Jonathan O’Dea doesn’t believe in doing things by halves. At 43, he is not only on to his third career, but is juggling his role as the Liberal Member for Davidson with being a father to four school-age boys.
“It keeps me busy enough but at least I get to come home every night,” the Lindfield resident said. “I would hate to be a federal politician in Canberra for a third of the year and on the road for another third. I would hate to be away so much from my home and my family.”
Born and bred on the North Shore, since being elected in 2007, Mr O’Dea has served on the Legislative Assembly of NSW, the Committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and opposition chairman of the NSW Waste Watch Committee.
It might sound daunting, but it is all part of a day’s work for Mr O’Dea, whose life also has to fit around that of his lawyer wife, Jacquiline. “I just love it,” he said. “It’s so rewarding and so important to be part of the wider community rather than just living a more narrow personal existence.”
Growing up in Wollstonecraft as one of eight children, he attended St Aloysius College and St Ignatius College before completing a law degree at the University of Sydney. He served as the vice-president of the student representative council alongside student president Joe Hockey.
Almost 10 years later, after working as a commercial lawyer and on the HCF and Australian Classification Review boards, he entered politics as a local councillor at North Sydney.
In 2007, he defeated long-standing member Andrew Humpherson for the seat of Davidson, an area spanning from Belrose and Oxford Falls to Lindfield and parts of Killara.
“It’s really like servicing two separate electorates, which can be quite frustrating because it means a lot of the work you do on one side of the electorate, the other side doesn’t really see,” he said. “It means you have to work twice as hard.”
And while time off is rare and spent either perfecting his backhand at the local tennis courts or undertaking the parental run of weekend children’s activities, he said having a say in the local community had its rewards.
“One of the great things about this area is that people often rise above themselves and want what’s best for the state,” he said. “People aren’t as parochial as you’d expect. They want the state well-managed, not just by political hacks.”
And while he has not yet been allocated a portfolio, he hopes that day will soon come.
“In politics, there’s always an element of serving your time, of doing your apprenticeship and gaining respect,” he said. “So much of politics is about perseverance, both in getting there and, when you’re on the stage, in fighting for causes and getting results. You’ve got to be patient.”
Nonetheless, he admitted patience has its limits. “I’m not going anywhere in a hurry, but at the same time, I’m not going to do this forever,” he said. “Spending four years in opposition makes you appreciate things more but you don’t want to spend more than one term there. Four years is long enough.”
