Barry Robert O'Farrell (born 24 May 1959) is an Australian former politician who was Australia's High Commissioner to India and non-resident Ambassador to Bhutan from February 2020 to 30 June 2023. 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 was President and Independent Board Chair of Diabetes Australia, Chair of the Wests Tigers Rugby League Football Club and CEO of Racing Australia Ltd until taking up his role in India.
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.
The youngest of three children, Barry Robert O'Farrell was born to Kevin and Mae O'Farrell in the Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne, on 24 May 1959. He is descended from Irish immigrants who arrived in Victoria in the 1860s; and his paternal grandfather was an officer in the Victoria Police Force in Ballarat. The O'Farrells moved to Darwin during his adolescence and he finished his high school education at St John's College.
In 1977 O'Farrell began studying at the Australian National University in Canberra, residing at Ursula College. During his second year of study, he was elected President of the Ursula College Student Association. In 1980 he received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Australian history, politics and Aboriginal studies and has cited Professor Manning Clark and Don Baker as major influences for his continuing interest in Australian history.
After serving as a graduate trainee in the Department of Business and Consumer Affairs, in 1980 O'Farrell joined the Liberal Party and worked in the offices of two South Australian Senators, Tony Messner and Gordon Davidson.
When John Howard became Leader of the Opposition in 1985, his chief of staff, Gerard Henderson, hired O'Farrell as a Sydney-based adviser. In May 1988, O'Farrell was employed as Chief of Staff for Bruce Baird, a cabinet minister in the New South Wales government. Four years later, O'Farrell and Tony Abbott sought appointment as the State Director of the New South Wales Liberal Party. O'Farrell succeeded and he held this position until 1995.
In 1994, O'Farrell was preselected to replace former Transport Minister and Deputy Liberal Leader, Bruce Baird, in the safe Liberal seat of Northcott and won the seat on 25 March 1995 at the 1995 election with 60.05% of the primary vote, 68.63% after preferences against Andrew Leigh, the Labor candidate who was elected in 2010 as the federal Member for Fraser.
O'Farrell gave his maiden speech in Parliament on 19 September 1995.
On 14 December 1998, State Opposition Leader Kerry Chikarovski appointed O'Farrell Shadow Minister for Small Business and Information Technology. When his seat of Northcott was abolished in the 1998 redistribution, O'Farrell decided to contest the equally safe seat of Ku-ring-gai, which had been vacated by the sitting member, Stephen O'Doherty, who had moved to contest the seat of Hornsby following the redistribution. O'Farrell represented Northcott until its abolition on 26 March 1999. His transfer bid was successful at the 1999 election, gaining 56.3% of the primary vote and 70.03% after preferences. When Ron Phillips was defeated at the election, thereby vacating the Deputy Leadership, O'Farrell stood for the position and was elected on 31 March 1999, defeating Chris Hartcher by one vote. Chikarovski then appointed him on 19 April 1999 to the senior role of Shadow Minister for Transport, dropping Small Business.
At the 1999 republic referendum, O'Farrell voted against the proposal for Australia to become a republic with a president elected by the Parliament of Australia. In 2007, referring to his vote, O'Farrell stated "I'm not going to buy something that I don't believe is a better deal".
In a further Shadow Cabinet reshuffle on 4 January 2002, O'Farrell lost Information Technology and became Shadow Minister for Innovation. However, when John Brogden deposed Chikarovski as Leader on 28 March 2002, O'Farrell also lost the Deputy Leadership, eleven votes to nine, to Chris Hartcher. O'Farrell was sacked from the shadow ministry but, on 1 September 2002, after six months on the backbench O'Farrell was appointed by Brogden as Shadow Minister for Education and Training and Shadow Special Minister of State.
Following the 2003 state election, O'Farrell was re-elected as the Member for Ku-ring-gai with 71.60% of the two-party vote, O'Farrell successfully contested the deputy's position, replacing Hartcher. Brogden then appointed him on 8 April 2003 as Shadow Minister for Health, dropping his Education portfolio.
After Brogden resigned as leader on 29 August 2005, Peter Debnam became leader when O'Farrell pulled out of the leadership race on the morning of the 1 September party vote. Debnam then appointed him as Shadow Leader of the House, Shadow Minister for Transport and Shadow Minister for Waterways on 20 March 2006. In a November reshuffle, O'Farrell was shifted to the senior position of Shadow Treasurer.
Leader of the Opposition (2007–2011)
After the Liberals were defeated in the 2007 state election, O'Farrell announced his intention to challenge Debnam for party leadership. When it was apparent that Debnam did not have enough support to keep his post, he opted not to recontest. This left O'Farrell to take the leadership unopposed, with shadow health minister Jillian Skinner as his deputy. He later appointed himself Shadow Minister for Western Sydney in the Shadow Ministry.
In June 2008, Newspoll reported that O'Farrell led Morris Iemma in the preferred premier stakes.