Liberal Party of Australia (New South Wales Division)

Liberal Party of Australia (NSW Division)
Leader Mike Baird
President Trent Zimmerman (acting)
Headquarters East Sydney
Ideology Australian conservatism
Economic liberalism
National affiliation Liberal Party of Australia
Legislative Assembly
41 / 93
Legislative Council
12 / 42
NSW Seats in the House of Representatives
22 / 46
NSW Seats in the Senate
4 / 12
NSW Local Councillors
184 / 1,480
Politics of Australia
Political parties
Elections

Liberal Party of Australia (NSW Division) is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in New South Wales. The party currently governs in New South Wales in coalition with the National Party of Australia (NSW), despite having a majority in its own right. The party is part of the federal Liberal Party of Australia which governs nationally in Coalition with the National Party of Australia. In the 66 years since its foundation the party has won seven state elections to the Australian Labor Party's 13, and has spent 20 years in office (1965 to 1976, 1988 to 1995 and 2011 to the present) to Labor's 46. Six leaders have become Premier of New South Wales; of those, four, Sir Robert Askin, Nick Greiner, Barry O'Farrell and Mike Baird, have won at least one state election.

Parliamentary party leaders

Leader of the Liberal Party
Incumbent
The Hon. Mike Baird MP
since 17 April 2014
Inaugural holder Reginald Weaver
Formation 20 April 1945
Deputy The Hon. Gladys Berejiklian MP

The position of leader of the Liberal Party of Australia New South Wales Division is a formal role held by a Liberal member of the Parliament of New South Wales. As the Liberal Party has, since its foundation in 1945, been either the largest or second largest party in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, its leader is usually either the Premier or the Leader of the Opposition, depending on the majority or minority respectively of the party. The current leader of the Liberal Party is Mike Baird, and the deputy leader is Gladys Berejiklian. Both have served in those roles since 17 April 2014. Baird is currently Premier of New South Wales, a post he has held since 17 April 2014.

The role is selected by state members of the parliamentary party, but the position is non-fixed in duration, and is usually only vacated upon resignation, retirement from politics, or a spill motion with the support of the majority of the parliamentary members.

The leader only has a role in a parliamentary context; the party division as a whole is governed by a President and Vice Presidents, who act on the advice of the party division's Director and Deputy Directors. The division also gathers annually at a State Conference to vote on and develop policy to be used by the party's elected representatives. The majority of the twenty Liberal Leaders have been deposed, either after losing elections or when their colleagues determined they could not win an election.

# Party leader[1]Assumed office[2]Left office[2]PremierReason for departureTime in office
1 Reginald Weaver 20 April 1945 12 November 1945 Death in office 206 days
2 Alexander Mair 13 November 1945 20 March 1946 1939–1941 Resignation; Premier under UAP 127 days
3 Sir Vernon Treatt 20 March 1946 10 August 1954 Resignation 8 years, 143 days
4 Murray Robson 17 August 1954 20 September 1955 Deposed 1 year, 34 days
5 Pat Morton 20 September 1955 17 July 1959 Deposed 3 years, 300 days
6 Sir Robert Askin 17 July 1959 3 January 1975 1965–1975 Retirement 15 years, 170 days
7 Tom Lewis 3 January 1975 23 January 1976 1975–1976 Deposed 1 year, 20 days
8 Sir Eric Willis 23 January 1976 16 December 1977 1976 Resignation 1 year, 327 days
9 Peter Coleman 16 December 1977 7 October 1978 Loss of seat at 1978 election 295 days
10 John Mason 24 October 1978 29 May 1981 Deposed 2 years, 217 days
11 Bruce McDonald 1 June 1981 12 October 1981 Loss of seat at 1981 election 133 days
12 John Dowd 20 October 1981 15 March 1983 Resignation 1 year, 146 days
13 Nick Greiner 15 March 1983 24 June 1992 1988–1992 Resignation prior to no confidence motion 9 years, 101 days
14 John Fahey 24 June 1992 4 April 1995 1992–1995 Resignation following 1995 election 2 years, 284 days
15 Peter Collins 4 April 1995 7 December 1998 Deposed 3 years, 247 days
16 Kerry Chikarovski 7 December 1998 28 March 2002 Deposed 3 years, 111 days
17 John Brogden 28 March 2002 29 August 2005 Resignation 3 years, 154 days
18 Peter Debnam 1 September 2005 4 April 2007 Resignation following 2007 election 1 year, 218 days
19 Barry O'Farrell 4 April 2007 16 April 2014 2011–2014 Resignation 7 years, 9 days
20 Mike Baird 17 April 2014 present 2014–present 1 year, 299 days

Deputy leaders

Party LeaderStart of TermEnd of Term
Athol Richardson 1945 1945
Vernon Treatt 1946 1946
Walter Howarth 1946 1954
Robert Askin 1954 1959
Eric Willis 1959 1975
John Maddison 1975 1977
John Mason 1977 1978
Bruce McDonald 1978 1981
Jim Cameron 1981 1981
Kevin Rozzoli 1981 1983
Rosemary Foot 1983 1986
Peter Collins 1986 1992
Bruce Baird 1992 1994
Kerry Chikarovski 1994 1995
Ron Phillips 1995 1999
Barry O'Farrell 1999 2002
Chris Hartcher 2002 2003
Barry O'Farrell 2003 2007
Jillian Skinner 2007 2014
Gladys Berejiklian 2014 Incumbent

See also

References

  1. ↑ Liberal Party of Australia (New South Wales Division) (2009). "Leaders of the Liberal Party - Past and Present". Retrieved 29 October 2009.
  2. 1 2 Parliament of New South Wales (15 September 2008). "Former Members Index A-Z". Retrieved 29 October 2009.
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