Victor Bruce Sullivan (7 December 1918 – 29 January 1993) was a member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

Biography

Sullivan was born in Launceston, Tasmania, the son of James Bruce Sullivan and his wife Julia Ellen (née Brown). He was educated at

Downlands College Downlands College, officially named Downlands Sacred Heart College, is a private, Primary school, secondary, coeducational, day and boarding school at Harlaxton in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. Founded by the Missionaries of the Sacred H ...

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

and on leaving school became a grain, beef, pork, and lamb farmer. He served in the

Second Australian Imperial Force The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initial strength of one ...

as an attachment to the U.S. forces and was engaged in the movement of troops and supplies in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

.Motion of Condolence
–

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official printe ...

. Retrieved 14 May 2016. On 8 April 1948 Sullivan married Gwenneth Joan Becker and together had a two sons and a daughter. His daughter died in 1970 in an automobile accident. He died from a heart attack while surfing at

Caloundra Caloundra ( ) is a coastal town in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the town of Caloundra had a population of 96,305 people. Geography Caloundra is north of the Brisbane central business district. Caloundra is acce ...

in January 1993.

Public career

At the

1960 Queensland state election Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 28 May 1960 to elect the 78 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The election followed the enactment of the ''Electoral Districts Act 1958'', which increased the Assembly from ...

, Sullivan won the seat of Condamine for the Country Party, defeating the sitting member, Les Diplock of the

Queensland Labor Party The Queensland Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (State of Queensland) and commonly referred to as Queensland Labor or simply Labor, is the branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the state of Queensland. It has ...

. He had a long career in the Queensland Parliament and retired at the

1983 Queensland state election Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 22 October 1983 to elect the 82 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The election resulted in a sixth consecutive term of office for the National Party under Joh Bjelke-Pete ...

. In July 1982 he and fellow

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

member and ministerial colleague,

Ken Tomkins Kenneth Burgoyne Tomkins (14 September 1917 – 20 July 1990) was a politician in Queensland, Australia. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Politics Ken Tomkins was a member of the Bungil Shire Council from 1949 to 1967 an ...

, were involved in a scandal that came to be known as the Melbidir affair. They were on a tour in the government vessel the ''Melbidir'' to examine the conditions of Aboriginal communities in the Torres Strait islands when they were photographed from a plane flying overhead leisurely fishing from the vessel. Both men were reluctantly forced to resign from cabinet with Sullivan sitting on the back bench for the rest of his political career. Sullivan didn't mind a drink and during the motion of condolence for him in the parliament in 1993, Tom Burns, the then

Deputy Premier of Queensland The deputy premier of Queensland is a role in the Government of Queensland assigned to a Individual ministerial responsibility, responsible Minister in the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland. It has second rankin ...

, reminisced about the time Sullivan fell asleep while giving a speech in the parliament. At one stage he was mooted to take over as

Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is appointed ...

from

Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005) was an Australian politician and farmer who served as premier of Queensland between 1968 and 1987, for almost 20 years, as state leader of the National Party (earlier known as the C ...

and served as the Acting Premier when both the Premier and Deputy Premier were overseas in 1982. He held several portfolios in the ministry including: * Minister for Lands and Forests 1968–1972 * Minister for Primary Industries 1972–1974 * Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries 1974–1975 * Minister for Primary Industries 1975–1980 * Minister for Mines and Energy 1980 * Minister for Commerce and Industry 1980–1982

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Victor Bruce Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1918 births 1993 deaths National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Queensland 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Army personnel of World War II People educated at Downlands College