Leader of the Opposition (New South Wales)

Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition
	Incumbent; Chris Minns; since 4 June 2021
Term length	While leader of the largest political party not in government
Inaugural holder	Charles Lee
Deputy	Prue Car
Salary	A$309,621

The Leader of the Opposition is a title held by the leader of the second-largest party in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of New South Wales.^[2] There is also a Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council.^[3] He or she acts as the public face of the opposition, leading the opposition on the floor of parliament. They act as a chief critic of the government and ultimately attempt to portray the opposition as a feasible alternate government. They are also given certain additional rights under parliamentary standing orders, such as extended time limits for speeches.

The current leader of the opposition is Chris Minns, who was elected on 4 June 2021. Penny Sharpe serves as leader of the opposition in the Legislative Council.

List of Leaders of the Opposition in New South Wales since 1901[]

Political parties

Labor Liberal Party of Australia Protectionist Free Trade Progressive Liberal Reform Party Labor (NSW) Nationalist Party of Australia
United Australia Party Democratic Party Country Party

Leaders of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly[]

No.		Name	Party	Constituency	Term of Office		Tenure	Elections
		Joseph Palmer Abbott	Protectionist	Wentworth	9 March 1887	19 May 1887	71 days	–	Parkes 1887–1889
		George Dibbs	Protectionist	Murrumbidgee	20 September 1887	16 January 1889	1 year, 118 days	–	Parkes 1887–1889
		Sir Henry Parkes	Free Trade	St Leonards	17 January 1889	7 March 1889	49 days	1889	Dibbs 1889
		George Dibbs	Protectionist	Murrumbidgee	8 March 1889	23 October 1891	2 years, 229 days	–	Parkes 1889–1891
		George Reid	Free Trade	St Leonards	23 October 1891	2 August 1894	2 years, 283 days	1891 1894	Dibbs 1891–1894
		Sir George Dibbs	Protectionist	Murrumbidgee	3 August 1894	5 July 1895	336 days	1895	Reid 1894–1899
		William Lyne		Hume	14 August 1895	6 October 1898	3 years, 53 days	1898
		Edmund Barton		Hastings and Macleay	6 October 1898	23 August 1899	321 days	–
		William Lyne		Hume	23 August 1899	13 September 1899	21 days	–
		George Reid	Free Trade	Sydney-King	14 September 1899	23 March 1901	1 year, 190 days	–	Lyne 1899–1901
	1	Charles Lee	Liberal Reform	Tenterfield	23 March 1901	18 September 1902	1 year, 179 days	1901	See 1901–1904
	2	Joseph Carruthers	Liberal Reform	St George	18 September 1902	30 August 1904	1 year, 347 days	–	See 1901–1904
	2	Joseph Carruthers	Liberal Reform	St George	18 September 1902	30 August 1904	1 year, 347 days	1904	Waddell 1904
	3	James McGowen	Labor	Redfern	20 September 1904	21 October 1910	6 years, 31 days	1907	Carruthers 1904–1907
	3	James McGowen	Labor	Redfern	20 September 1904	21 October 1910	6 years, 31 days	1910	Wade 1907–1910
	4	Charles Wade	Liberal Reform	Gordon	21 October 1910	15 November 1916	6 years, 25 days	–	McGowen 1910–1913
	4	Charles Wade	Liberal Reform	Gordon	21 October 1910	15 November 1916	6 years, 25 days	1913	Holman 1913–1920
	5	Ernest Durack	Labor	Bathurst	22 November 1916	19 February 1917	89 days	–
	6	John Storey	Labor	Balmain	22 February 1917	13 April 1920	3 years, 51 days	1917
	6	John Storey	Labor	Balmain	22 February 1917	13 April 1920	3 years, 51 days	1920
	7	George Fuller	Nationalist	Wollondilly	14 April 1920	13 April 1922	1 year, 364 days	–	Storey 1920–1921
	7	George Fuller	Nationalist	Wollondilly	14 April 1920	13 April 1922	1 year, 364 days	1922	Dooley 1921–1922
	8	James Dooley	Labor	Bathurst	20 April 1922	9 March 1923	323 days	–	Fuller 1922–1925
	9	Greg McGirr	Labor	Sydney	9 March 1923	16 April 1923	38 days	–
	10	Bill Dunn	Labor	Wammerawa	16 April 1923	31 July 1923	106 days	–
	11	Jack Lang	Labor	Auburn	31 July 1923	17 June 1925	1 year, 321 days	1925
	(7)	George Fuller	Nationalist	Wollondilly	23 June 1925	24 September 1925	93 days	–	Lang 1925–1927
	12	Thomas Bavin	Nationalist	Ryde	24 September 1925	18 October 1927	2 years, 24 days	1927	Lang 1925–1927
	(11)	Jack Lang	Labor	Auburn	18 October 1927	4 November 1930	3 years, 17 days	1930	Bavin 1927–1930
	(12)	Thomas Bavin	Nationalist	Gordon	25 November 1930	5 April 1932	1 year, 132 days	–	Lang 1930–1932
			Nationalist					–
			United Australia					–
	13	Bertram Stevens	United Australia	Croydon	5 April 1932	13 May 1932	38 days	1932
	(11)	Jack Lang	Labor (NSW)	Auburn	22 June 1932	5 September 1939	7 years, 75 days	1935	Stevens 1932–1939
			Labor					1938	Stevens 1932–1939
			Labor					–	Mair 1939–1941
	14	William McKell	Labor	Redfern	5 September 1939	16 May 1941	1 year, 253 days	1941	Mair 1939–1941
	15	Alexander Mair	United Australia	Albury	19 May 1941	10 February 1944	2 years, 267 days	–	McKell 1941–1947
	15	Alexander Mair	Democratic	Albury	19 May 1941	10 February 1944	2 years, 267 days	–
	16	Reginald Weaver	Democratic	Neutral Bay	10 February 1944	12 November 1945	1 year, 275 days	1944
	16	Reginald Weaver	Liberal	Neutral Bay	10 February 1944	12 November 1945	1 year, 275 days	–
	(15)	Alexander Mair	Liberal	Albury	13 November 1945	20 March 1946	127 days	–
	17	Vernon Treatt	Liberal	Woollahra	20 March 1946	10 August 1954	8 years, 143 days	–
								1947	McGirr 1947–1952
								1950	McGirr 1947–1952
								1953	Cahill 1952–1959
	18	Murray Robson	Liberal	Vaucluse	17 August 1954	20 September 1955	1 year, 34 days	–
	19	Pat Morton	Liberal	Mosman	20 September 1955	17 July 1959	3 years, 300 days	1956
	19	Pat Morton	Liberal	Mosman	20 September 1955	17 July 1959	3 years, 300 days	1959
	20	Robert Askin	Liberal	Collaroy	17 July 1959	13 May 1965	5 years, 300 days	–
								1962	Heffron 1959–1964
								1965	Renshaw 1964–1965
	21	Jack Renshaw	Labor	Castlereagh	14 May 1965	23 July 1968	3 years, 70 days	1968	Askin 1965–1975
	22	Pat Hills	Labor	Phillip	30 July 1968	3 December 1973	5 years, 126 days	1971
	22	Pat Hills	Labor	Phillip	30 July 1968	3 December 1973	5 years, 126 days	1973
	23	Neville Wran	Labor	Bass Hill	3 December 1973	14 May 1976	2 years, 163 days	–
								–	Lewis 1975–1976
								1976	Willis 1976
	24	Eric Willis	Liberal	Earlwood	15 May 1976	16 December 1977	1 year, 215 days	–	Wran 1976–1986
	25	Peter Coleman	Liberal	Fuller	16 December 1977	7 October 1978	295 days	1978
	26	John Mason	Liberal	Dubbo	24 October 1978	29 May 1981	2 years, 217 days	–
	27	Bruce McDonald	Liberal	Kirribilli	1 June 1981	12 October 1981	133 days	1981
	28	John Dowd	Liberal	Lane Cove	27 October 1981	15 March 1983	1 year, 139 days	–
	29	Nick Greiner	Liberal	Ku-ring-gai	15 March 1983	25 March 1988	5 years, 10 days	1984
	29	Nick Greiner	Liberal	Ku-ring-gai	15 March 1983	25 March 1988	5 years, 10 days	1988	Unsworth 1986–1988
	30	Bob Carr	Labor	Maroubra	6 April 1988	4 April 1995	6 years, 363 days	1991	Greiner 1988–1992
	30	Bob Carr	Labor	Maroubra	6 April 1988	4 April 1995	6 years, 363 days	1995	Fahey 1992–1995
	31	Peter Collins	Liberal	Willoughby	4 April 1995	7 December 1998	3 years, 247 days	–	Carr 1995–2005
	32	Kerry Chikarovski	Liberal	Lane Cove	7 December 1998	28 March 2002	3 years, 111 days	1999
	33	John Brogden	Liberal	Pittwater	28 March 2002	1 September 2005	3 years, 157 days	2003
	33	John Brogden	Liberal	Pittwater	28 March 2002	1 September 2005	3 years, 157 days	–	Iemma 2005–2008
	34	Peter Debnam	Liberal	Vaucluse	1 September 2005	4 April 2007	1 year, 215 days	2007
	35	Barry O'Farrell	Liberal	Ku-ring-gai	4 April 2007	28 March 2011	3 years, 358 days	–
								–	Rees 2008–2009
								2011	Keneally 2009–2011
	36	John Robertson	Labor	Blacktown	31 March 2011	23 December 2014	3 years, 267 days	–	O'Farrell 2011–2014
	36	John Robertson	Labor	Blacktown	31 March 2011	23 December 2014	3 years, 267 days	–	Baird 2014–2017
	37	Luke Foley	Labor	Legislative Council Auburn	5 January 2015	8 November 2018	3 years, 307 days	2015	Baird 2014–2017
	37	Luke Foley	Labor	Legislative Council Auburn	5 January 2015	8 November 2018	3 years, 307 days	–	Berejiklian 2017–2021
	38	Michael Daley	Labor	Maroubra	10 November 2018	25 March 2019	135 days	2019
	39	Jodi McKay	Labor	Strathfield	29 June 2019	28 May 2021	1 year, 333 days	–
	40	Chris Minns	Labor	Kogarah	4 June 2021	Incumbent	242 days	–
	40	Chris Minns	Labor	Kogarah	4 June 2021	Incumbent	242 days	–	Perrottet 2021–
Source:Parliament of New South Wales.^[2]

Leaders of the Opposition in the Legislative Council[]

No.		Name	Party	Term of Office		Tenure
	1	Sir Henry Manning^[a]	United Australia	16 May 1941 (1941-05-16)	22 April 1958 (1958-04-22)	16 years, 341 days
			Democratic
			Liberal
	2	Hector Clayton	Liberal	12 April 1960	30 October 1962	2 years, 201 days
	3	Arthur Bridges	Liberal	30 October 1962	13 May 1965	2 years, 195 days
	4	Reg Downing	Labor	13 May 1965	4 February 1972	6 years, 267 days
	5	Neville Wran	Labor	22 February 1972	19 October 1973	1 year, 239 days
	6	Leroy Serisier	Labor	3 December 1973	13 May 1976	2 years, 162 days
	7	Sir John Fuller	Country	14 May 1976	1 August 1978	2 years, 79 days
	8	Max Willis	Liberal	1 August 1978	20 October 1981	3 years, 80 days
	9	Lloyd Lange	Liberal	20 October 1981	3 April 1984	2 years, 166 days
	10	Ted Pickering	Liberal	3 April 1984	24 March 1988	3 years, 356 days
	11	Jack Hallam	Labor	6 April 1988	2 May 1991	3 years, 26 days
	12	Michael Egan	Labor	2 July 1991	4 April 1995	3 years, 276 days
	13	John Hannaford	Liberal	11 April 1995	31 March 1999	3 years, 354 days
	14	Mike Gallacher	Liberal	31 March 1999	4 March 2011	11 years, 338 days
	15	Tony Kelly	Labor	8 April 2011	6 June 2011	59 days
	16	Luke Foley	Labor	14 June 2011	8 April 2015	3 years, 298 days
	17	Adam Searle	Labor	8 April 2015	8 June 2021	6 years, 61 days
	18	Penny Sharpe	Labor	8 June 2021	Incumbent	238 days
Source:Parliament of New South Wales.^[3]

Notes[]

^ Manning refused the role of 'official' Leader of the Opposition, when offered to him, owing to his beliefs in a non-partisan Legislative Council. Nevertheless he was considered by his colleagues as the de facto leader of the opposition members.^[4]

References[]

^ "PARLIAMENTARY SALARIES AND ALLOWANCESAS FROM 1 JULY 2020. FOLLOWING APPLICATION OF PARLIAMENTARY REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL dated 7 July 2020" (PDF). Parliament of New South Wales. 7 July 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Leaders of the Opposition in the NSW Legislative Assembly, 1901 - present". Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Leaders of the Opposition in the NSW Legislative Council". Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
^ Ward, John M. "Manning, Sir Henry Edward (1877–1963)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 28 June 2020 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.

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