Deputy Premier of New South Wales

Deputy Premier of New South Wales
Ministry
State
Incumbent Andrew Stoner
Style	The Honourable
Appointed by	Marie Bashir as Governor of New South Wales
First	Sir Michael Bruxner
Formation	16 May 1932
Term length	At the Governor's pleasure

The Deputy Premier of New South Wales is the second-most senior officer in the Government of New South Wales. The Deputy Premiership has been a ministerial portfolio since 1932, and the Deputy Premier is appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Premier.

The current Deputy Premier is the National Party's Andrew Stoner, who was sworn in on 28 March 2011.

History

The office of Deputy Premier was created in May 1932 for Michael Bruxner, the leader of the Country Party (later renamed the National Party). Prior to that time the term was sometimes used unofficially (without capital letters) for the second-highest ranking minister in the government.

In Labor governments, the Deputy Premier is the party's deputy leader. Generally speaking, this person has come from the left faction of the party whereas the Premier has come from the right faction. In Liberal-National Coalition governments, the position has been held by the Leader of the National Party or its predecessors.

Three Deputy Premiers have subsequently become Premier in their own right: Joseph Cahill, Robert Heffron, and Jack Renshaw. However, this has not occurred since 1964.

Duties

The duties of the Deputy Premier are to act on behalf of the Premier in his or her absence overseas or on leave. The Deputy Premier has always been a member of the Cabinet, and has always held at least one substantive portfolio (It would be technically possible for a minister to hold only the portfolio of Deputy Premier, but this has never happened).

If the Premier were to die, become incapacitated or resign, the Governor would normally appoint the Deputy Premier as Premier. If the governing or majority party had not yet elected a new leader, that appointment would be on an interim basis. Should a different leader emerge, that person would then be appointed Premier.

List of Deputy Premiers of New South Wales

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
1	Sir Michael Bruxner	16 May 1932	16 May 1941	Country
2	Jack Baddeley	16 May 1941	8 September 1949	Labor
3	Joseph Cahill	21 September 1949	2 April 1952	Labor
4	Robert Heffron	23 February 1953	28 October 1959	Labor
5	Jack Renshaw	28 October 1959	14 March 1964	Labor
6	Pat Hills	30 April 1964	13 May 1965	Labor
7	Sir Charles Cutler	13 May 1965	16 December 1975	Country
8	Leon Punch	17 December 1975	14 May 1976	National Country
9	Jack Ferguson	14 May 1976	10 February 1984	Labor
10	Ron Mulock	10 February 1984	25 March 1988	Labor
11	Wal Murray	25 March 1988	26 May 1993	National
12	Ian Armstrong	26 May 1993	4 April 1995	National
13	Andrew Refshauge	4 April 1995	3 August 2005	Labor
14	John Watkins	10 August 2005	3 September 2008	Labor
15	Carmel Tebbutt	5 September 2008	26 March 2011	Labor
16	Andrew Stoner	28 March 2011	present	National

Living former Deputy Premiers

As of March 2011, there are five living former Deputy Premiers. The most recent Deputy Premier to die was Charles Cutler (1965–1975), on 23 September 2006. The most recently serving Deputy Premier to die was Wal Murray (1988–1993), who died on 15 July 2004.

Name	Term of office	Date of birth
Ron Mulock	1984–1988	11 January 1930
Ian Armstrong	1993–1995	17 July 1937
Andrew Refshauge	1995–2005	16 January 1949
John Watkins	2005–2008	7 December 1955
Carmel Tebbutt	2008–2011	22 January 1964

See also

• Leader of the New South Wales National Party