12 Facts About Mick O'Halloran

Michael Raphael O'Halloran was an Australian politician, representing the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party.

Mick O'Halloran served as Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of South Australia and in the Australian Senate.

Mick O'Halloran joined the ALP at 15 and was first elected to the South Australian House of Assembly Electoral district of Burra Burra at the 1918 election.

Mick O'Halloran lost the seat at the 1921 election, but regained it at the 1924 election.

Mick O'Halloran made an astute move in 1924 by marrying Mary Frances Rowe on 14 August 1924.

Mick O'Halloran served as the Deputy Opposition Leader in the Senate from 1932 until his defeat at the 1934 federal election.

An eccentric, Mick O'Halloran forbade any Labor people to enter Frome, let alone campaign there, and it became known as his personal fiefdom.

Mick O'Halloran had a very good working relationship with Playford, which would be unthinkable in today's climate of adversarial politics.

Mick O'Halloran, meanwhile, realised that with the Playmander in place, Labor had little chance of winning office in its own right.

For example, Mick O'Halloran had eagerly sought to obtain a papal audience for many years, but had been informed that only Heads of State could be given such an audience.

Similarly, Don Dunstan recalled an incident during the 1953 election campaign when Mick O'Halloran arrived at a public meeting intoxicated, and had to be led away quietly before he fell over.

Mick O'Halloran was still Opposition Leader when he died suddenly of a pulmonary embolism in Adelaide.