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Premier of Western Australia 

For more information on the office of premier, see Premiers of the Australian states.
Premier of Western Australia
Ministry
Provincial/State
Incumbent:
Alan Carpenter
Style: The Honourable
Appointed by: Ken Michael
as Governor of Western Australia
First : John Forrest
Formation: December 29, 1890

The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. He or she performs the same functions in Western Australia as the Prime Minister of Australia does at the national level. The current premier is Alan Carpenter, who was elected leader of the parliamentary caucus of the Australian Labor Party on the 24 January 2006 and was sworn in as premier on the 25 January 2006. (Eric Ripper currently serves as deputy premier and as treasurer of Western Australia.)

Contents

Function

The premier must be a member of one of the two Houses of the Parliament of Western Australia; by convention the premier is a member of the lower house, the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. He or she is appointed by the governor on the advice of the lower house, and must resign if he or she loses the support of the majority of that house. Consequently, the premier is almost always the leader of the political party or coalition of parties with the majority of seats in the lower house.

History

John Forrest, the first Premier of Western Australia
John Forrest, the first Premier of Western Australia

The office of premier of Western Australia was first formed in 1890, after Western Australia was officially granted responsible government by Britain in 1889. The Constitution of Western Australia does not explicitly provide for a premier, and the office was not formally listed as one of the executive offices until the appointment of Ross McLarty in 1947. Nonetheless, John Forrest immediately adopted the title on taking office as first premier of Western Australia in 1890, and it has been used ever since.

John Forrest was the only premier of Western Australia as a self-governing colony. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, Western Australia became an Australian state and the responsibilities of the office of premier were diminished.

Party politics began in Western Australia with the rise of the Labor party in 1901. By 1904, the party system was entrenched in Western Australian politics. Since then the premiers have been associated with political parties.

Western Australia's constitution contains nothing to preclude the premier being a member of the upper house, the Western Australian Legislative Council. Historically and by convention, however, the premier is a member of the Assembly. The only exception has been Hal Colebatch, a member of the Legislative Council who accepted the premiership in April 1919 on the understanding that an Assembly seat would be found for him, 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 number of large businesses. A succession of deals were made between the government and businesses, and these ultimately caused great losses for the state. A subsequent royal commission found evidence of widespread corruption. Three former premiers were found to have acted improperly and two of them, Ray O'Connor and Brian Burke, were jailed. This scandal became popularly known as WA Inc.

List of Premiers of Western Australia

Premier Party Assumed Office Left Office Term
Sir John Forrest Forrest Party1 29 December 1890 15 February 1901 &0000000000000010.00000010 years, &0000000000000048.00000048 days
George Throssell Forrest Party1 15 February 1901 27 May 1901 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.0000000 years, &0000000000000101.000000101 days
George Leake Opposition1 27 May 1901 21 November 1901 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.0000000 years, &0000000000000178.000000178 days
Alf Morgans Ministerialist1 21 November 1901 23 December 1901 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.0000000 years, &0000000000000032.00000032 days
George Leake Opposition1 23 December 1901 1 July 1902 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.0000000 years, &0000000000000190.000000190 days
Sir Walter James Opposition1 1 July 1902 10 August 1904 &0000000000000002.0000002 years, &0000000000000040.00000040 days
Henry Daglish Labor 10 August 1904 25 August 1905 &0000000000000001.0000001 year, &0000000000000015.00000015 days
Sir Cornthwaite Rason Ministerialist 25 August 1905 7 May 1906 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.0000000 years, &0000000000000255.000000255 days
Sir Newton Moore Ministerialist 7 May 1906 16 September 1910 &0000000000000004.0000004 years, &0000000000000132.000000132 days
Frank Wilson Ministerialist 16 September 1910 7 October 1911 &0000000000000001.0000001 year, &0000000000000021.00000021 days
John Scaddan Labor 7 October 1911 27 July 1916 &0000000000000004.0000004 years, &0000000000000294.000000294 days
Frank Wilson Liberal (WA) 27 July 1916 28 June 1917 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.0000000 years, &0000000000000336.000000336 days
Sir Henry Lefroy Nationalist 28 June 1917 17 April 1919 &0000000000000001.0000001 year, &0000000000000293.000000293 days
Sir Hal Colebatch Nationalist 17 April 1919 17 May 1919 &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.0000000 years, &0000000000000030.00000030 days
Sir James Mitchell Nationalist 17 May 1919 16 April 1924 &0000000000000004.0000004 years, &0000000000000335.000000335 days
Philip Collier Labor 16 April 1924 24 April 1930 &0000000000000006.0000006 years, &0000000000000008.0000008 days
Sir James Mitchell Nationalist 24 April 1930 24 April 1933 &0000000000000003.0000003 years, &-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.0000000 days
Philip Collier Labor 24 April 1933 20 August 1936 &0000000000000003.0000003 years, &0000000000000118.000000118 days
John Willcock Labor 20 August 1936 31 July 1945 &0000000000000008.0000008 years, &0000000000000345.000000345 days
Frank Wise Labor 31 July 1945 1 April 1947 &0000000000000001.0000001 year, &0000000000000244.000000244 days
Sir Ross McLarty Liberal 1 April 1947 23 February 1953 &0000000000000005.0000005 years, &0000000000000328.000000328 days
Albert Hawke Labor 23 February 1953 2 April 1959 &0000000000000006.0000006 years, &0000000000000038.00000038 days
Sir David Brand Liberal 2 April 1959 3 March 1971 &0000000000000011.00000011 years, &0000000000000335.000000335 days
John Tonkin Labor 3 March 1971 8 April 1974 &0000000000000003.0000003 years, &0000000000000036.00000036 days
Sir Charles Court Liberal 8 April 1974 25 January 1982 &0000000000000007.0000007 years, &0000000000000292.000000292 days
Ray O'Connor Liberal 25 January 1982 19 February 1983 &0000000000000001.0000001 year, &0000000000000025.00000025 days
Brian Burke Labor 19 February 1983 25 February 1988 &0000000000000005.0000005 years, &0000000000000016.00000016 days
Peter Dowding Labor 25 February 1988 12 February 1990 &0000000000000001.0000001 year, &0000000000000352.000000352 days
Dr Carmen Lawrence Labor 12 February 1990 16 February 1993 &0000000000000003.0000003 years, &0000000000000004.0000004 days
Richard Court Liberal 16 February 1993 10 February 2001 &0000000000000007.0000007 years, &0000000000000360.000000360 days
Dr Geoffrey Gallop Labor 16 February 2001 25 January 2006 &0000000000000004.0000004 years, &0000000000000343.000000343 days
Alan Carpenter Labor 25 January 2006 incumbent &0000000000000002.0000002 years, &0000000000000209.000000209 days
  1. The premiers were not officially associated with organised parties until 1904.

Living former premiers

As of March 2008, six former premiers are alive, the oldest being Ray O'Connor (1982–83, born 1926). The most recent premier to die was Sir Charles Court (1974–82), December 22, 2007.

Name Term as premier Date of birth
Ray O'Connor 1982–1983 6 March 1926
Brian Burke 1983–1988 February 25, 1947
Peter Dowding 1988–1990 October 6, 1943
Dr Carmen Lawrence 1990–1993 March 2, 1948
Richard Court 1993–2001 September 27, 1947
Dr Geoff Gallop 2001–2006 September 27, 1951

See also

References

v • d • e
Current Premiers and Chief Ministers of the States and internal territories of Australia
v • d • e
Premiers of the Australian states

New South Wales · Queensland · South Australia · Tasmania · Victoria · Western Australia
v • d • e
Government of Western Australia
Executive Coat of arms of Western Australia
Legislative
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