Matt O'Sullivan

Matthew Anthony O'Sullivan (born 11 December 1978) is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Australian Senate since 2019.

For other people with similar names, see Matthew O'Sullivan.

Senator
Matt O'Sullivan
Senator for Western Australia
Assumed office
1 July 2019
Personal details
Born (1978-12-11) 11 December 1978
Mount Lawley, Western Australia
Political partyLiberal
SpouseMontanique O'Sullivan
Children2
ResidenceAubin Grove
Websitehttps://senatormattosullivan.com.au/

Early life

O'Sullivan was born on 11 December 1978 in Mount Lawley, Western Australia. He completed a TAFE certificate in electronics and communications at Midland and subsequently worked as an electronic technician with fleet management provider TerraVision from 1996 to 1999.[1] In his maiden speech to parliament he stated that he had installed the passenger information system for the Perth Central Area Transit (CAT) bus network.[2]

O'Sullivan worked as a Christian youth leader from 2000 to 2007, initially with the Perth Christian Life Centre and then with Garden City Christian Church.[1] He was later associated with the evangelical Nations Church.[3] O'Sullivan began working for mining billionaire Andrew Forrest's Minderoo Foundation in 2008, and at the time of his election was chief operating officer of Forrest's indigenous youth employment scheme GenerationOne.[4][5]

Politics

O'Sullivan was the Liberal Party's candidate in Burt at the 2016 federal election, at which point he was living in Aubin Grove. He won preselection after the original ballot was overturned by the party's state council.[6] He was president of the party's Jandakot branch from 2017 to 2019.[1]

O'Sullivan was elected to the Senate at the 2019 federal election from the marginal third position on the Liberal ticket, after winning a close and contentious Liberal preselection contest.[7][5] In his first speech to parliament in July 2019, he argued for the extension of the Forrest-backed Cashless Welfare Card across Australia and for a major overhaul of the federal employment services system, including replacing unnecessary Jobactive appointments with online reporting.[8][9] In October 2019, he claimed at a Senate inquiry into the Robodebt scheme that the label was a "misnomer".[10]

Education and employment have been themes during his time at the Senate, serving on Senate Legislative and General Purpose Standing Committee for Education and Employment, including as its Deputy Chair from mid 2022.[11][12]

In November 2019, he became a member of a new cross-party parliamentary working group into indigenous constitutional recognition and a "voice to government".[13] He is known to be supportive of regional Voice models.[14]

Along with Labor Party MP, David Smith, O'Sullivan is a convener Parliamentary Christian Fellowship.[15] Politically, he has been described as part of the National Right grouping in the Liberal Party.[16]

Personal life

O'Sullivan and his wife Montanique live in the southern suburbs of Perth, where they raise their two children Amy and Samuel.[17]

References
  1. "Senator Matt O'Sullivan". Parliament of Australia.
  2. "First speech". Hansard. Parliament of Australia. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  3. "WA churches with Liberal links win grants of almost $40,000 in four months - Churches win funding through program that allocates grants only to organisations formally invited by local federal MP". The Guardian. 24 February 2020.
  4. "Senator Matt O'Sullivan". Liberal Party of Australia. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  5. "Western Australia". The Poll Bludger. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  6. Wearne, Phoebe (26 April 2016). "Liberals have faith in youth worker for Burt campaign". The West Australian. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  7. Curtis, Katina (18 June 2019). "Queensland, South Australian and West Australian Senate teams finalised". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  8. "WA Liberal urges major job program reform". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. 30 July 2019.
  9. "Jobactive desperately needs reform, says Liberal senator". The Canberra Times. 31 July 2019.
  10. "Calling debt recovery scheme 'robodebt' causes anxiety, Coalition MP claims - Liberal senator admonishes representatives from community legal centres for using the term at inquiry". The Guardian. 4 October 2019.
  11. corporateName=Commonwealth Parliament; address=Parliament House, Canberra. "Senator Matt O'Sullivan". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 26 February 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. "We're hopeless at school discipline. And it shows". Daily Telegraph. 23 January 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  13. "Spread of MPs for minister's 'voice' working party". The Australian. 29 November 2019.
  14. Ruben, Emma (19 January 2023). "Voice to Parliament: Where do the Liberals stand?". National Indigenous Times.
  15. "15 October 2022 - Salvos Magazine by The Salvation Army - Issuu". issuu.com. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  16. Massola, James (20 March 2021). "Who's who in the Liberals' left, right and centre factions?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  17. Blom, Amy (30 March 2016). "O'Sullivan favourite for Burt". Your Local Examiner. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
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