Governor of Queensland
Governor of Queensland | |
---|---|
Viceregal | |
Style | Her Excellency The Honourable |
Residence | Government House, Brisbane |
Seat | Brisbane |
Nominator | Premier of Queensland |
Appointer | Monarch of Australia on the advice of the Premier |
Term length | At Her Majesty's pleasure (usually 5 years by convention) |
Formation | 10 December 1859 |
First holder | Sir George Bowen |
Website | govhouse |
The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level. In particular the governor has the power to appoint and dismiss the premier of Queensland and all other ministers in the cabinet, and issue writs for the election of the state parliament.
The current governor of Queensland, former Chief Health Officer of Queensland Jeannette Young, was sworn in on 1 November 2021.[1]
The chief justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland, currently Catherine Holmes, acts in the position of governor in the governor’s absence. As from June 2014, Queen Elizabeth II, upon the recommendation of then-Premier Campbell Newman, accorded all current, future and living former governors the title 'The Honourable' in perpetuity.[2]
Official residence[]
The governor of Queensland has resided at Government House, Brisbane since 1910. The mansion, set in 14 hectares (35 acres) of gardens and bushland in the Brisbane suburb of Paddington, is also known as "Fernberg". Unlike Fernberg, the original Government House was purpose-built and was used from 1862 to 1910; the building still exists today on the grounds of Queensland University of Technology.
Constitutional provisions[]
The office of governor is established by the Constitution of Queensland. Section 29 of the Constitution as passed in 2001 provides that the office of governor must exist and be appointed by the sovereign, but parts of the earlier Constitution Act of 1867 relating to the governor are still in force owing to the double entrenchment of them within the constitution by the government of Joh Bjelke-Petersen, who feared that the office and powers of state governor might be abolished following the controversies of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis at a federal level.
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 Queensland. Nevertheless, the governor retains the reserve powers of the Crown, and has the right to appoint and dismiss ministers, issue pardons, and dissolve Parliament.
The Queensland constitution expressly provides that the governor "is not subject to direction by any person and is not limited as to the Governor's sources of advice" on the appointment or dismissal of ministers (s. 35), another provision inserted by the Bjelke-Petersen government in the wake of the 1975 federal dismissal. This provision worked against Bjelke-Petersen when, in the dying days of his government in November 1987, he tried and failed to convince Governor Sir Walter Campbell to remove several ministers to shore up his own support within Parliament. When the parliamentary wing of the National Party deposed Bjelke-Petersen and elected one of the dissident ministers, Mike Ahern, as the new leader of the National Party, Bjelke-Petersen initially refused to resign as premier and Sir Walter resisted calls to dismiss him. Bjelke-Petersen elected to resign on 1 December 1987.
The governor is head of the Executive Council, a Queensland equivalent to the Federal Executive Council. The Council is composed of ministers from the government of the day. The chief justice of Queensland and other judges in the Queensland judicial system are appointed by the governor acting on the advice of the Executive Council.
Governor's standard[]
The governor standard comprises a union jack with a white roundel in the center with the state badge of Queensland: a light blue Maltese cross, surmounted by a royal crown and surrounded by garland of laurel leaves.
The general design of standards for British governors was approved by Queen Victoria in 1869. The design for governors of Queensland was created and flown as a personal standard since 1876, when the Maltese Cross was adopted as the colonial badge.
If the standard is flying at Government House, on a vehicle or at an event, this indicates that the governor is present.
- Past and present standards of the governor
1870–1876
1876–1901, bearing an Imperial crown
1901–1953, bearing a Tudor crown
1953–present, bearing a St. Edward's crown
List of governors of Queensland[]
The first Australian- (and Queensland-) born Governor of Queensland was Lieutenant-General Sir John Lavarack (appointed 1946). His successor, Sir Henry Abel Smith was British. All subsequent governors have been Australian-born, except for Leneen Forde, who was born in Canada but who emigrated to Australia at an early age.
No. | Portrait | Title Governor Office (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Monarch | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | The Right Honourable Sir George Bowen (1821–1899) |
10 December 1859 |
4 January 1868 |
Victoria
(1837–1901) | |
8 years and 26 days | |||||
2 | Colonel the Honourable Samuel Blackall (1809–1871) |
14 August 1868 |
2 January 1871 | ||
2 years and 142 days | |||||
3 | The Right Honourable George Phipps Earl of Mulgrave (1819–1890) |
12 August 1871 |
12 November 1874 | ||
3 years and 93 days | |||||
4 | The Honourable Sir William Cairns (1828–1888) |
23 January 1875 |
14 March 1877 | ||
2 years and 51 days | |||||
5 | The Honourable Sir Arthur Kennedy (1809–1883) |
20 July 1877 |
2 May 1883 | ||
5 years and 287 days | |||||
6 | The Honourable Sir Anthony Musgrave (1828–1888) |
6 November 1883 |
9 October 1888 | ||
4 years and 339 days | |||||
7 | Field Marshal the Honourable Sir Henry Norman (1826–1904) |
1 May 1889 |
31 December 1895 | ||
6 years and 245 days | |||||
8 | The Right Honourable Charles Cochrane-Baillie 2nd Baron Lamington (1860–1940) |
9 April 1896 |
19 December 1901 | ||
5 years and 255 days | Edward VII
(1901–1910) | ||||
9 | Lieutenant General the Honourable Sir Herbert Chermside (1850–1929) |
24 March 1902 |
10 October 1904 | ||
2 years and 201 days | |||||
10 | The Honourable Frederic Thesiger 3rd Baron Chelmsford (1868–1933) |
30 November 1905 |
26 May 1909 | ||
3 years and 178 days | |||||
11 | The Right Honourable Sir William MacGregor (1846–1919) |
2 December 1909 |
16 July 1914 | ||
4 years and 227 days | George V
(1910–1936) | ||||
12 | The Honourable Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams (1858–1920) |
15 March 1915 |
3 February 1920 | ||
4 years and 326 days | |||||
13 | Lieutenant Colonel the Honourable Sir Matthew Nathan (1862–1939) |
3 December 1920 |
17 September 1925 | ||
4 years and 289 days | |||||
14 | Lieutenant General the Honourable Sir John Goodwin (1871–1960) |
13 July 1927 |
7 April 1932 | ||
4 years and 270 days | |||||
15 | Lieutenant Colonel the Right Honourable Sir Leslie Wilson (1876–1955) |
13 June 1932 |
23 April 1946 |
Edward VIII
(1936) | |
13 years and 315 days | George VI
(1936–1952) | ||||
16 | Lieutenant General the Honourable Sir John Lavarack (1885–1957) |
1 October 1946 |
4 December 1957 | ||
11 years and 65 days | Elizabeth II
(1952–present) | ||||
17 | Colonel the Honourable Sir Henry Abel Smith (1900–1993) |
18 March 1958 |
18 March 1966 | ||
8 years and 1 day | |||||
18 | The Honourable Sir Alan Mansfield (1902–1980) |
21 March 1966 |
21 March 1972 | ||
6 years and 1 day | |||||
19 | Air Marshal the Honourable Sir Colin Hannah (1914–1978) |
21 March 1972 |
20 March 1977 | ||
5 years and 0 days | |||||
20 | Commodore the Honourable Sir James Ramsay (1916–1986) |
22 April 1977 |
21 July 1985 | ||
8 years and 91 days | |||||
21 | Flight Lieutenant the Honourable Sir Walter Campbell (1921–2004) |
22 July 1985 |
29 July 1992 | ||
7 years and 8 days | |||||
22 | The Honourable Leneen Forde (b. 1935) |
29 July 1992 |
29 July 1997 | ||
5 years and 1 day | |||||
23 | Major General the Honourable Peter Arnison (b. 1940) |
29 July 1997 |
29 July 2003 | ||
6 years and 1 day | |||||
24 | The Honourable Quentin Bryce (b. 1942) |
29 July 2003 |
29 July 2008 | ||
5 years and 1 day | |||||
25 | The Honourable Penelope Wensley (b. 1946) |
29 July 2008 |
29 July 2014 | ||
6 years and 1 day | |||||
26 | Lieutenant the Honourable Paul de Jersey (b. 1948) |
29 July 2014 |
1 November 2021 | ||
7 years and 96 days | |||||
27 | Her Excellency the Honourable Jeannette Young (b. 1963) |
1 November 2021 |
Incumbent | ||
92 days |
List of administrators and lieutenant-governors of Queensland[]
Administrators and are deputy roles generally appointed to carry out the duties of the governor when the governor is unavailable, due to travel or illness. If one is not appointed, then the duties are carried out by the chief justice of Queensland (or the most senior judge available).[3] The following are the administrators and lieutenant-governors of Queensland:[4]
Name | Term | Notes |
---|---|---|
Maurice Charles O’Connell | 4 January 1868 – 14 August 1868 | Administrator |
Maurice Charles O'Connell | 2 January 1871 – 12 August 1871 | Administrator |
Maurice Charles O'Connell | 12 November 1874 – 23 January 1875 | Administrator |
Maurice Charles O'Connell | 14 March 1877 – 10 April 1877 | Administrator |
Arthur Edward Kennedy | 10 April 1877 – 20 July 1877 | Administrator |
Joshua Peter Bell | 19 March 1880 – 22 November 1880 | Administrator |
Arthur Hunter Palmer | 2 May 1883 – 6 November 1883 | Administrator |
Arthur Hunter Palmer | 20 April 1886 – 13 December 1886 | Administrator |
Arthur Hunter Palmer | 9 October 1888 – 1 May 1889 | Administrator |
Arthur Hunter Palmer | 15 November 1895 – 9 April 1896 | Lieutenant Governor Administrator |
Samuel Griffith | 21 June 1901 – 24 March 1902 | Lieutenant Governor |
Hugh Muir Nelson | 10 October 1904 – 30 November 1905 | Lieutenant Governor |
Arthur Morgan | 27 May 1909 – 2 December 1909 | Lieutenant Governor |
Arthur Morgan | 16 July 1914 – 15 March 1915 | Lieutenant Governor |
William Lennon | 3 February 1920 – 3 December 1920 | Lieutenant Governor |
William Lennon | 17 September 1925 – 13 June 1927 | Lieutenant Governor |
William Lennon | 8 May 1929 – 2 June 1929 | Lieutenant Governor |
James William Blair | 7 April 1932 – 1 June 1932 | Administrator |
James William Blair | 17 May 1937 – 21 November 1937 | Administrator |
Frank Cooper | 24 April 1946 – 30 September 1946 | Lieutenant Governor |
Alan Mansfield | 25 January 1957 – 18 March 1958 | Administrator |
Alan Mansfield | 31 March 1960 – 24 May 1960 | Administrator |
Alan Mansfield | 18 April 1963 – 18 October 1963 | Administrator |
William Mack | 10 March 1966 – 21 March 1966 | Administrator |
William Mack | 20 March 1969 – 30 June 1969 | Administrator |
Joseph Aloysius Sheehy | 30 June 1969 – 18 September 1969 | Administrator |
Mostyn Hanger | 9 March 1972 – 21 March 1972 | Administrator |
Mostyn Hanger | 21 March 1977 – 22 April 1977 | Administrator |
References[]
- ^ "Dr Jeannette Young Queensland's New Governor". Ministerial Media Statements. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- ^ "20 June 2014" (PDF). Queensland Government Gazette. p. 15. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ "The Executive Government of Queensland". Queensland Parliament. Archived from the original on 25 November 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^ "Governors and Deputy Governors of Queensland" (PDF). Queensland Parliament. 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 March 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Governors of Queensland. |
- Governors of Queensland
- Parliament of Queensland
- Lists of viceroys in Australia
- Queensland-related lists