About the Administrator
His Honour the Honourable David Connolly was sworn in as the 24th Administrator of the Northern Territory on 27 February 2026. As Administrator, His Honour represents the Crown in right of the Northern Territory. His Honour performs a similar constitutional role to that of a state governor and does not participate in the political process.
Prior to his appointment as Administrator, His Honour was a highly respected agricultural leader with extensive experience across Australia’s pastoral, agribusiness and rural investment sectors.
Born in Cunnamulla in far western Queensland, His Honour attended the Southport School as a boarder and undertook tertiary studies at the University of Queensland, Gatton campus. He holds an associate diploma in stock and meat inspection and a graduate diploma of agribusiness.
His Honour is a former chief operating officer of the Australian Agricultural Company. He later served as director of livestock investment for the Insight Global Farmland Fund, where he led capital‑raising activities for global agricultural investment. In 2011, the Tanumbirini–Forrest Hill pastoral aggregation was acquired through the fund, resulting in His Honour’s relocation to the Northern Territory to oversee its development and management.
From 2013 to 2025, His Honour served as general manager of the Tipperary Group in the Daly River region of the Northern Territory. The group comprised Tipperary, Litchfield and Douglas West stations, encompassing nearly 4,000 square kilometres and managing approximately 42,000 head of cattle. Under His Honour’s leadership, the business diversified into breeding and backgrounding operations, live export quarantine facilities, horticulture, tourism enterprises and the Northern Territory’s first commercially grown broadacre dryland cotton crop.
In 2021, His Honour and his wife, Susan, were appointed to oversee the planning and construction of the Northern Territory’s first commercial cotton gin. The facility was completed in 2023 and conducted its inaugural ginning season in 2024.
His Honour has served on numerous boards and industry bodies at local and national levels, including as a director of the National Farmers’ Federation and as former president of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association. A licensed auctioneer and stud stock auctioneer, he has conducted auctions nationally and internationally, including at the Calgary Stampede in Canada, and is widely regarded for his professional commentating at major rural sporting events.
As Administrator, His Honour is patron to a wide range of community organisations. His patronages reflect his commitment to supporting Territorians by championing groups that bring people together, strengthen community bonds and enrich the Territory through community service, cultural life, advocacy and the dedication of volunteers and first responders.
His Honour is married to Ms Susan Brosnan OLY and he has two adult sons. His Honour and Ms Brosnan have lived and worked in rural and remote parts of the Northern Territory for close to two decades prior to his appointment as Administrator.
Ms Susan (Sue) Brosnan OLY
Ms Susan Brosnan OLY is an Olympic bronze medal winner and successful business leader. Raised in Castlemaine in central Victoria and educated in Melbourne, Ms Brosnan was introduced to rowing during her school years. Through discipline, dedication and sustained excellence, she realised her ambition of representing Australia at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Competing in the women’s four with coxswain, she made history as part of the first Australian women’s rowing crew to win an Olympic medal, securing bronze.
Following the Olympics, Ms Brosnan continued to compete as a lightweight rower, representing Victoria and remaining actively involved in the sport for more than 15 years.
While undertaking accounting studies and working with a chartered accounting firm in Melbourne, Ms Brosnan developed a strong interest in Australia’s rural and pastoral industries. This passion led her to Queensland to work on a beef‑fattening property, followed by senior management roles co‑managing some of the largest and most remote pastoral aggregations in the Northern Territory. Her career later expanded to owning and operating a contract mustering business and establishing a highly successful property sales agency specialising in large‑scale pastoral transactions across the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
Ms Brosnan has lived and worked in the Northern Territory for 29 years, including eight years based at Tipperary Station. Most recently, she served as project coordinator for the development of the Northern Territory’s first commercial cotton processing facility. The cotton gin processed 50,000 bales in its inaugural year of operation, marking a significant milestone in the Territory’s agricultural diversification.
Deeply committed to community engagement and the Northern Territory lifestyle, Ms Brosnan has contributed to regional events and activities, including hosting and managing the Adelaide River Campdraft for 3 years. She also competed alongside her husband in the Lake Argyle Open Water Swim over three consecutive years. Her interests include the Northern Territory pastoral industry, campdrafting and horses in all forms.
Ms Brosnan and the Administrator have consistently supported one another throughout their professional journeys. She looks forward to continuing that partnership as they work together to promote the Northern Territory and to honour the many remarkable people who contribute to its vibrant community. Prior to His Honour’s appointment as Administrator, the couple lived and worked together in rural and remote regions of the Northern Territory.