Ted O'Brien

Edward Lynam O'Brien (born 7 May 1974) is an Australian politician who served as the deputy leader of the Opposition from 2025 to 2026. He held office as the deputy leader of the Liberal Party under Sussan Ley and has been the member of Parliament (MP) for the Queensland division of Fairfax since 2016. Prior to entering politics, he was a businessman and lobbyist, serving as chairman of the Australian Republic Movement from 2005 until 2007.

Early life O'Brien was born on 7 May 1974 in Brisbane, Queensland. He is the youngest of nine children and one of seven sons born to Tom and Bernice O'Brien. His father's family were the founders of the Defiance Flour Mill in Toowoomba. The mill evolved into "a well-known Queensland business dynasty in flour manufacturing" and O'Brien's first job was as a trainee baker.

O'Brien holds degrees from the University of Queensland (Bachelor of Arts), London School of Economics (Master of Economics) and University of Melbourne (Master of Business Administration), and he studied Mandarin Chinese at the National Taiwan Normal University under an Asia Pacific Fellowship. O'Brien's first roles were with Defiance International, an offshoot of his family company, and he later worked with the Australian Ricegrowers' Cooperative and with Accenture, where he worked for over a decade, including Director of Growth and Strategy for the Asia Pacific and Emerging Markets, based out of Beijing. After returning to Australia he became the Queensland managing director of lobbying firm Barton Deakin. In 2014 he established his own consultancy firm, Ted O'Brien & Associates.

O'Brien served as chairman of the Australian Republican Movement from 2005 to 2007. O'Brien also served as chairman of the South-East Queensland branch of Ronald McDonald House Charities and on the board of the Queensland Catholic Education Advisory Board. He campaigned on the slogan "Time for Ted". O'Brien was the chairman of the Liberal National Party Futures Committee from 2011 to 2013. He faced a high-profile challenger at the 2013 federal election, with mining magnate Clive Palmer contesting Fairfax as the leader of his Palmer United Party. Following a recount, Palmer defeated O'Brien by 53 votes on the two-candidate-preferred vote.

During the term, O'Brien claimed that many residents had come to him for help after not being able to get help from Palmer, to the point that many of them considered him their MP.

Federal politics In May 2015, O'Brien again won LNP preselection for Fairfax. It was initially expected that Palmer would seek re-election in the same seat, but he eventually decided to leave federal politics. O'Brien subsequently regained Fairfax for the LNP at the 2016 federal election. and Chair of the Trade Sub-Committee.

From 5 June 2022 until the 2025 federal election, O'Brien served as the Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy. He lost his role of Shadow Treasurer, but was reappointed to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Political views O'Brien is an advocate of nuclear power. In 2019 he chaired a parliamentary inquiry into nuclear energy. O'Brien advocated for the nation-wide adoption of nuclear energy during the 2025 federal election.

In September 2020, O'Brien called for Australia to negotiate a free-trade agreement with Taiwan, citing similar agreements with New Zealand and Singapore.