The Fuller ministry (1921) or First Fuller ministry was the 39th ministry of the

New South Wales Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...

, and was led by the 22nd

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

, Sir George Fuller. The ministry covers just seven hours during 20 December 1921, the shortest of any ministry in the history of self-government in the state. Fuller was first elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

in 1889, defeated in 1894, elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

in 1901, defeated in 1914, and re-elected to the Assembly in 1917 and serving until 1928. The 1920 state election saw a large swing against the Nationalist Party, losing 24 seats, including that of Premier

William Holman William Arthur Holman (4 August 1871 – 5 June 1934) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1913 to 1920. He came to office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch), Labor Party, ...

, with Fuller becoming leader of the Nationalist Party. The assembly was evenly divided, with Labor having 43 seats and the support of

Percy Brookfield Percival Stanley Brookfield (7 August 1875 – 22 March 1921) was an Australian politician and militant trade unionist. He was variously known as Percival Jack Brookfield or Jack Brookfield, a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly f ...

() and

Arthur Gardiner Arthur Rowland Gardiner (14 March 1876 – 11 February 1948) was an Australian politician. Gardiner was born in Windsor, New South Wales and educated at Windsor and Sydney Superior public schools and Sydney Teachers' College (now part of the U ...

(Independent Labor), while the Nationalists had 28 seats, the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

had 15 seats and 2 independent Nationalists. The

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is a title commonly held by presiding officers of parliamentary bodies styled legislative assemblies. The office is most widely used in state and territorial legislatures in Australia, and in provincial and ter ...

did not vote unless there was a tie which meant whichever side provided the speaker was unable to command a majority. Nationalist Daniel Levy controversially accepted re-election as speaker, giving Labor an effective majority. James Dooley became Premier following the death of John Story. In December 1921 Fuller indicated to Levy that it was likely he could form a coalition with the Progressives and Levy resigned as speaker on 12 December 1921. Levy was replaced by Labor's Simon Hickey and the government was defeated on the floor of the house 44 votes to 45. The Dooley ministry resigned and as a result Fuller was asked by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Sir Walter Davidson to form a government. The coalition did not have complete support, with Nationalists William Ashford and William Bagnall reportedly dissatisfied, while formal coalition was opposed by the ''True Blue'' members of the Progressive party, led by

Michael Bruxner Lieutenant Colonel Sir Michael Frederick Bruxner (25 March 1882 – 28 March 1970) was an Australian politician and soldier, serving for many years as leader of the Country Party (and its predecessors) in New South Wales. Born in the north o ...

and

Ernest Buttenshaw Ernest Albert Buttenshaw (23 May 187626 June 1950) was an Australian politician and member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1917 until 1932. He was a member of the Nationalist Party of Australia until 1920, when he helped to esta ...

Stephen Perdriau Raymond Stephen Perdriau (3 December 188625 December 1951) was an Australian politician. He was born at Waverley in Sydney to surveyor Stephen Edward Perdriau and Grace Marion, ''née'' King. After attending Scots College and Sydney Grammar S ...

said that while he his name had been read out as a minister, he had not accepted or rejected the position. It is not clear who Fuller hoped would take the role of speaker, however when the Legislative Assembly resumed, Bagnall offered to accept the role of speaker, stating that "I cannot reconcile myself to this recognition of the men who were the chief assassins of the last National Government, and to seeing them placed in the high and honorable positions of Ministers of the Crown". Rather than have Bagnall as speaker, Levy agreed to return to the role. Fuller sought an early election, which was refused and the ministry resigned, seven hours after it was commissioned. Dooley reformed government, serving until it was defeated at the election in March 1922.

Composition of ministry

The composition of the ministry was announced by Premier Fuller on 20 December 1921. Ministers are members of the Legislative Assembly unless otherwise noted.

References

{{Ministries of New South Wales New South Wales ministries 1921 establishments in Australia 1921 disestablishments in Australia

Composition of ministry

See also

References