Premier of Victoria

Premier of Victoria
Victorian Coat of arms
Flag of Victoria
Incumbent Daniel Andrews since 4 December 2014
Department of Premier and Cabinet
Style	The Honourable (formal) Premier (informal)
Status	Head of Government
Member of	Parliament National Cabinet Cabinet Executive Council
Reports to	Parliament
Seat	1 Treasury Place, Melbourne
Appointer	Governor of Victoria 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	30 November 1855
First holder	William Haines
Deputy	Deputy Premier of Victoria
Salary	AU$441,439[1]
Website	www.premier.vic.gov.au

The premier of Victoria is the head of government in the Australian state of Victoria. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assembly.

Responsible government came to the colony of Victoria in 1855. Between 1856 and 1892, the head of the government was commonly called the premier or the prime minister, but neither title had any legal basis. The head of government always held another portfolio, usually Chief Secretary or Treasurer, for which they were paid a salary. The first head of government to hold the title of premier without holding another portfolio was William Shiels in 1892.

Premiers of Victoria who have served for more than 3000 days have a statue installed at Treasury Place. Four Victorian premiers have been afforded this honour: Albert Dunstan, Henry Bolte, Rupert Hamer and John Cain Junior.^[2][3][4]

The incumbent premier of Victoria since the 2014 election is Daniel Andrews of the Australian Labor Party.

List of premiers of Victoria[]

  Independent (20)
  Reform (2)
  Commonwealth Liberal (2)
  Labor (9)
  Nationalist (3)
  Country (3)
  United Australia (1)
  Liberal (8)

No.	Premier	Portrait	Term of office		Tenure[5]	Party	Constituency	Ministry	Election(s)
1	William Haines		30 November 1855	11 March 1857	1 year, 102 days		South Grant
2	John O'Shanassy		11 March 1857	29 April 1857	50 days		Kilmore		–
(1)	William Haines		29 April 1857	10 March 1858	316 days		South Grant		–
(2)	John O'Shanassy		10 March 1858	27 October 1859	1 year, 232 days		Kilmore		–
3	William Nicholson		27 October 1859	26 November 1860	1 year, 31 days		Sandridge
4	Richard Heales		26 November 1860	14 November 1861	354 days		East Bourke Boroughs
(2)	John O'Shanassy		14 November 1861	27 June 1863	1 year, 226 days		Kilmore		–
5	James McCulloch		27 June 1863	6 May 1868	4 years, 315 days		Mornington
6	Charles Sladen		6 May 1868	11 July 1868	67 days		Western Province		–
(5)	James McCulloch		11 July 1868	20 September 1869	1 year, 72 days		Mornington		–
7	John Alexander MacPherson		20 September 1869	9 April 1870	202 days		Dundas		–
(5)	James McCulloch		9 April 1870	19 June 1871	1 year, 72 days		Mornington
8	Charles Gavan Duffy		19 June 1871	10 June 1872	358 days		Dalhousie		–
9	James Francis		10 June 1872	31 July 1874	2 years, 52 days		Richmond
10	George Kerferd		31 July 1874	7 August 1875	1 year, 8 days		Ovens		–
11	Graham Berry		7 August 1875	20 October 1875	75 days	Non-Party Liberalism	Geelong West		–
(5)	James McCulloch		20 October 1875	21 May 1877	1 year, 214 days	Non-Party Conservatism	Warrnambool		–
(11)	Graham Berry		21 May 1877	5 March 1880	2 years, 290 days	Non-Party Liberalism	Geelong
12	James Service		5 March 1880	3 August 1880	152 days	Non-Party Conservatism	Maldon
(11)	Graham Berry		3 August 1880	9 July 1881	341 days	Non-Party Liberalism	Geelong
13	Bryan O'Loghlen		9 July 1881	8 March 1883	1 year, 243 days	Non-Party Liberalism	West Bourke		–
(12)	James Service		8 March 1883	18 February 1886	2 years, 348 days	Non-Party Conservatism	Castlemaine
14	Duncan Gillies		18 February 1886	5 November 1890	4 years, 261 days	Non-Party Conservatism	Rodney Eastern Suburbs
15	James Munro		5 November 1890	16 February 1892	1 year, 104 days	Non-Party Liberalism	Geelong		–
16	William Shiels		16 February 1892	23 January 1893	343 days	Non-Party Liberalism	Normanby
17	James Patterson		23 January 1893	27 September 1894	1 year, 248 days	Non-Party Conservatism	Castlemaine		–
18	George Turner		27 September 1894	5 December 1899	5 years, 70 days	Non-Party Liberalism	St Kilda
19	Allan McLean		5 December 1899	19 November 1900	350 days	Non-Party Liberalism	Gippsland North		–
(18)	George Turner		19 November 1900	12 February 1901	86 days	Non-Party Liberalism	St Kilda
20	Alexander Peacock		12 February 1901	10 June 1902	1 year, 119 days	Non-Party Liberalism	Clunes and Allandale		–
21	William Irvine		10 June 1902	16 February 1904	1 year, 252 days	Reform	Lowan		1902
22	Thomas Bent		16 February 1904	8 January 1909	4 years, 328 days	Reform	Brighton		1904 1907 1908
23	John Murray		8 January 1909	18 May 1912	3 years, 132 days	Commonwealth Liberal	Warrnambool		1911
24	William Watt		18 May 1912	9 December 1913	1 year, 206 days	Commonwealth Liberal	Essendon		–
25	George Elmslie		9 December 1913	22 December 1913	14 days	Labor	Albert Park		–
(24)	William Watt		22 December 1913	18 June 1914	179 days	Commonwealth Liberal	Essendon		–
(20)	Alexander Peacock		18 June 1914	29 November 1917	3 years, 165 days	Commonwealth Liberal	Allandale		1914
26	John Bowser		29 November 1917	21 March 1918	144 days	Nationalist	Wangaratta		1917
27	Harry Lawson		21 March 1918	28 April 1924	6 years, 39 days	Nationalist	Castlemaine and Maldon		1920 1921
(20)	Alexander Peacock		28 April 1924	18 July 1924	82 days	Nationalist	Allandale		–
28	George Prendergast		18 July 1924	18 November 1924	124 days	Labor	North Melbourne	Prendergast	1924
29	John Allan		18 November 1924	20 May 1927	2 years, 184 days	Country	Rodney	Allan	–
30	Edmond Hogan		20 May 1927	22 November 1928	1 year, 187 days	Labor	Warrenheip and Grenville	Hogan I	1927
31	William McPherson		22 November 1928	12 December 1929	1 year, 21 days	Nationalist	Hawthorn		–
(30)	Edmond Hogan		12 December 1929	19 May 1932	2 years, 160 days	Labor	Warrenheip and Grenville		1929
32	Stanley Argyle		19 May 1932	2 April 1935	2 years, 319 days	United Australia	Toorak		1932 1935
33	Albert Dunstan		2 April 1935	14 September 1943	8 years, 166 days	United Country	Korong and Eaglehawk	Dunstan I	1937 1940 1943
34	John Cain Sr.		14 September 1943	18 September 1943	5 days	Labor	Northcote	Cain I	–
(33)	Albert Dunstan		18 September 1943	2 October 1945	2 years, 15 days	United Country	Korong and Eaglehawk	Dunstan II	–
35	Ian Macfarlan		2 October 1945	21 November 1945	51 days	Liberal	Brighton	Macfarlan	–
(34)	John Cain Sr.		21 November 1945	20 November 1947	2 years, 0 days	Labor	Northcote	Cain II	1945
36	Thomas Hollway		20 November 1947	27 June 1950	2 years, 220 days	Liberal Liberal and Country	Ballarat		1947 1950
37	John McDonald		27 June 1950	28 October 1952	2 years, 124 days	Country	Shepparton		–
(36)	Thomas Hollway		28 October 1952	31 October 1952	4 days	Electoral Reform	Ballarat	Hollway III	–
(37)	John McDonald		31 October 1952	17 December 1952	48 days	Country	Shepparton	McDonald II	–
(34)	John Cain Sr.		17 December 1952	7 June 1955	2 years, 173 days	Labor	Northcote	Cain III	1952
38	Henry Bolte		7 June 1955	23 August 1972	17 years, 78 days	Liberal and Country Liberal	Hampden	Bolte I Bolte II Bolte III Bolte IV Bolte V Bolte VI	1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970
39	Rupert Hamer		23 August 1972	5 June 1981	8 years, 287 days	Liberal	Kew	Hamer I Hamer II Hamer III Hamer IV	1973 1976 1979
40	Lindsay Thompson		5 June 1981	8 April 1982	308 days	Liberal	Malvern	Thompson	–
41	John Cain Jr.		8 April 1982	10 August 1990	8 years, 125 days	Labor	Bundoora		1982 1985 1988
42	Joan Kirner		10 August 1990	6 October 1992	2 years, 58 days	Labor	Williamstown	Kirner	–
43	Jeff Kennett		6 October 1992	20 October 1999	7 years, 15 days	Liberal	Burwood		1992 1996 –
44	Steve Bracks		20 October 1999	30 July 2007	7 years, 284 days	Labor	Williamstown	Bracks I Bracks II Bracks III	1999 2002 2006
45	John Brumby		30 July 2007	2 December 2010	3 years, 126 days	Labor	Broadmeadows	Brumby	–
46	Ted Baillieu		2 December 2010	6 March 2013	2 years, 95 days	Liberal	Hawthorn	Baillieu	2010
47	Denis Napthine		6 March 2013	4 December 2014	1 year, 274 days	Liberal	South-West Coast	Napthine	–
48	Daniel Andrews		4 December 2014	Incumbent	7 years, 68 days	Labor	Mulgrave	Andrews I Andrews II	2014 2018

Living former premiers[]

As of 9 February 2022, five former premiers are alive, the oldest being Jeff Kennett (1992–1999, born 1948). The most recent Premier to die was John Cain Jr. (1982–1990), on 23 December 2019.

Timeline[]

See also[]

• Department of Premier and Cabinet, Victoria
• Deputy Premier of Victoria
• List of premiers of Victoria by time in office

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Premiers of Victoria, Australia.

• ABC News – Premiers of Victoria