From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Premier of Western Australia
Premier of Western Australia
Premier of Western Australia History
Ministry
State
Incumbent
Colin Barnett
Style The Honourable
Appointed by Ken Michael
as Governor of Western Australia
First John Forrest
Formation 29 December 1890
Term length At the Governor’s pleasure
The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the exec- John Forrest, the first Premier of Western Australia
utive government in the Australian State of Western Aus-
tralia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Aus- The office of premier of Western Australia was first
tralia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Aus- formed in 1890, after Western Australia was officially
tralia at the national level, subject to the different Con- granted responsible government by Britain in 1889. The
stitutions. The current Premier is Colin Barnett who was Constitution of Western Australia does not explicitly pro-
sworn into office by Governor Ken Michael on 23 Septem- vide for a premier, and the office was not formally listed
ber 2008.[1] as one of the executive offices until the appointment of
Ross McLarty in 1947. Nonetheless, John Forrest imme-
diately adopted the title on taking office as first premier
Function of Western Australia in 1890, and it has been used ever
The premier must be a member of one of the two Houses since.
of the Parliament of Western Australia; by convention John Forrest was the only premier of Western Aus-
the premier is a member of the lower house, the Western tralia as a self-governing colony. Following the Federa-
Australian Legislative Assembly. He or she is appointed tion of Australia in 1901, Western Australia became an
by the governor on the advice of the lower house, and Australian state and the responsibilities of the office of
must resign if he or she loses the support of the majority premier were diminished.
of that house. Consequently, the premier is almost al- Party politics began in Western Australia with the
ways the leader of the political party or coalition of par- rise of the Labor party in 1901. By 1904, the party system
ties with the majority of seats in the lower house. was entrenched in Western Australian politics. Since
then the premiers have been associated with political
parties.
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Premier of Western Australia
Western Australia’s constitution contains nothing to most recent premier to die was Sir Charles Court
preclude the premier being a member of the upper (1974–1982) on 22 December 2007, aged 96.
house, the Western Australian Legislative Council. His-
torically and by convention, however, the premier is a
member of the Assembly. The only exception has been
See also
Hal Colebatch, a member of the Legislative Council who • Leader of the Opposition (Western Australia)
accepted the premiership in April 1919 on the under- • Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative
standing that an Assembly seat would be found for him, Assembly
only to resign a month later when no seat could be found.
During the economic boom of the 1980s, the Western
Australian government became closely involved with a
Notes
number of large businesses. A succession of deals were [1] Barnett sworn in as WA’s 29th Premier, The West
made between the government and businesses, and these Australian, 23 September 2008
ultimately caused great losses for the state. A subsequent
royal commission found evidence of widespread corrup- References
tion. Three former premiers were found to have acted
improperly and two of them, Ray O’Connor and Brian • Reid, G. S. and M. R. Oliver (1982). The Premiers of
Burke, were jailed. This scandal became popularly known Western Australia 1890–1982. University of Western
as WA Inc. Australia Press. Nedlands, Western Australia. ISBN
0-85564-214-9.
• The Constitution Centre of Western Australia (2002).
List of Premiers of Western Governors and Premiers of Western Australia. West
Australia Perth, Western Australia. ISBN 0-7307-3821-3.
1. The premiers were not officially associated with
organised parties until 1904.
Graphical timeline
Living former premiers
As of March 2008, seven former premiers are alive, the
oldest being Ray O’Connor (1982–1983, born in 1926). The
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Premier of Western Australia
Premier Party Assumed of- Left office Term
fice
Sir John Forrest (pro-Forrest)1 29 December 15 February &1000000000000001000000010 years,
1890 1901 &1000000000000004800000048 days
George (pro-Forrest) 15 February 27 May 1901 &100000000000000000000000 years,
Throssell 1901 &10000000000000101000000101 days
George Leake Opposition1 27 May 1901 21 November &100000000000000000000000 years,
1901 &10000000000000178000000178 days
Alf Morgans Ministerialist1 21 November 23 December &100000000000000000000000 years,
1901 1901 &1000000000000003200000032 days
George Leake Opposition1 23 December 1 July 1902 &100000000000000000000000 years,
1901 &10000000000000190000000190 days
Sir Walter Opposition1 1 July 1902 10 August &100000000000000020000002 years,
James 1904 &1000000000000004000000040 days
Henry Daglish Labor 10 August 25 August &100000000000000010000001 year,
1904 1905 &1000000000000001500000015 days
Sir Cornthwaite Ministerialist 25 August 7 May 1906 &100000000000000000000000 years,
Rason 1905 &10000000000000255000000255 days
Sir Newton Ministerialist 7 May 1906 16 Septem- &100000000000000040000004 years,
Moore ber 1910 &10000000000000132000000132 days
Frank Wilson Ministerialist 16 Septem- 7 October &100000000000000010000001 year,
ber 1910 1911 &1000000000000002100000021 days
John Scaddan Labor 7 October 27 July 1916 &100000000000000040000004 years,
1911 &10000000000000294000000294 days
Frank Wilson Liberal (WA) 27 July 1916 28 June 1917 &100000000000000000000000 years,
&10000000000000336000000336 days
Sir Henry Le- Nationalist 28 June 1917 17 April 1919 &100000000000000010000001 year,
froy &10000000000000293000000293 days
Sir Hal Cole- Nationalist 17 April 1919 17 May 1919 &100000000000000000000000 years,
batch &1000000000000003000000030 days
Sir James Nationalist 17 May 1919 16 April 1924 &100000000000000040000004 years,
Mitchell &10000000000000335000000335 days
Philip Collier Labor 16 April 1924 24 April 1930 &100000000000000060000006 years,
&100000000000000080000008 days
Sir James Nationalist 24 April 1930 24 April 1933 &100000000000000030000003 years,
Mitchell &100000000000000000000000 days
Philip Collier Labor 24 April 1933 20 August &100000000000000030000003 years,
1936 &10000000000000118000000118 days
John Willcock Labor 20 August 31 July 1945 &100000000000000080000008 years,
1936 &10000000000000345000000345 days
Frank Wise Labor 31 July 1945 1 April 1947 &100000000000000010000001 year,
&10000000000000244000000244 days
Ross McLarty Liberal 1 April 1947 23 February &100000000000000050000005 years,
1953 &10000000000000328000000328 days
Albert Hawke Labor 23 February 2 April 1959 &100000000000000060000006 years,
1953 &1000000000000003800000038 days
3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Premier of Western Australia
Sir David Brand Liberal 2 April 1959 3 March 1971 &1000000000000001100000011 years,
&10000000000000335000000335 days
John Tonkin Labor 3 March 1971 8 April 1974 &100000000000000030000003 years,
&1000000000000003600000036 days
Sir Charles Liberal 8 April 1974 25 January &100000000000000070000007 years,
Court 1982 &10000000000000292000000292 days
Ray O’Connor Liberal 25 January 25 February &100000000000000010000001 year,
1982 1983 &1000000000000003100000031 days
Brian Burke Labor 25 February 25 February &100000000000000050000005 years,
1983 1988 &100000000000000000000000 days
Peter Dowding Labor 25 February 12 February &100000000000000010000001 year,
1988 1990 &10000000000000352000000352 days
Dr Carmen Labor 12 February 16 February &100000000000000030000003 years,
Lawrence 1990 1993 &100000000000000040000004 days
Richard Court Liberal 16 February 10 February &100000000000000070000007 years,
1993 2001 &10000000000000360000000360 days
Dr Geoff Gallop Labor 16 February 25 January &100000000000000040000004 years,
2001 2006 &10000000000000343000000343 days
Alan Carpenter Labor 25 January 23 Septem- &100000000000000020000002 years,
2006 ber 2008 &10000000000000242000000242 days
Colin Barnett Liberal 23 Septem- incumbent &100000000000000030000003 years,
ber 2008 &1000000000000008800000088 days
Name Term as pre- Date of birth Current age
mier
Ray O’Connor 1982–1983 6 March 1926 &1000000000000008500000085 years,
&10000000000000289000000289 days
Brian Burke 1983–1988 25 February &1000000000000006400000064 years,
1947 &10000000000000298000000298 days
Peter Dowding 1988–1990 6 October 1943 &1000000000000006800000068 years,
&1000000000000007500000075 days
Dr Carmen 1990–1993 2 March 1948 &1000000000000006300000063 years,
Lawrence &10000000000000293000000293 days
Richard Court 1993–2001 27 September &1000000000000006400000064 years,
1947 &1000000000000008400000084 days
Dr Geoff Gallop 2001–2006 27 September &1000000000000006000000060 years,
1951 &1000000000000008400000084 days
Alan Carpenter 2006–2008 4 January 1957 &1000000000000005400000054 years,
&10000000000000350000000350 days
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Categories:
• Lists of heads of government of Australian states and territories
• Premiers of Western Australia
• Western Australia-related lists
4
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Premier of Western Australia
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