Barry O'Farrell

rdf:langString Barry O'Farrell

rdf:langString Barry O'Farrell

rdf:langString Barry O'Farrell

rdf:langString Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

rdf:langString Barry Robert O'Farrell

rdf:langString New South Wales

rdf:langString Harinder Sidhu

rdf:langString Rosemary Cowan

rdf:langString Constituency abolished

rdf:langString This Honorary Doctorate from a renowned university honours the relationship between the people of NSW and the people of Lebanon, as much as it does any individual. It is therefore particularly humbling to receive it. I sincerely hope that my current visit to Lebanon conveys the high esteem in which the Government and people of NSW hold the Lebanese community, and reflects my desire to foster an even closer and more productive relationship, including in the field of education.

rdf:langString Barry Robert O'Farrell AO (born 24 May 1959) is a former Australian politician who has been Australia's High Commissioner to India and non-resident Ambassador to Bhutan since May 2020. O'Farrell was the 43rd Premier of New South Wales and Minister for Western Sydney from 2011 to 2014. He was the Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party from 2007 to 2014, and was a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1995 to 2015, representing Northcott until 1999 and representing Ku-ring-gai on the Upper North Shore of Sydney from 1999 to 2015. He is currently President and Independent Board Chair of Diabetes Australia, Chair of the Wests Tigers Rugby League Football Club and CEO of Racing Australia Ltd. Born in Melbourne, his father's Army career saw O'Farrell and his family move around Australia, ending up in Darwin in the Northern Territory. In 1977 O'Farrell moved to Canberra to study at the Australian National University, where he gained a Bachelor of Arts. O'Farrell started his career as a graduate trainee in the Australian Public Service in Canberra. O'Farrell served as the State Director of the party in New South Wales from 1992 to 1995. At the 1995 New South Wales election, O'Farrell was elected to the safe Liberal seat of Northcott in northern Sydney. Following the seat's abolition in the 1998 redistribution he secured selection for the equally safe seat of Ku-ring-gai in 1999 and held it until 2015. O'Farrell joined the Shadow Ministry in 1998 and served two periods as Deputy Leader (1999–2002 and 2003–2007). Following the Liberal-Nationals' defeat at the 2007 state election (their fourth in a row), O'Farrell challenged Peter Debnam for the Liberal leadership. Debnam withdrew from the contest on the day of the ballot and O'Farrell was elected unopposed as the Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party and consequently as Leader of the Opposition. He became Premier in a landslide at the 2011 election, winning the largest majority government in New South Wales history. On 16 April 2014, O'Farrell announced his intention to resign as party leader and NSW Premier as well as Minister for Western Sydney after misleading a New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) investigation. ICAC subsequently found "that there was no intention on Mr O'Farrell's part to mislead". He formally resigned on 17 April as Liberal Party leader and on 24 November 2014, O'Farrell announced his intention not to stand for re-election at the 2015 NSW election.

rdf:langString Barry Robert O'Farrell