Premier of New South Wales

Premier of New South Wales
Coat of arms of New South Wales
Flag of New South Wales
Incumbent Dominic Perrottet since 5 October 2021
Department of Premier and Cabinet
Style	The Honourable (formal) Premier (informal)
Status	Head of Government
Member of	New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Reports to	Parliament
Appointer	Governor of New South Wales by convention, based on appointee's ability to command confidence in the Legislative Assembly
Term length	At the Governor's pleasure contingent on the premier's ability to command confidence in the lower house of Parliament
Constituting instrument	None (constitutional convention)
Formation	6 June 1856
First holder	Stuart Donaldson
Deputy	Deputy Premier of New South Wales

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 Parliamentary 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 his or her ability to command the support of a majority of members of the lower house of Parliament, the Legislative Assembly.

Before Federation in 1901 the term "Prime Minister of New South Wales" was also used. "Premier" has been used more or less exclusively from 1901, to avoid confusion with the federal Prime Minister of Australia.^[1][2]

The current premier is Dominic Perrottet, the Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party, who assumed office on 5 October 2021. Perrottet replaced Gladys Berejiklian on 5 October 2021, after Berejiklian resigned as premier.^[3]

List of premiers of New South Wales[]

No.	Name (lifespan)	Portrait	Assumed office	Left office	Term of office	Party	Constituency	Ministry	Election(s)
1	Stuart Donaldson (1812–1867)		6 June 1856	25 August 1856	80 days	No party	Sydney Hamlets	Donaldson	1856
2	Charles Cowper (1807–1875)		26 August 1856	2 October 1856	37 days	No party	Sydney	Cowper I	–
3	Henry Parker (1808–1881)		3 October 1856	7 September 1857	339 days	No party	Parramatta	Parker	–
(2) II	Charles Cowper (1807–1875)		7 September 1857	26 October 1859	2 years, 49 days	No party	Sydney East Sydney	Cowper II	1858
4	William Forster (1818–1882)		27 October 1859	9 March 1860	1 year, 165 days	No party	Queanbeyan	Forster	1859
5	John Robertson (1816–1891)		9 March 1860	9 January 1861	306 days	No party	Upper Hunter	Robertson I	–
(2) III	Charles Cowper (1807–1875)		10 January 1861	15 October 1863	2 years, 278 days	No party	East Sydney	Cowper III	1860
6	James Martin (1820–1886)		16 October 1863	2 February 1865	1 year, 109 days	No party	Tumut Monaro	Martin I	–
(2) IV	Charles Cowper (1807–1875)		3 February 1865	21 January 1866	352 days	No party	East Sydney	Cowper IV	1864–65
(6) II	James Martin (1820–1886)		22 January 1866	26 October 1868	2 years, 278 days	No party	Lachlan	Martin II	–
(5) II	John Robertson (1816–1891)		27 October 1868	12 January 1870	1 year, 77 days	No party	Clarence West Sydney	Robertson II	–
(2) V	Charles Cowper (1807–1875)		13 January 1870	15 December 1870	336 days	No party	Liverpool Plains	Cowper V	1869–70
(6) III	Sir James Martin (1820–1886)		16 December 1870	13 May 1872	1 year, 149 days	No party	East Sydney East Macquarie	Martin III	–
7	Henry Parkes (1815–1896)		14 May 1872	8 February 1875	2 years, 270 days	No party	East Sydney	Parkes I	1872
(5) III	John Robertson (1816–1891)		9 February 1875	21 March 1877	2 years, 40 days	No party	West Sydney	Robertson III	1874–75
(7) II	Henry Parkes (1815–1896)		22 March 1877	16 August 1877	175 days	No party	East Sydney Canterbury	Parkes II	–
(5) IV	Sir John Robertson (1816–1891)		17 August 1877	17 December 1877	122 days	No party	West Sydney East Macquarie Mudgee	Robertson IV	–
8	James Farnell (1825–1888)		18 December 1877	20 December 1878	1 year, 2 days	No party	St Leonards	Farnell	1877
(7) III	Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896)		21 December 1878	4 January 1883	4 years, 14 days	No party	Canterbury East Sydney Tenterfield	Parkes III	1880
9	Alexander Stuart (1824–1886)		5 January 1883	6 October 1885	2 years, 274 days	No party	Illawarra	Stuart	1882
10	George Dibbs (1834–1904)		7 October 1885	21 December 1885	75 days	No party	St Leonards Murrumbidgee	Dibbs I	1885
(5) V	Sir John Robertson (1816–1891)		22 December 1885	22 February 1886	62 days	No party	Mudgee	Robertson V	–
11	Sir Patrick Jennings (1831–1897)		26 February 1886	19 January 1887	327 days	No party	Bogan	Jennings	–
(7) IV	Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896)		25 January 1887	16 January 1889	1 year, 357 days	Free Trade	St Leonards	Parkes IV	1887
(10) II	George Dibbs (1834–1904)		17 January 1889	7 March 1889	49 days	Protectionist	Murrumbidgee	Dibbs II	–
(7) V	Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896)		8 March 1889	23 October 1891	2 years, 229 days	Free Trade	St Leonards	Parkes V	1889 1891
(10) III	George Dibbs (1834–1904)		23 October 1891	2 August 1894	2 years, 283 days	Protectionist	Murrumbidgee	Dibbs III	–
12	George Reid (1845–1918)		3 August 1894	13 September 1899	5 years, 41 days	Free Trade	East Sydney Sydney-King	Reid	1894 1895 1898
13	Sir William Lyne (1844–1913)		14 September 1899	27 March 1901	1 year, 194 days	Protectionist	Hume	Lyne	–
14	Sir John See (1844–1907)		28 March 1901	14 June 1904	3 years, 78 days	Progressive	Grafton	See	1901
15	Thomas Waddell (1854–1940)		15 June 1904	29 August 1904	75 days	Progressive	Cowra	Waddell	–
16	Sir Joseph Carruthers (1857–1932)		29 August 1904	1 October 1907	3 years, 33 days	Liberal Reform	St George	Carruthers	1904 1907
17	Charles Wade (1863–1922)		2 October 1907	1 October 1910	2 years, 364 days	Liberal Reform	Gordon	Wade	–
18	James McGowen (1855–1922)		21 October 1910	29 June 1913	2 years, 251 days	Labor	Redfern	McGowen	1910
19	William Holman (1871–1934)		30 June 1913	15 November 1916	6 years, 287 days	Labor	Cootamundra	Holman I	1913 1917
(19)			15 November 1916	12 April 1920		Nationalist		Holman II
20	John Storey (1869–1921)		13 April 1920	5 October 1921	1 year, 175 days	Labor	Balmain	Storey	1920
21	James Dooley (1877–1950)		5 October 1921	20 December 1921	76 days	Labor	Bathurst	Dooley I	–
22	Sir George Fuller (1861–1940)		20 December 1921	20 December 1921	0 days	Nationalist	Wollondilly	Fuller I	–
(21) II	James Dooley (1877–1950)		20 December 1921	13 April 1922	114 days	Labor	Bathurst	Dooley II	–
(22) II	Sir George Fuller (1861–1940)		13 April 1922	17 June 1925	3 years, 55 days	Nationalist	Wollondilly	Fuller II	1922
23	Jack Lang (1876–1975)		17 June 1925	18 October 1927	2 years, 123 days	Labor	Parramatta	Lang I Lang II	1925
24	Thomas Bavin (1874–1941)		18 October 1927	4 November 1930	3 years, 17 days	Nationalist	Gordon	Bavin	1927
(23) II	Jack Lang (1876–1975)		4 November 1930	16 May 1932	1 year, 194 days	Labor	Auburn	Lang III	1930
25	Bertram Stevens (1889–1973)		16 May 1932	5 August 1939	7 years, 81 days	United Australia	Croydon	Stevens I Stevens II Stevens III	1932 1935 1938
26	Alexander Mair (1889–1969)		5 August 1939	16 May 1941	1 year, 284 days	United Australia	Albury	Mair	–
27	William McKell (1891–1985)		16 May 1941	6 February 1947	5 years, 266 days	Labor	Redfern	McKell I McKell II	1941 1944
28	James McGirr (1890–1957)		6 February 1947	2 April 1952	5 years, 56 days	Labor	Bankstown Liverpool	McGirr I McGirr II McGirr III	1947 1950
29	Joseph Cahill (1891–1959)		2 April 1952	22 October 1959	7 years, 203 days	Labor	Cook's River	Cahill I Cahill II Cahill III Cahill IV	1953 1956 1959
30	Bob Heffron (1890–1978)		23 October 1959	30 April 1964	4 years, 190 days	Labor	Maroubra	Heffron I Heffron II	1962
31	Jack Renshaw (1909–1987)		30 April 1964	13 May 1965	1 year, 13 days	Labor	Castlereagh	Renshaw	–
32	Sir Robert Askin (1907–1981)		13 May 1965	3 January 1975	9 years, 235 days	Liberal	Collaroy Pittwater	Askin I Askin II Askin III Askin IV Askin V Askin VI	1965 1968 1971 1973
33	Tom Lewis (1922–2016)		3 January 1975	23 January 1976	1 year, 20 days	Liberal	Wollondilly	Lewis I Lewis II	–
34	Sir Eric Willis (1922–1999)		23 January 1976	14 May 1976	112 days	Liberal	Earlwood	Willis	–
35	Neville Wran (1926–2014)		14 May 1976	4 July 1986	10 years, 21 days	Labor	Bass Hill	Wran I Wran II Wran III Wran IV Wran V Wran VI Wran VII Wran VIII	1976 1981 1984
36	Barrie Unsworth (1934–)		4 July 1986	25 March 1988	1 year, 295 days	Labor	Rockdale	Unsworth	–
37	Nick Greiner (1947–)		25 March 1988	24 June 1992	4 years, 91 days	Liberal	Ku-ring-gai	Greiner I Greiner II	1988 1991
38	John Fahey (1945–2020)		24 June 1992	4 April 1995	2 years, 284 days	Liberal	Southern Highlands	Fahey I Fahey II Fahey III	–
39	Bob Carr (1947–)		4 April 1995	3 August 2005	10 years, 121 days	Labor	Maroubra	Carr I Carr II Carr III Carr IV	1995 1999 2003
40	Morris Iemma (1961–)		3 August 2005	5 September 2008	3 years, 36 days	Labor	Lakemba	Iemma I Iemma II	2007
41	Nathan Rees (1968–)		5 September 2008	4 December 2009	1 year, 121 days	Labor	Toongabbie	Rees	–
42	Kristina Keneally (1968–)		4 December 2009	28 March 2011	1 year, 114 days	Labor	Heffron	Keneally	–
43	Barry O'Farrell (1959– )		28 March 2011	17 April 2014	3 years, 20 days	Liberal	Ku-ring-gai	O'Farrell	2011
44	Mike Baird (1968–)		17 April 2014	23 January 2017	2 years, 281 days	Liberal	Manly	Baird I Baird II	2015
45	Gladys Berejiklian (1970–)		23 January 2017	5 October 2021	4 years, 255 days	Liberal	Willoughby	Berejiklian I Berejiklian II	2019
46	Dominic Perrottet (1982–)		5 October 2021	Incumbent	84 days	Liberal	Epping	Perrottet	–

Living former premiers[]

Nine former premiers are alive, the oldest being Barrie Unsworth (1986–1988, born 1934). The most recent premier to die was John Fahey on 12 September 2020.^[4]

See also[]

• List of premiers of New South Wales by time in office
• Deputy Premier of New South Wales
• List of New South Wales government agencies

References[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Premiers of New South Wales.