Bill D'Arcy

Bill D'Arcy
Bill D'Arcy
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly; for Albert
	In office; 27 May 1972 – 7 December 1974
Preceded by	Bill Heatley
Succeeded by	Ivan Gibbs
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly; for Woodridge
	In office; 12 November 1977 – 9 January 2000
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	Mike Kaiser
Personal details
Born	William Theodore D'Arcy; 31 July 1939 (age 85); Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Political party	Labor
Occupation	Teacher, business consultant

William Theodore D'Arcy (born 31 July 1939) is a former Australian politician. He was the Labor member for Albert (1972–74) and Woodridge (1977–2000) 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 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.^[1]^[2]

Later in 2000, D’Arcy was convicted of a number of sexual offences against children from his days as a teacher at country primary schools in the 1960s and 1970s. He was imprisoned until released in 2007.^[2]

On 13 November 2011, an article appeared in The Australian newspaper reporting D'Arcy as strongly protesting his innocence of all charges and claiming that "private investigators, psychologists and lawyers" had built a case that would prove his innocence.^[3] In reply Queensland Attorney-General Paul Lucas dismissed his claims, saying "I have nothing but contempt for Bill D'Arcy."^[4]

References

^ "Former Members". Parliament of Queensland. 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
^ ^a ^b Alex Dickinson (14 December 2007). "Former Labor MP served seven years for child sex offences". Courier-Mail. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012.
^ "Bill D'Arcy in legal bid to clear name". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 November 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
^ Michael McKenna, D’Arcy’s New Bid to Clear his Name, The Australian, 13 November 2011.

Parliament of Queensland
Preceded by Bill Heatley	Member for Albert 1972–1974	Succeeded by Ivan Gibbs
Preceded by New seat	Member for Woodridge 1977–2000	Succeeded by Mike Kaiser