Jonathan O'Dea

Jonathan Richard O'Dea MP (born 9 March 1966), an Australian politician, is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Davidson for the Liberal Party of Australia since 2007.

O'Dea was born in Sydney in 1966 to Michael and Marianne O'Dea, one of nine brothers and sisters. He was educated on the North Shore of Sydney at St Aloysius College and St Ignatius' College, Riverview, and attended the University of Sydney where he gained a Bachelor of Arts (BA), a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and a Master of Laws (LLM). He has also undertaken further studies and was awarded a Graduate Diploma of Legal Studies and a Master of Business Administration (MBA). He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD). While at university, O'Dea was the Vice-President of the University of Sydney Students' Representative Council between 1986 and 1987.

Admitted as a solicitor, O'Dea practiced for five years before moving into commercial and senior management roles. He joined the Liberal Party in 1994, serving in numerous capacities, and was elected as a Councillor on North Sydney Council from 1991 until 1995.

In addition to his regular work, from 1995 to 2009 he was a non-executive board director with the private health insurer HCF. From 2000 to 2004, O'Dea also served part-time as Deputy Convenor for the Australian Classification Review Board.

In 2005 O'Dea was the general manager of the Crown Insurance Group and a director with HCF and was named as a potential candidate for the seat of Pittwater, following the resignation of the sitting member and Opposition leader, John Brogden. However, O'Dea did not stand in the subsequent by-election and Pittwater fell to Alex McTaggart, running as an independent candidate.

In a Liberal Party preselection battle before the 2007 state election, O'Dea defeated the sitting member for Davidson, Andrew Humpherson. Humpherson had cross-factional backing among many delegates, but had lost support in local branches after reportedly instructing party members to quit branches supportive of O'Dea, thereby reducing their voting power. Despite Humpherson having the support of the Party Leader, Peter Debnam, O'Dea won the vote 54 votes to 52 and Humpherson chose to not re-contest the election. In March 2007, O'Dea was elected to Parliament with a majority of 24.7 points. In June 2007, he was appointed a member of the Committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). From 2008 in Opposition, O'Dea served as the chair of the NSW Coalition WasteWatch Committee. In 2011 he was elected Chair of the crucial cross-party Public Accounts Committee of the NSW Parliament.

On 18 October 2010, the Liberal Party announced that O'Dea had been endorsed as the party's candidate for Davidson ahead of the 2011 State election. O'Dea was elected with a swing of 13.8 per cent and won the seat with 86.5 per cent of the vote on a two party preferred basis. His main competitor was Labor's Mathew Gilliland.

Before the 2015 State election, O'Dea was ranked the most responsive MP in NSW by the 'FairGo' organisation for the parliamentary term (as he had been for the previous term of Parliament). After another resounding election win at the election on 28 March 2015, O'Dea was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism and Major Events. In April 2016, Premier Baird conferred the additional title of Parliamentary Secretary for Trade and Investment.

O'Dea resides in the suburb of Lindfield with his wife Jacqueline and their four children.