The Minister for Agriculture and Food is a position in the
Cabinet of Western Australia
The ministries of Western Australia (also known as Cabinets) are the centre of executive power in the Government of Western Australia. They are composed of Ministers who are responsible for one or more portfolios, answer questions on those portf ...
. The minister is responsible for the
Department of Agriculture and Food, and usually holds several other portfolios.
The responsibilities now incorporated in the portfolio were originally held by the
Colonial Secretary, and it was not until the 1904
Daglish Ministry that a separate Minister for Agriculture was appointed, with the inaugural minister being the nominally independent
John Drew. From its first implementation through to the 1920s, and sporadically afterward, the titles of Minister for Agriculture and
Minister for Lands were generally held by the same person, although the positions were legally separate, and were quite different in scope. A similar situation has existed since the late 1970s with the
Fisheries and
Forests portfolios. The minister's title was simply "Minister for Agriculture" until 1993, when
Monty House
Montague Grant "Monty" House (born 16 August 1946) is a former Australian politician.
He was born in Perth, the son of politician Edward House, and was a farmer at Gnowangerup before entering politics. In 1986 he was elected to the Western Aus ...
was made Minister for Primary Industries in the
Court–Cowan Ministry. The current title was implemented in 2005.
The current Minister for Agriculture and Food is
Alannah MacTiernan
Alannah Joan Geraldine Cecilia MacTiernan (born 10 January 1953) is an Australian politician. Since 1988, she has served in politics at a federal, state, and local level, including as a minister in the Western Australian state governments of Ge ...
of the
Labor Party. The previous Minister for Agriculture and Food was
Mark Lewis of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
. Lewis was only the third Liberal to hold the position – in previous
Coalition governments, the position has been reserved for members of the
National Party (and its predecessors).
List of Ministers for Agriculture and Food
Thirty three people have been appointed as Minister for Agriculture and Food (or equivalent) in Western Australia, with
Crawford Nalder
Sir Crawford David Nalder (14 February 1910 – 8 December 1994) was an Australian politician who served as Deputy Premier of Western Australia from 1962 to 1971. He was leader of the Country Party in Western Australia from 1962 to 1973.
Nalde ...
's 11 years and 335 days the longest time period in the position. In the table below, members of the
Legislative Council are designated "MLC". All others were members of the
Legislative Assembly at the time of their service. In Western Australia, serving ministers are entitled to be styled "
The Honourable
''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...
", and may retain the style after three years' service in the ministry.
Addressing a Member of Parliament
– Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
References
{{Western Australian ministerial portfolios
Agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
Ministers, Agriculture
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
Agriculture in Western Australia