Governors of New South Wales

Infobox vice-regal
state = New South Wales
shield = NSW-shield.png incumbent = Marie Bashir
his/her = Her
appointed_by = Elizabeth II
first_governor = Arthur Phillip
date = 7 February 1788

The Governor of New South Wales is the representative in the Australian state of New South Wales of Australia's monarch, Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. The Governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the Governor-General of Australia at the national level.

Aside from the Body Politic of the Crown (i.e. the Queen of Australia), the office of Governor of New South Wales is the oldest constitutional office in Australia. Captain Arthur Phillip assumed office as Governor of New South Wales on 7 February 1788, when the Colony of New South Wales, the first British settlement in Australia, was formally founded. The early colonial governors held an almost autocratic power due to the distance from and poor communications with Great Britain, until 1824 when the New South Wales Legislative Council, Australia's first legislative body, was appointed to advise the governor. [NSW Parliament. [http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/common.nsf/key/LCHistory History of the Legislative Council] . Accessed 10 August 2007.]

Between 1850 and 1861, the Governor of New South Wales was titled Governor-General in an early attempt at federalism imposed by Earl Grey. All communication between the Australian colonies and the British Government was meant to go through the Governor-General, and the other colonies had Lieutenant-Governors. As Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania obtained responsible government, their Lieutenant-Governors were replaced by Governors. Although he had ceased acting as a Governor-General, Sir William Denison retained the title until his retirement. [cite book |last=Twomey |first=Anne |title=The chameleon Crown: The Queen and her Australian governors |url=http://www.federationpress.com.au/bookstore/book.asp?isbn=9781862876293 |date=2006 |publisher=The Federation Press |location=Sydney |isbn=978-1-86287-629-3 ] In accordance with the conventions of the Westminster system of parliamentary government, the Governor nearly always acts solely on the advice of the head of the elected government, the Premier of New South Wales. Nevertheless, the Governor retains the reserve powers of the Crown, and has the right to dismiss the Premier. This power was last exercised in 1932, when Sir Philip Game dismissed Jack Lang.

The Governor of New South Wales previously used Government House as a residence, office and official reception space. However, in 1996, at the direction of Premier Bob Carr, the Governor has not used it as a residence. The Governor's present day office is the historic Chief Secretary’s Building nearby, at 121 Macquarie Street.See Governors of the Australian states for a description and history of the office of Governor.

List of Governors of New South Wales [NSW Parliament. [http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/common.nsf/key/ResourcesSystemTheGovernorofNewSouthWales] . Accessed 18 August 2008.]

Living former governors

Currently, only one former governor is alive. The most recent governor to die was Gordon Samuels (1996–2001), on 10 December 2007.

References