Premier of New South Wales

Premier of New South Wales
Ministry
State
Incumbent Barry O'Farrell
Style	The Honourable
Appointed by	Marie Bashir as Governor of New South Wales
First	Stuart Donaldson
Formation	6 June 1856
Term length	At the Governor's pleasure

The Premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. The Premier is appointed by the Governor of New South Wales, and by modern convention holds office by virtue of his or her ability to command the support of a majority of members of the lower house of Parliament, the Legislative Assembly.

The Australian Labor Party led by Kristina Keneally was defeated by the Liberal/National Coalition led by Barry O'Farrell at the 2011 election. O'Farrell was sworn in as the 43rd Premier of New South Wales on Monday 28 March, with his cabinet to follow in the next week.

Before the 1890s, there was no formal party system in New South Wales. Party labels before that time indicate a general tendency only. In the 1860s and 1870s, there was a fairly coherent "liberal" tendency, led first by Charles Cowper and then by Henry Parkes. Liberals generally favoured land reform in the early years, culminating in the Robertson Land Acts. They also supported state schools and opposed support for religion, including religious schools. They supported democratic reforms of the parliament and public works (such as roads and railways) and often supported the exclusion of non-European races. This later developed into the Free Trade Party. Non-liberal politicians often used the same political rhetoric, but were less active in implementing it. There was never an organised Conservative party, although some politicians used this label. Ministries which were not liberal were usually factional. From the 1880s the party conflict was between Free Traders and Protectionists. This situation continued until the rise of the Labor in the 1890s. After Federation in 1901, the Protectionists renamed themselves Progressives, while the Free Traders became the Liberal Reform Party. These two parties later merged as the Commonwealth Liberal Party.

List of Premiers of New South Wales

No.	Name	Party	Assumed office	Left office
1	Stuart Donaldson		6 June 1856	25 August 1856
2	Charles Cowper		26 August 1856	2 October 1856
3	Henry Parker		3 October 1856	7 September 1857
-	Charles Cowper (2nd time)		7 September 1857	26 October 1859
4	William Forster		27 October 1859	8 March 1860
5	John Robertson		9 March 1860	9 January 1861
-	Charles Cowper (3rd time)		10 January 1861	15 October 1863
6	James Martin		16 October 1863	2 February 1865
-	Charles Cowper (4th time)		3 February 1865	21 January 1866
-	James Martin (2nd time)		22 January 1866	26 October 1868
-	John Robertson (2nd time)		27 October 1868	12 January 1870
-	Charles Cowper (5th time)		13 January 1870	15 December 1870
-	Sir James Martin (3rd time)		16 December 1870	13 May 1872
7	Henry Parkes		14 May 1872	8 February 1875
-	John Robertson (3rd time)		9 February 1875	21 March 1877
-	Henry Parkes (2nd time)		22 March 1877	16 August 1877
-	Sir John Robertson (4th time)		17 August 1877	17 December 1877
8	James Farnell		18 December 1877	20 December 1878
-	Sir Henry Parkes (3rd time)		21 December 1878	4 January 1883
9	Alexander Stuart		5 January 1883	6 October 1885
10	George Dibbs	Protectionist	7 October 1885	9 October 1885
-	John Robertson (5th time)		22 December 1885	22 February 1886
11	Sir Patrick Jennings	Protectionist	26 February 1886	19 January 1887
-	Sir Henry Parkes (4th time)	Free Trade	25 January 1887	16 January 1889
-	George Dibbs (2nd time)	Protectionist	17 January 1889	7 March 1889
-	Sir Henry Parkes (5th time)	Free Trade	8 March 1889	23 October 1891
-	George Dibbs (3rd time)	Protectionist	23 October 1891	2 August 1894
12	Sir George Reid	Free Trade	3 August 1894	13 September 1899
13	William Lyne	Protectionist	14 September 1899	27 March 1901
14	Sir John See	Progressive	28 March 1901	14 June 1904
15	Thomas Waddell	Progressive	15 June 1904	29 August 1904
16	Sir Joseph Carruthers	Liberal Reform	30 August 1904	2 October 1907
17	Sir Charles Wade	Liberal	2 October 1907	1 October 1910
18	James McGowen	Labor	21 October 1910	29 June 1913
19	William Holman	Labor	30 June 1913	15 November 1916
-	William Holman (2nd time)	Nationalist	15 November 1916	12 April 1920
20	John Storey	Labor	13 April 1920	5 October 1921
21	James Dooley	Labor	5 October 1921	20 December 1921
22	George Fuller	Nationalist	20 December 1921	20 December 1921
-	James Dooley (2nd time)	Labor	20 December 1921	13 April 1922
-	Sir George Fuller (2nd time)	Nationalist	13 April 1922	17 June 1925
23	Jack Lang	Labor	17 June 1925	18 October 1927
24	Thomas Bavin	Nationalist	18 October 1927	3 November 1930
-	Jack Lang (2nd time)	Labor	4 November 1930	13 May 1932
25	Sir Bertram Stevens	United Australia	16 May 1932	4 August 1939
26	Alexander Mair	United Australia	5 August 1939	16 May 1941
27	William McKell	Labor	16 May 1941	6 February 1947
28	James McGirr	Labor	6 February 1947	2 April 1952
29	Joseph Cahill	Labor	2 April 1952	22 October 1959
30	Bob Heffron	Labor	23 October 1959	30 April 1964
31	Jack Renshaw	Labor	30 April 1964	13 May 1965
32	Sir Robert Askin*	Liberal	13 May 1965	3 January 1975
33	Thomas Lewis	Liberal	3 January 1975	23 January 1976
34	Sir Eric Willis	Liberal	23 January 1976	14 May 1976
35	Neville Wran	Labor	14 May 1976	4 July 1986
36	Barrie Unsworth	Labor	4 July 1986	25 March 1988
37	Nick Greiner	Liberal	25 March 1988	24 June 1992
38	John Fahey	Liberal	24 June 1992	4 April 1995
39	Bob Carr	Labor	4 April 1995	3 August 2005
40	Morris Iemma	Labor	3 August 2005	5 September 2008
41	Nathan Rees	Labor	5 September 2008	4 December 2009
42	Kristina Keneally	Labor	4 December 2009	28 March 2011
43	Barry O'Farrell	Liberal	28 March 2011	present

* Askin's given name was Robin but he changed it legally to Robert in 1971, prior to being knighted in 1972. Before then, he was generally known as Bob.

Timeline

Living former premiers

As of March 2011, nine former Premiers are alive, the oldest being Tom Lewis (1975–76, born 1922). The most recent premier to die was Eric Willis on 10 May 1999 at age 77.

Name	Term as premier	Date of birth
Tom Lewis	1975–1976	23 January 1922 (1922-01-23) (age 89)
Neville Wran	1976–1986	11 October 1926 (1926-10-11) (age 85)
Barrie Unsworth	1986–1988	16 April 1934 (1934-04-16) (age 77)
Nick Greiner	1988–1992	27 April 1947 (1947-04-27) (age 64)
John Fahey	1992–1995	10 January 1945 (1945-01-10) (age 66)
Bob Carr	1995–2005	28 September 1947 (1947-09-28) (age 64)
Morris Iemma	2005–2008	21 July 1961 (1961-07-21) (age 50)
Nathan Rees	2008–2009	12 February 1968 (1968-02-12) (age 43)
Kristina Keneally	2009–2011	19 December 1968 (1968-12-19) (age 42)

See also

• List of Premiers of New South Wales by time in office
• Deputy Premier of New South Wales