Belinda Neal


Belinda Jane Neal is a former Australian federal politician. She was a Member of the House of Representatives representing the electorate of Robertson between 2007 and 2010; and representing the state of New South Wales in the Senate from 1994 to 1998, both on behalf of the Australian Labor Party.

Political career

She was a senator for New South Wales from 1994 to 1998. She was chosen on 8 March 1994 under s.15 of the Constitution to fill the casual vacancy in the Senate created by the resignation of Kerry Sibraa. She resigned on 3 September 1998 to contest the House of Representatives seat of Robertson at the 1998 general election in which she was defeated by the incumbent, Jim Lloyd of the Liberal Party.
In the 2007 federal election she was again preselected as the Labor candidate for Robertson, and won the seat in a very tight contest, claiming victory on 5 December.
She lost preselection for the seat of Robertson on 6 March 2010, to challenger Deborah O'Neill, who lost the seat in the following election. On 29 July 2010 Neal announced that she would not recontest the seat at the 2010 federal election, but did not rule out a future in politics, saying that the Labor Party still had her full support. Her husband, John Della Bosca, announced on the same day that he was resigning from the New South Wales Legislative Council to become a campaign director for the National Disability and Carers Alliance, and assist in the establishment of a national disability insurance scheme.
In 2015 Neal attempted a comeback to Robertson but was defeated in the ALP preselection by Ann Charlton who was chief of staff to O'Neill.

Incident at Iguana Joe's

In June 2008, Neal and her husband John Della Bosca were dining in a bistro called Iguana Joe's when they were reportedly involved in an incident which resulted in their being ejected by staff of the premises. This was never substantiated. The Premier of New South Wales, Morris Iemma, asked the New South Wales Police Force to start an investigation into his Minister. The police sought advice from the New South Wales Director of Public Prosecutions whether any crime was committed from the facts. The DPP advised that nothing that occurred constituted a crime.

Comment to Sophie Mirabella

A fortnight before the Iguana Joe's incident, Neal had apologised to a Liberal MP, Sophie Mirabella, over a partially disputed comment to the effect that Mirabella's unborn child would be affected by her sour demeanour as a result of Mirabella's "evil thoughts".

Expulsion from NSW Labor

On 24 July 2017, officers of the ALP NSW branch adopted the decision of the party's Internal Appeals Tribunal to expel Neal from the party, after the tribunal determined that she had engaged in "unworthy conduct" in a form of branch stacking called "walking the books", which was prohibited under Labor rules.