Barry Morris (20 April 1935 – 19 May 2001) was an Australian politician, who in 1995 was jailed for making bomb and death threats. The incident was considered a key factor in the Labor Party being returned to power in New South Wales after seven years in Opposition. Career Born in Lithgow in 1935, Morris initially followed family tradition and entered the rural industries of fruit and grazing, before finding success as owner of an oil company, Morris Petroleum, and as a property developer. The latter earned him the nickname 'The King of Little Hartley', given his interest in developing the small Blue Mountains village in which he then lived. He was elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the seat of Blue Mountains in 1988, as the candidate for the Liberal Party, defeating the Labor incumbent, Bob Debus. Scandal John Pascoe and Blue Mountains City Council The already poor relations between Morris and some members of Blue Mountains City Council further deteriorated when the idea of supporting increased truck freight passage through the area met with their stiff opposition and accusations of a conflict of interest – particularly from John Pascoe, the council's alderman and a vocal environmental activist. Already Pascoe had clashed with Morris on numerous issues, from the fluoridation of the local water supply (Pascoe opposed this) to the planned sale of the historic Sorensen's Nursery at Leura. Pascoe alleged that pro-development advocates such as Morris were a serious threat to the natural heritage of the world-famous Blue Mountains area. Blue Mountains Council bombing On 3 March 1992, a bomb ripped through the chambers of the Blue Mountains City Council during a council meeting. Though nobody was injured, the blast was powerful enough to break downstairs windows, dislodge brickwork, and send shrapnel throughout the building. Police suggested that the culprit was a resident motivated by controversy over local development issues, but were unable to charge a suspect, and the case was dropped. On the evening of 16 June 1993, a phone threat was made to the offices of a local paper, the Blue Mountains Gazette, by a man disguising his voice with an Italian accent. The caller warned that he was planning another bombing, designed to kill John Pascoe. A tape of the message was passed on to the Labor Party by an unknown source, allowing the Opposition Leader, Bob Carr, to