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Sean Johnson

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Sean Johnson

The founder of Open Politics is Sean Johnson, a former ministerial adviser, lobbyist and public affairs consultant.

Sean’s first job in politics was as an opposition staffer to Barry O’Farrell (1996-2001), where he helped expose corrupt NSW Labor MP Eddie Obeid’s undeclared shareholdings in Hapgeti, the parent company of notorious smart pole maker Streetscape. Sean also developed a secure messaging service to enable whistleblowers to safely leak information to the NSW opposition.

In 2001 Sean moved to London to work for Gary Sturgess, a former head of the NSW Cabinet Office and architect of the NSW ICAC, in a public policy adviser role for a private corporation delivering government services.

After returning to Australia in 2003 Sean worked briefly again for O’Farrell before becoming a ministerial adviser in the Howard government. This included three years in the office of former industry and resources minister Ian Macfarlane where he helped deliver reforms to early stage venture capital incentives, innovation policy, and the regulation of therapeutic cloning and embryonic stem cell research.

Prior to establishing Open Politics in 2022 Sean worked for over a decade at GRACosway, a public affairs and communications firm that provides strategic counsel and insights to private companies, investors, and public agencies.

Sean is related to the late Westminster MP George Forrest, a liberal Ulster Unionist who tried to heal the sectarian divide in Northern Ireland.

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