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Francis O’Neill was Head of Advocacy at Bicycle NSW from 2022 until 2024. 

Our staff and board were devastated learn of Francis’s sudden death on 10th January 2025. Francis suffered a severe stroke and died shortly afterwards at Royal Prince Alfred, surrounded by family and friends. He was only 55.

At his funeral in a packed Redfern Town Hall, we heard moving and inspiring stories about Francis - as a life-long activist, a graphic designer, a martial artist, an environmental warrior, a big wave surfer and, above all, a father.

Francis touched many people. His unwavering commitment to social and environmental justice shone through in the eulogies. We learnt about a decade of protests to save old growth forests with Francis notorious for fronting up to police and loggers, disarming them with his charm and humour. There were courageous escapades in Burma and Bougainville, where Francis dodged military blockades to get photographic evidence out to the wider world of the atrocities being committed. His dedication to White Crane Kung Fu spanned 37 years, a way of life that became deeply entwined with environmental campaigning. And we were impressed that he played a key role in the 2003 No War protest at the Sydney Opera House!

Everyone was fired up to fight a bit harder for the things they believe in. We send our deepest condolences to Francis’s family, his children Finn and May, and his strong network of close friends and colleagues.

We have more great stories to share

“I’m incredibly proud to be working for Bicycle NSW,” Francis said on his appointment as Head of Advocacy.  “It really is a dream job working with our Members and Bicycle User Groups to get the best advocacy outcomes in NSW.  I’m particularly keen to focus on the vital role that active transport plays in mitigating and adapting to climate change. This is fundamentally a social and environmental justice issue. There are massive socioeconomic and environmental benefits to be had by increasing active transport uptake and by building the safe culture, infrastructure and legislation needed to support it. This is my advocacy goal.”

Francis the Bicycle Advocate with a fellow Inner West resident on Ride to Work Day, October 2022 (Image: Bicycle NSW)

Francis brought an incredible passion and energy to his Bicycle NSW role, and approached every project (and battle!) with a laser sharp focus on social and environmental outcomes. 

Read on for tales of Francis’s time as a bicycle advocate, reflections from collaborators at Bicycle User Groups, government and advocacy organisations, as well as some favourite photos of Francis at work. 

Baptism of fire on the Warringah Freeway

The Warringah Freeway Upgrade provided Francis with a crash course in major infrastructure projects. 

A complex and hugely expensive project, active transport was being completely sidelined by the contractors and Transport for NSW. The project was clearly downgrading existing active transport links and ignoring opportunities to improve the bike network. Bike North and Bicycle NSW were meant to be closely consulted. But an Active Transport Network Review was underway without consultation. 

Francis O’Neill looking north from the Merrenburn Avenue bridge. Mid-morning, mid-week. One more lane will definitely not fix it…. (Image: Bicycle NSW)

Francis worked with Bike North to lobby NSW Government and expose how the project was not delivering any new cycleways. The bicycle user groups withdrew from pointless meetings where no meaningful information was offered.

The then Active Transport Minister, Rob Stokes, was forced to intervene to bring the highway builders back to the negotiating table. The Transport for NSW active transport team finally began a more collaborative engagement process with the bicycle user groups. There were site visits by bike and several workshops to identify six key asks for the Active Travel Network Review

This great article by Francis lays out the failings of the Warringah Freeway Upgrade project. There are still crumbs for active transport, but the crumbs are a little bigger! 

Francis with representatives of Transport for NSW and Bike North on a two-wheeled site visit of the Warringah Freeway corrider in February 2023 (Image: Bicycle NSW)

He was very involved with Bike North on a range of advocacy issues. 

“Francis did much for cycling in NSW,” said David Thomson, Advocacy Coordinator at Bike North. “His energy, his passion for the important causes and his fearlessness were infectious and energised all those involved in any project he undertook.

“The broader community has lost a fighter in the cause of social justice.”

The battle for Victoria Road

Over in Rozelle, the race was on to avoid missing another huge opportunity - the urban renewal Victoria Road.

The imminent opening of the Rozelle Interchange proposed to significantly reduce traffic volumes along the Victoria Road corridor. There was a brief window to reclaim road space and revive the ailing street before induced demand swallowed all available road capacity.

Member for Balmain Kobi Shetty joined forces with Francis to petition the Minister for Roads to embark on bold and legacy-building urban renewal.

Francis with Kobi Shetty MP, Bicycle NSW Bike Planner Sarah Bickford and a box of 1,700 signatures calling for the reallocation of road space from cars to people on Victoria Road. Watch the video here (Image: Kobi Shetty MP)

“I got to know Francis through his advocacy with Bicycle NSW, our shared love of bikes and a passion to transform Sydney into a cycle friendly city,” says Kobi Shetty MP. “Francis was always eager to work collaboratively on various campaigns to push for bike lane that would make our communities more sustainable and healthier. He never hesitated to share his expertise and have challenging conversations with decision makers. 

“I’m so appreciative that I had the opportunity to get to know Francis and be a small part in the work he did to create positive change.”

Unfortunately, the new Labor government did not stand up to the car-brained bureaucracy at Transport for NSW despite strong advocacy.  As Francis wrote, “Victoria Rd remains a treeless heat sink flanked by failing businesses and empty shells highlighting the loss of place and departure of wealth. Conversely, Transurban has reaped enormous profits.”

Of course, advocacy is slow and painstaking work. But a setback on one project often establishes ground work for something better on the next.  

In Paddington, Francis spearheaded a campaign to transform another notorious traffic sewer ‘stroad’ – and this project is on track to be realised!

Changing hearts and minds at Oxford Street

The proposal by Transport for NSW and City of Sydney to add a protected cycleway to Oxford Street fired up very strong resistance from some member of the business community and feared change. 

But the project is not just about bikes.  It is an opportunity to reconfigure the street, diversify its transport mix, improve the urban environment and transform Paddington.  

Francis and Bicycle NSW CEO Peter McLean on a bike ride with the then new Transport Minister Jo Haylen. Stopping at the Oxford Street end of the reinstated College Street cycleway, they discuss the plans to construct a separated bicycle path along Oxford Street, all the way to Centennial Park (Image: Jack Begbie)

“Francis was instrumental in getting the Oxford Street East petition up and running,” says Andrew Moss of BIKEast. “This was able to be leveraged with campaign leaflets, pavement chalking and the wonderful We Love Bikes stickers that Francis conceptualised. He also developed a myriad of associated campaign social posts.”

“The petition today has 2654 signatures in support of Building a Better Oxford Street - including the cycleway. Thank you, Francis.”

The We Love Bikes stickers were distributed to businesses in places where bike infrastructure projects were contentious – such as Milsons Point and Oxford Street - where they were noticed by a wide cross-section of the community (Image: Bicycle NSW) 

“I very much admired Francis’s courage and his bold sense of humanitarianism and social justice on important causes - including the Gaza tragedy,” adds Andrew Moss. “I regularly saw his posts on this, and we spoke about it very recently. I told Francis of my admiration for his outspoken stance. His family should be proud and inspired by his example.”

Taking on ‘bike lash’

The Oxford Street misinformation campaign provided Francis with fantastic fuel to expose media ’bike lash’.  As he wrote in this brilliant article: “The commercial press has framed the Oxford Street urban renewal plan as a ‘bike war’. But like the Sydney Harbour Bridge Ramp, it’s just another sad NIMBY beat-up fuelled by a pocketful of bike-hating boomers.” 

“Ultimately, it's in the interests of the fossil-backed mastheads to back walking and cycling improvements. Otherwise, they risk haemorrhaging their audience - 70% of whom want to ride more for their health and the planet. And to save money.”

Francis was an early guest on journalist Elizabeth Farrelly’s Eastside Radio show, The Sydneyist. The discussion centred on the fraught battle to claim space for bike riding. Tune in to the episode here

Bagging out Sydney’s Bike Wars: Francis had fun chatting to radio host and urbanist Elizabeth Farrelly about the battle for cycling on The Sydneyist. “Sydney’s bike wars are an international embarrassment,” said Francis on the show. “Whilst the world has moved on, Sydney is just a little bit stuck in car-first thinking.” (Image: Eastside Radio)

Francis was excited to celebrate a major win against ‘bike lash’ when the College Street cycleway was re-constructed in 2023 – and to demonstrate again how businesses benefit from safe access on two wheels.

Riding on the College Street cycleway with Transport Minister Jo Haylen and Bicycle NSW CEO Peter McLean (Image: Jack Begbie)

“Francis had two qualities essential in a strong advocate – passion and perseverance,” says Minister Haylen. “Things I greatly admired. His work to encourage all levels of government to deliver more cycling infrastructure and create opportunities for more people to travel in a sustainable and healthy way will have a lasting legacy.”

Better Streets for NSW

The Better Streets coalition launched at the end of 2022. Bicycle NSW quickly got behind the joined-up approach to advocacy for healthier, safer, slower, less-car-dominated streets. Francis dedicated a lot of energy to developing the Better Streets strategy with new team members and volunteers.  Everyone wanted to ensure that Better Streets in every town and suburb were right at the top of the agenda in the 2023 NSW elections. 

Better Streets partnered with Bicycle NSW to organise the inaugural Better Streets Walk and Ride in March 2023. 150 participants from a diverse range of health, climate, community and business groups rode from Circular Quay to Prince Alfred Park along 4km of separated cycleway (Image: Better Streets)

“Francis was an amazing manager during my time at Better Streets,” says Monique Ewen, who stepped into the role of Executive Officer in 2023. “He was really generous with his time, always so excited about his campaign ideas, also so supportive of other people's ideas. He was never afraid to speak truth to power.”

A passion for active transport in regional NSW

Francis lived in far north NSW for many years and had a deep appreciation of the impacts of transport poverty on opportunity and equity. Active transport, powered up by e-bikes and micromobility, can make a huge contribution to filling gaps in transit networks. Local communities and the tourist economy could both flourish with more commitment to enabling trips without cars.

He worked with the Roll On Bike campaign to push for bikes to be carried unboxed on regional trains and coaches, and supported an successful bid to allow derelict rail corridors to be converted into rail trails.

'Francis was incredibly passionate to see the development of rail trails,” says BicycIe NSW CEO Peter McLean. “I vividly remember him working the phones in 2022 with MPs prior to the draft legislation for the Transport Administration Amendment Bill. The Bill passed Parliament and we will see more rail trails in NSW as a result.

“Thank you Francis for your eagerness, passion and dedication. When I ride on rail trails in the future, I will look up at you and give you a cheeky smile back.”

Help us continue the great work of Francis the Bicycle Advocate

We’d love you to join Bicycle NSW and support our advocacy for better infrastructure and safer streets. You will also ride easy, covered by our comprehensive insurance and enjoy many other Member-only benefits.

Not quite ready to sign up? Then please consider a donation to the Bicycle NSW Environmental Trust. Or Buy Us a Coffee (or three!)

A final request. If any of our friends and Members have photos of Francis in action as a bicycle advocate, please forward them to us. His children are trying to track down pictures from every stage of his life.

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