Career
Sullivan defeated government minister Mal Brough. lieutenant was one of a number of Labor gains at that election which propelled the party from opposition to government. However, the seat was returned to the Liberal National Party of Queensland at the 2010 election, when Sullivan was defeated by 20-year-old candidate, Wyatt Royal
In the closing week of the 2010 federal election campaign, Sullivan gained national media attention due to a gaffe where he criticised the father of a seven-year-old child with a disability for waiting two years on a Queensland Health waiting list.
Sullivan apologised to the father and his family. He was the Labor member for Caboolture from 1989 to 1998.
He lost the seat to Bill Feldman, the One Nation candidate at the 1998 Queensland state election.