Frank O'Neill was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

  for a single term between 1953 and 1956. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 (ALP).

O'Neill was born in Newcastle, New South Wales

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

 and was the son of a postmaster. He was educated at Sydney Boys High School

Sydney Boys High School

Sydney Boys High School is an academically selective public secondary school for boys, located in the City of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, with 1,180 students, from years 7 to 12...

 and worked as a clerk in the New South Wales Public Service. O'Neill joined the Labor Party at an early age and, as a member of the Socialization Units, was an opponent of the leadership of Jack Lang

Jack Lang (Australian politician)

John Thomas Lang , usually referred to as J.T. Lang during his career, and familiarly known as "Jack" and nicknamed "The Big Fella" was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales for two terms...

 in the 1930s. He was the president of Robert Heffron's

Robert Heffron

Robert James "Bob" Heffron was one of the longest-serving New South Wales state parliamentarians. He was the Australian Labor Party Premier of New South Wales from 28 October 1959, to 30 April 1964.-Early years:...

 breakaway Industrial Labor Party

Industrial Labor Party

The Industrial Labor Party or Heffron Labor Party was a political party active in New South Wales, Australia, between 1938 and 1939. It was a splinter group of the Australian Labor Party and was formed by Bob Heffron after he and Carlo Lazzarini attempted to depose the party leader Jack Lang...

 in 1938-39 and became a member of the Labor Party's executive when the Industrial Party rejoined the official party in 1939. O'Neill was elected to parliament as the Labor member for Georges River

Electoral district of Georges River

Georges River was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales from 1930 to 2007. It was replaced by Oatley.-Members for Georges River:-Election results:...

 at the 1953

New South Wales state election, 1953

The 1953 New South Wales state election was held on 14 February 1953. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1952 redistribution...

 state election. The incumbent Labor member member Arthur Williams

Arthur Williams (Australian politician)

Arthur John Leonard Williams was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1940 until 1956. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party ....

 left Georges River, which was traditionally a Liberal seat, to contest the safer seat of East Hills

Electoral district of East Hills

East Hills is a state electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is represented by Glenn Brookes of the Liberal Party of Australia.-Members for East Hills:-Election results:...

. The 1953 election saw Labor make significant gains in marginal seats. At the next election, in 1956

New South Wales state election, 1956

The 1956 New South Wales state election was held on 3 March 1956. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1952 redistribution...

, Labor's vote dropped because of divisions within the federal Labor Party and the formation of the DLP

Democratic Labor Party (historical)

The Democratic Labor Party was an Australian political party that existed from 1955 until 1978.-History:The DLP was formed as a result of a split in the Australian Labor Party that began in 1954. The split was between the party's national leadership, under the then party leader Dr H.V...

. As a result, O'Neill lost the seat to the Liberal party's Douglas Cross

Douglas Cross

Douglas Donald Cross was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1948 until 1953 and from 1956 until his death . He was a member of the Liberal Party of Australia....

and retired from public life. He did not hold party, parliamentary or ministerial office.