Paul Osborne

Paul Osborne was a professional Rugby League football-player and member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly from 1995 until 2001.

Osborne grew up in Hurlstone Park, New South Wales and was educated at Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham. He was formerly a police detective and member of the St George rugby league team between 1985 - 1991 and the Canberra Raiders rugby league team between 1992 - 1994 which won the NSWRL premiership in 1994. For the first of his two terms he ran as an independent proper; for the 1998 ACT election, he formed the Osborne Independents, and both he and Dave Rugendyke winning seats in the Assembly.

Chief Minister Kate Carnell, from the Liberal Party, formed a minority government with Osborne's support in both 1995 and 1998. In 1998 he introduced an anti abortion bill, requiring that more information be provided to women considering the procedure and that there be a 72-hour cooling-off period. This move, while consistent with his Catholic beliefs, damaged his popularity among the suburban voters who had been his chief supporters. (Abortion was decriminalised and the legislation repealed in 2001.)

In 2000 he voted against the budget in a successful attempt to stop the opening of a supervised injecting room. Although the injecting room had the support of a majority of the Assembly members, Osborne's support was needed to approve the funding in the budget. A new budget without funding for the injecting room was presented to the Assembly soon after and it passed with Osborne's support.

In 2000 the opposition moved a no-confidence motion against Carnell over the redevelopment of Bruce Stadium (now Canberra Stadium), which it alleges is one of several issues she mismanaged. Osborne supported the motion, effectively bringing down her government. Carnell resigned and Deputy Chief Minister Gary Humphries took over.

2001 election onwards

In 2001 he and Rugendyke again ran under the ticket. They were joined by prominent former Canberra Raiders captain Mal Meninga, who withdrew from the election in an infamous local radio interview, halfway through answering a question. That, coupled with a local shift to more left-wing politics, opposition to his abortion laws, waning popularity (perhaps due to the length of time since he was a sportsman) ensured that not any of the candidates under the Paul Osborne Independents banner were elected.

In July 2004, the Canberra Times claimed that he was considering running for that year's ACT election with the Liberal Party, however it did not eventuate. He worked as community-relations officer for the Raiders for a time after leaving politics.

In 2005, he was appointed as the CEO of the National Rugby League's Player Manager Accreditation Program. He can also be heard each weekend in his role as a match day commentator on the ABC's Rugby League coverage.

He is married to Sally and they have 9 children.

References

[http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/03/aug/3/12.html Conversation with Paul Osborne]