Michael Ignatius O'Keefe (28 September 1864 – 2 October 1926) was an Australian politician who served in the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart. The Assembly has 25 m ...

from 1912 until his death, representing the Labor Party. O'Keefe was born in Selbourne, near

Westbury, Tasmania Westbury is a town in the central north of Tasmania, Australia. It lies 30 km west of Launceston on the Bass Highway, and at the had a population of 2,272. It is part of, and the headquarters of, the Meander Valley Council area. Westbu ...

. He married Beatrice Dutton in 1896, and had four children. Before entering politics, he worked as a miner at Beaconsfield and Gormanston. He was a branch secretary of the Amalgamated Miners' Association. O'Keefe was elected to parliament at the 1912 state election, as one of the members for

Wilmot Wilmot may refer to: Places Australia *Division of Wilmot, an abolished Australian Electoral Division in Tasmania * Wilmot, Tasmania, a locality in the North-West Region Canada *Wilmot, Nova Scotia, an unincorporated rural community and former t ...

. When Labor won the 1925 election, he was elected

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

. On 15 July 1926, O'Keefe suffered severe injuries when the car in which he was travelling collided with a goods train near

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

. He lingered for several months before dying in Beaconsfield on 2 October. Future prime minister

Joseph Lyons Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the 10th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He began his career in the Australian Labor Party (ALP), ...

was also injured in the crash.

References

1864 births 1926 deaths Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Speakers of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Road incident deaths in Tasmania Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Tasmania Colony of Tasmania people {{Australia-Labor-politician-stub