election.^[1] For most of the 44th Parliament, constituents in Fairfax had come to O'Brien for help, since Palmer was all but invisible there. Indeed, O'Brien claimed that many residents considered him to be their de facto MP.^[2]

O'Brien had been anticipating a rematch against Palmer in 2016, but Palmer announced he would not seek reelection. Fairfax has historically been a comfortably safe LNP seat in a "traditional" two-party matchup (Labor vs. Liberal/LNP); the LNP would have picked up a healthy five-percent swing in a traditional two-party contest in 2013. Palmer's retirement thus made O'Brien favourite to retake the seat for the LNP.^[1] He had previously run as the Liberal challenger in Brisbane in 2007, losing to Labor incumbent Arch Bevis.

Before politics

O'Brien has over 20 years experience in business, commencing his career in the family business, Defiance Mills. During his teenage years and young adulthood, he worked for Defiance from the shop floor as a trainee baker, and he ultimately progressed through to senior management in Australia and throughout Asia; spending several years in Taiwan as Country Manager expanding the business. He then worked for Australia’s rice industry, focusing on international negotiations with a particular focus on Japan and market entry work across various Asian markets that were looking to enter the World Trade Organisation, including Greater China.

O'Brien spent over 10 years with global consulting giant, Accenture. He started with the firm’s Strategy Consulting division in Sydney, leading service delivery for clients in the communications and high technology sectors before being promoted to roles managing the firm’s larger and more complex international deals. His final posting with Accenture was as Director of Growth & Strategy for the Asia Pacific and Emerging Markets - responsible for corporate strategy, mergers & acquisitions and mega deals based out of Beijing.

Politics

On returning to Australia, O'Brien became Managing Director of Australia’s fastest growing government relations firm – Barton Deakin Qld — before being endorsed by the Coalition to contest the 2013 Federal election in the seat of Fairfax, where he was narrowly beaten by 53 votes by Clive Palmer, making Division of Fairfax the most marginal seat in Australia’s 44th Parliament of Australia.

O'Brien started his own advisory practice on the Sunshine Coast delivering over 50% of his services pro-bono to local community groups and charities, then went on to contest and win the seat of Fairfax at the 2016 election.^[3]

O'Brien is a well known community leader and philanthropist, with a focus on rebuilding and strengthening civil society. He established Generation Innovation^[4] to connect budding young entrepreneurs with the marketplace, helping to create new businesses and support young people on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.

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