John Sullivan

John William Sullivan (born 7 February 1929) is an Australian former politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1974 to 1977, holding the New South Wales seat of Riverina for the National Country Party. He later served in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1980 to 1981.

Early life Sullivan was born on 7 February 1929 in Narrandera, New South Wales. His father Bill Sullivan was a local schoolteacher.

Sullivan was educated at Narrandera High School and St Patrick's College, Goulburn. He resigned from the army in February 1974 with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.

At the 1974 federal election, Sullivan won Riverina from the incumbent Labor MP Al Grassby, the immigration minister in the Whitlam government. He presented himself as a "hard-line, no-nonsense" candidate, in one television advertisement stating "after 26 years in the Army, including service in Korea, Malaya and Vietnam, I find the country falling into the hands of bludgers and drop-outs".

In his maiden speech, Sullivan attracted attention for his comments on welfare dependency. He condemned what he described as "handouts" to Indigenous Australians, which he said were discriminatory against white Australians. Sullivan was re-elected at the 1975 election, by which time his party had been renamed the National Country Party. He served on the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence from 1976 to 1977.

State politics Sullivan stood unsuccessfully for the NCP in Murrumbidgee at the 1978 New South Wales state election. He later served as the member for Sturt in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from February to August 1981, winning the 1981 by-election caused by Tim Fischer's resignation to contest the 1980 by-election for the federal seat of Murray.

Sullivan was elected to the Narrandera Shire Council in 2004. He served as mayor of Narrandera from 2007 to 2008.

Personal life In 1955, Sullivan married Mollie O'Sullivan, with whom he had two sons and two daughters.