Bill D'Arcy

Who is Bill D'Arcy?

William Theodore "Bill" D'Arcy is a former Australian politician. He was the Labor member for Albert and Woodridge in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland.

D'Arcy was born in Brisbane. He worked as a teacher and business consultant before his entry into politics. He was first elected to parliament at the 1972 by-election for the seat of Albert following Liberal MLA Bill Heatley's death, but he was defeated at the 1974 election. He returned to the Assembly in 1977 as the member for the new seat of Woodridge. In 1987 he was appointed Opposition Spokesman on Tourism, Sport and Racing, and in February 1980 became Deputy Leader of the Opposition, serving until 1982. He held his seat until his resignation in January 2000. Later in 2000 he was convicted of a number of sexual offences against children from his days as a sole teacher at country primary schools in the 1960s and 1970s. D'Arcy was released in 2007.

In November 2011 D'Arcy announced he would soon be launching legal action to overturn his convictions on more than 20 charges.