He worked as an insurance salesman before entering politics, in both professions making use of his knack for oratory and publicity stunts.

O'Malley was a political radical, and joined the Labor Party (ALP) upon its creation, despite his status as one of the wealthiest members of parliament.

As home affairs minister, he oversaw the start of construction of the Trans-Australian Railway and the early development of the new national capital, including the design competition won by Walter Burley Griffin.

Uncertainty exists about the details of O'Malley's birth and upbringing, largely due to the inconsistent accounts he provided throughout his life.

His private diaries record that, until 1947, he personally celebrated his birthday on 2 July, but then apparently shifted the date by two days to emphasise his American origins.

[2] During his political career, O'Malley claimed to have been born in Quebec, at a location called "Stanford Farm", close to the U.S.

In an 1893 letter to the editor of the Adelaide Advertiser, he proclaimed himself "a humble sovereign citizen of that supreme nation, the United States".

Hoyle (1981) regards the basic facts of O'Malley's account to be accurate, because he had a detailed knowledge of American banking practices and of New York City.

[5] Before he moved to Australia, O'Malley lived a transient lifestyle on the west coast of the United States, as an insurance salesman and real estate agent.

[16] In April 1887, the Chicago Inter Ocean reported that he had forwarded policies amounting to $200,000 from Oregon, an immense sum at the time.

[18] Surviving records indicate that he had "somewhat dubious" business practices – in 1887, he made a series of large deposits at a bank in Corvallis, Oregon, then abruptly withdrew his entire account.

[19] He gave fiery public speeches in the towns where he sold insurance, warning against the dangers of what he called "stagger juice".

The newspaper reported that O'Malley and a partner had "placed policies to the amount of tens of thousands of dollars by misrepresentation", and that the Home Life Insurance Company was actively warning customers not to take any money from him.

He supposedly arrived in the country at Port Alma, Queensland, then took up residence in a cave at Emu Park, where an Aboriginal man named Coowonga nursed him back to health.

[21] Documentary evidence places him in Sydney and Melbourne in 1888, so it would have required a rapid recovery from tuberculosis, followed by a walking journey of hundreds of kilometres, all within a time span of several months.

[28] In April 1894, as a publicity stunt, he announced his candidacy for a by-election in the seat of East Torrens, but never formally nominated.

Although not a resident of the electorate, O'Malley was "apparently a frequent visitor to the area [...] popular with various people in Goolwa and Victor Harbor".

[31][32] O'Malley enjoyed strong support among the newly enfranchised female voters, who were sympathetic to his pro-temperance views.

[34] After his election,O'Malley took up residence in a coffee palace on Hindley Street, Adelaide, although he made frequent visits to his electorate.

[39] O'Malley strongly supported federation and, in a series of parliamentary speeches, championed the U.S. constitution as a model for Australia.

The election was fought largely on the temperance issue, with Tucker enjoying the support of the Licensed Victuallers' Association.

He was a moderately big man, auburn-haired with watchful grey eyes and a red-brown beard, wearing a wide-brimmed felt hat, blue-grey suit with huge lapels and a low-cut vest, loose cravat with a diamond collar stud, and in the centre of his cream silk shirt-front a fiery opal.

He became a prominent advocate of a national bank as a means of providing cheap credit for farmers and small businessmen,[citation needed] but his radical ideas were not widely accepted, and many regarded him as a charlatan.

Ross McMullin, who wrote an official history of the ALP, suggested that "his election as minister was probably attributable in part to the fact that several caucus colleagues owed him money".

As a teetotaler, he was responsible for the highly unpopular ban on selling alcohol in the Australian Capital Territory, which lasted from 1911 to 1928.

He later wrote that he had led a "torpedo squad" in Caucus to force a reluctant Cabinet to establish the bank, but historians do not accept that.

In October 1915, however, Fisher retired and O'Malley returned to office in the first ministry of Billy Hughes, again as Minister for Home Affairs.

But a year later, the government split over the determination of Hughes to introduce conscription to fill the ranks of Australia's armed forces in World War I.

[51] More importantly, he and his wife Amy left their estate to create scholarships to support students studying "domestic economy" (now referred to as home economics).