Matt O'Sullivan (politician)

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Senator
Matt O'Sullivan
Senator for Western Australia
Assumed office
1 July 2019
Personal details
Born (1978-12-11) 11 December 1978 (age 43)
Mount Lawley, Western Australia
NationalityAustralian
Political partyLiberal

Matthew Anthony O'Sullivan (born 11 December 1978)[1] is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Australian Senate since 2019.

Prior to entering politics, O'Sullivan was a tradesman and then a youth worker. He 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.[2][3] He is associated with the Perth-based evangelical Nations Church.[4]

He 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.[5][3] 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.[6][7] In October 2019, he claimed at a Senate inquiry into the government's Robodebt scheme for pursuing alleged welfare debts that the label was a "misnomer".[8] In November 2019, he became a member of a new cross-party parliamentary working group into indigenous constitutional recognition and a "voice to government".[9]

References[]

  1. ^ "Senator Matt O'Sullivan". Parliament of Australia.
  2. ^ "Senator Matt O'Sullivan". Liberal Party of Australia. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Western Australia". The Poll Bludger. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ Curtis, Katina (18 June 2019). "Queensland, South Australian and West Australian Senate teams finalised". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  6. ^ "WA Liberal urges major job program reform". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. 30 July 2019.
  7. ^ "Jobactive desperately needs reform, says Liberal senator". The Canberra Times. 31 July 2019.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ "Spread of MPs for minister's 'voice' working party". The Australian. 29 November 2019.
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