Neil O'Sullivan
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Sir Neil O'Sullivan | |
|---|---|
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| Attorney-General of Australia | |
| In office 15 August 1956 – 12 October 1958 | |
| Prime Minister | Robert Menzies |
| Preceded by | John Spicer |
| Succeeded by | Garfield Barwick |
| Leader of the Government in the Senate | |
| In office 21 February 1950 – 8 December 1958 | |
| Leader | Robert Menzies |
| Preceded by | Bill Ashley |
| Succeeded by | Bill Spooner |
| Minister for the Navy | |
| In office 11 January 1956 – 24 October 1956 | |
| Prime Minister | Robert Menzies |
| Preceded by | Eric Harrison |
| Succeeded by | Charles Davidson |
| Minister for Trade and Customs | |
| In office 19 December 1949 – 11 January 1956 | |
| Prime Minister | Robert Menzies |
| Preceded by | Ben Courtice |
| Succeeded by | John McEwen |
| Senator for Queensland | |
| In office 1 July 1947 – 30 June 1962 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 2 August 1900 Toowong, Queensland, Australia |
| Died | 4 July 1968 (aged 67) Sydney, Australia |
| Party | UAP (to 1945) Liberal (from 1945) |
| Spouse |
Jessie McEncroe (m. 1929) |
| Relations | Patrick O'Sullivan (grandfather) Thomas O'Sullivan (uncle) Neil MacGroarty (uncle) |
| Occupation | Solicitor |
Sir Michael Neil O'Sullivan KBE (2 August 1900 – 4 July 1968) was an Australian politician and lawyer. He served as a Senator for Queensland from 1947 to 1962, representing the Liberal Party. He held senior ministerial positions in the post-war Menzies Government, serving as Minister for Trade and Customs (1949–56), Minister for the Navy (1956), and Attorney-General (1956–58).
O'Sullivan was born on 2 August 1900 in Toowong, Queensland.[1] He was the fifth child born to Patrick Alban O'Sullivan and his wife Mary Bridget (née Macgroarty), both of Irish Catholic descent. His uncles Thomas O'Sullivan and Neil MacGroarty served in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, as did his paternal grandfather Patrick O'Sullivan.[2]
O'Sullivan attended the state school in Taringa before completing his education at St. Joseph's Nudgee College. He followed his father into the legal profession, serving articles of clerkship with firms in Brisbane and Warwick. He did not attend law school but was admitted as a solicitor in December 1922 by examination.[3] He subsequently took over his father's practice in Brisbane, later forming a partnership with John Joseph Rowell.[2]
Regarded as "a leader of Brisbane's mercantile sector", O'Sullivan was president of the Brisbane Chamber of Commerce from 1936 to 1937 and the Property Owners' Protection Association from 1937 to 1938.[3] He served in the Royal Australian Air Force from May 1942 to December 1944, performing intelligence and administration in Australia and the South-West Pacific.[2] He was commissioned as a flying officer and met future prime minister John Gorton while stationed at Milne Bay.[3]
