The premier of Victoria is the head of

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

in the

Australian state The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. The premier is appointed by the

governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and th ...

, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presidin ...

. Responsible government came to the

colony of Victoria In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

in 1855. Between 1856 and 1892, the head of the government was commonly called the premier or the prime minister, but neither title had any legal basis. The head of government always held another portfolio, usually Chief Secretary or Treasurer, for which they were paid a salary. The first head of government to hold the title of premier without holding another portfolio was

William Shiels William Shiels (3 December 1848 – 17 December 1904) was an Australian colonial-era politician, serving as the 16th Premier of Victoria. Biography Shiels was born in Maghera, County Londonderry, a town in the centre of Ulster in the north of ...

in 1892. Premiers of Victoria who have served for more than 3,000 days have a statue installed at Treasury Place. Four Victorian premiers have been afforded this honour:

Albert Dunstan Sir Albert Arthur Dunstan, KCMG (26 July 1882 – 14 April 1950) was an Australian politician. A member of the Country Party (now National Party), Dunstan was the 33rd premier of Victoria. His term as premier was the second-longest in th ...

Henry Bolte Sir Henry Edward Bolte GCMG (20 May 1908 – 4 January 1990) was an Australian politician who served as the 38th Premier of Victoria. To date he is the longest-serving Victorian premier, having been in office for over 17 consecutive years. ...

Rupert Hamer Sir Rupert James Hamer, (29 July 1916 – 23 March 2004), generally known until he was knighted in 1982 as Dick Hamer, was an Australian Liberal Party politician who served as the 39th Premier of Victoria from 1972 to 1981. Early years Hamer ...

and John Cain Junior. Every Premier of Victoria since 1933 (with the exception of Ian MacFarlan, who was Premier for 51 days) has a portrait of them displayed at Queens Hall in Parliament House. The idea of creating a portrait gallery for former Premiers of Victoria was initiated by the Hon. Fred Grimwade, the President of the Victorian Legislative Council from 1979-1985. Prior to 2001, the portraits were originally displayed in the corridor leading to the Members Dining Room, leading to the corridor being known as the "Premiers’ Corridor". The incumbent premier of Victoria since the 2014 election is Daniel Andrews of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

List of premiers of Victoria

Statistics

The median age of a premier on the first day of their first term is roughly 49 years, and 137 days which falls between

and John McDonald. The youngest person to assume the office was

John Alexander MacPherson John Alexander MacPherson (15 October 1833 – 17 February 1894), Australian colonial politician, was the 7th Premier of Victoria. MacPherson was born at his father's property of ''Springbank'' on the Limestone Plains, in New South Wales ( ...

at 35 years and 340 days. The oldest person to assume office was

George Prendergast George Michael "Mick" Prendergast (20 May 1854 – 28 August 1937) was an Australian politician who served as the 28th Premier of Victoria. He was born to Irish emigrant parents in Adelaide, but he grew up in Stawell, Victoria. He was apprent ...

at 70 years and 59 days. The oldest living former premier is Jeff Kennett, born 2 March 1948 (age ). The youngest living former premier is Steve Bracks, born 15 October 1954, (age ). The youngest living premier is the incumbent Daniel Andrews, born 6 July 1972, (age ). The longest-lived premier was John Cain Jr. who died on 23 December 2019 aged 88 years and 241 days.

was the second longest-lived premier, aged 87 years and 238 days. Cain surpassed Hamer's lifespan on 20 December 2018. The oldest living premier, Jeff Kennett, will tie Hamer if he lives to 26 October 2035, and tie Cain if he lives to 29 October 2036. The shortest-lived premier was

Richard Heales Richard Heales (22 February 1822 – 19 June 1864), Victorian colonial politician, was the 4th Premier of Victoria. Heales was born in London, the son of Richard Heales, an ironmonger. He was apprenticed as a coachbuilder and migrated to Victor ...

who died at the age of 42 years and 118 days on 19 June 1864. The premier with the longest retirement is William Irvine. He left office on 16 February 1904, and died 39 years and 185 days later on 20 August 1943. The premier with the shortest retirement is

Thomas Bent Sir Thomas Bent (7 December 1838 – 17 September 1909) was an Australian politician and the 22nd Premier of Victoria. Early life Bent was born in Penrith, New South Wales the eldest of four sons and two daughters of James Bent, a hotel-keeper ...

, who died on 17 September 1909, 252 days after leaving office on 8 January 1909.

Living former premiers

As of , five former premiers are alive, the oldest being Jeff Kennett (1992–1999, born 1948). The most recent Premier to die was John Cain Jr. (1982–1990), on 23 December 2019.

Oldest living premiers of Victoria

Not all premiers live to become the oldest of their time. Of the 42 deceased premiers, 23 eventually became the oldest of their time, while 19 did not. Charles Gavan Duffy became the oldest living premier when he was appointed in 1871 and remained so until his death in 1903 for a record 31 years and 235 days. George Turner became the oldest living premier when John Murray died in 1916, but he survived Murray by only 101 days. On four occasions the oldest living premier lost this distinction not by his death, but due to the appointment of a premier who was older.

John O'Shanassy Sir John O'Shanassy, KCMG (18 February 1818 – 5 May 1883), was an Irish-Australian politician who served as the 2nd Premier of Victoria. O'Shanassy was born near Thurles in County Tipperary, Ireland, the son of a surveyor, and came to the Po ...

lost this distinction when

Charles Sladen Sir Charles Sladen, (28 August 1816 – 22 February 1884), Australian colonial politician, was the 6th Premier of Victoria. Sladen was born in England near Walmer, Kent, the second son of John Baker Sladen, deputy-lieutenant of the county. He ...

was appointed. Sladen lost this distinction when Charles Gavan Duffy was appointed. William Irvine lost this distinction when

John Bowser Sir John Bowser (2 September 1856 – 10 June 1936), Australian politician, was the 26th Premier of Victoria. He was born in London, the son of an army officer, and arrived in Melbourne as a child with his family. He grew up at Bacchus Mar ...

was appointed. Bowser lost this distinction when

was appointed but when Prendergast died in 1937, Irvine regained it again until his own death in 1943 for a total period of 7 years and 100 days. Graham Berry was the oldest to acquire this distinction at the age of 80 years and 165 days.

Joan Kirner Joan Elizabeth Kirner (née Hood; 20 June 1938 – 1 June 2015) was an Australian politician who was the 42nd Premier of Victoria, serving from 1990 to 1992. A Labor Party member of the Parliament of Victoria from 1982 to 1994, she was a mem ...

who was aged 76 years and 346 days when she died, on 1 June 2015 was the oldest and most recent premier to die without ever acquiring this distinction. Updated daily according to UTC.

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:130 left:20 AlignBars = late DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:1855 till:01/06/2023 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:7 start:1859 Colors = id:canvas value:gray(0.5) id:NON value:gray(0.6) legend:(Pre-party) id:CON value:skyblue legend:Conservative id:UAP value:darkblue legend:United-Australia id:LIB value:darkblue legend:Liberal id:NAT value:blue legend:Nationalist/National-Liberal id:REF value:pink legend:Reform id:ALP value:red legend:Labor id:CNT value:green legend:Country id:WAR value:gray(0.6) Legend = columns:3 left:205 top:55 columnwidth:150 TextData = pos:(20,27) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Political parties:" BarData = barset:PM PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:PM from: 30/11/1855 till: 11/03/1857 color:NON text:" Haines I" fontsize:10 from: 11/03/1857 till: 29/04/1857 color:NON text:" O'Shanassy I" fontsize:10 from: 29/04/1857 till: 10/03/1858 color:NON text:" Haines II" fontsize:10 from: 10/03/1858 till: 27/10/1859 color:NON text:" O'Shanassy II" fontsize:10 from: 27/10/1859 till: 26/11/1860 color:NON text:"

Nicholson Nicholson may refer to: People *Nicholson (name), a surname, and a list of people with the name Places Australia * Nicholson, Victoria * Nicholson, Queensland * Nicholson County, New South Wales * Nicholson River (disambiguation) * Nicholson ...

" fontsize:10 from: 26/11/1860 till: 14/11/1861 color:NON text:" Heales" fontsize:10 from: 14/11/1861 till: 27/06/1863 color:NON text:" O'Shanassy III" fontsize:10 from: 27/06/1863 till: 06/05/1868 color:NON text:" McCulloch I" fontsize:10 from: 06/05/1868 till: 11/07/1868 color:NON text:" Sladen" fontsize:10 from: 11/07/1868 till: 20/09/1869 color:NON text:" McCulloch II" fontsize:10 from: 20/09/1869 till: 09/04/1870 color:NON text:" MacPherson" fontsize:10 from: 09/04/1870 till: 19/06/1871 color:NON text:" McCulloch III" fontsize:10 from: 19/06/1871 till: 10/06/1872 color:NON text:" Duffy" fontsize:10 from: 10/06/1872 till: 31/07/1874 color:NON text:" Francis" fontsize:10 from: 31/07/1874 till: 07/08/1875 color:NON text:" Kerferd" fontsize:10 from: 21/05/1875 till: 20/10/1875 color:NON text:" Berry I" fontsize:10 from: 20/10/1875 till: 21/05/1877 color:NON text:" McCulloch IV" fontsize:10 from: 21/07/1877 till: 05/03/1880 color:NON text:" Berry II" fontsize:10 from: 05/03/1880 till: 03/08/1880 color:NON text:" Service I" fontsize:10 from: 03/08/1880 till: 09/07/1881 color:NON text:" Berry III" fontsize:10 from: 09/07/1881 till: 08/03/1883 color:NON text:" O'Loghlen" fontsize:10 from: 08/03/1883 till: 18/02/1886 color:NON text:" Service II" fontsize:10 from: 18/02/1886 till: 05/11/1890 color:CON text:" Gillies" fontsize:10 from: 05/11/1890 till: 16/02/1892 color:NAT text:"

Munro A Munro () is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nev ...

" fontsize:10 from: 16/02/1892 till: 23/01/1893 color:LIB text:" Shiels" fontsize:10 from: 23/01/1893 till: 27/09/1894 color:CON text:"

Patterson Patterson may refer to: People * Patterson (surname) Places ;Canada * Pattersons Corners, Ontario *Patterson Township, Ontario *Patterson, Calgary a neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta. ;United States of America * Patterson, Arkansas *Patterson, C ...

" fontsize:10 from: 27/09/1894 till: 05/12/1899 color:LIB text:" Turner I" fontsize:10 from: 05/12/1899 till: 19/11/1900 color:LIB text:"

McLean MacLean, also spelt Maclean and McLean, is a Goidelic languages, Gaelic surname Mac Gille Eathain, or, Mac Giolla Eóin in Irish language, Irish Gaelic), Eóin being a Gaelic form of Johannes (John (given name), John). The clan surname is an A ...

" fontsize:10 from: 19/11/1900 till: 12/02/1901 color:LIB text:" Turner II" fontsize:10 from: 12/02/1901 till: 10/06/1902 color:LIB text:" Peacock I" fontsize:10 from: 10/06/1902 till: 16/02/1904 color:REF text:" Irvine" fontsize:10 from: 16/02/1904 till: 08/01/1909 color:REF text:" Bent" fontsize:10 from: 08/01/1909 till: 18/05/1912 color:LIB text:"

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

" fontsize:10 from: 18/05/1912 till: 09/12/1913 color:LIB text:" Watt I" fontsize:10 from: 09/12/1913 till: 22/12/1913 color:ALP text:" Elmslie" fontsize:10 from: 22/12/1913 till: 18/06/1914 color:LIB text:" Watt II" fontsize:10 from:18/06/1914 till: 29/11/1917 color:LIB text:" Peacock II" fontsize:10 from:29/11/1917 till: 21/03/1918 color:LIB text:"

Bowser , or King Koopa, is a fictional character, the primary antagonist in Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise, and the arch-nemesis of Mario. In Japan, the character bears the title of . Bowser is the leader of the turtle-like Koopa race. Despite the ...

" fontsize:10 from:21/03/1918 till: 28/04/1924 color:NAT text:" Lawson" fontsize:10 from:28/04/1924 till: 18/07/1924 color:LIB text:" Peacock III" fontsize:10 from:18/07/1924 till: 18/11/1924 color:ALP text:" Prendergast" fontsize:10 from:18/11/1924 till: 20/05/1927 color:CNT text:"

Allan Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) ...

" fontsize:10 from:20/05/1927 till: 22/11/1928 color:ALP text:" Hogan I" fontsize:10 from:22/11/1928 till: 12/12/1929 color:NAT text:" McPherson" fontsize:10 from:12/12/1929 till: 19/05/1932 color:ALP text:" Hogan II" fontsize:10 from:19/05/1932 till: 02/05/1935 color:LIB text:" Argyle" fontsize:10 from:02/04/1935 till: 14/09/1943 color:CNT text:" Dunstan I" fontsize:10 from:14/09/1943 till: 18/09/1943 color:ALP text:" Cain Sr. I" fontsize:10 from:18/09/1943 till: 02/10/1945 color:CNT text:" Dunstan II" fontsize:10 from:02/10/1945 till: 21/11/1945 color:LIB text:" Macfarlan" fontsize:10 from:21/11/1945 till: 20/11/1947 color:ALP text:" Cain Sr. II" fontsize:10 from:20/11/1947 till: 27/06/1950 color:LIB text:" Hollway I" fontsize:10 from:27/06/1950 till: 28/10/1952 color:CNT text:" McDonald I" fontsize:10 from:28/10/1952 till: 31/10/1952 color:NON text:" Hollway II" fontsize:10 from:31/10/1952 till: 17/12/1952 color:CNT text:" McDonald II" fontsize:10 from:17/12/1952 till: 07/06/1955 color:ALP text:" Cain Sr. III" fontsize:10 from:07/06/1955 till: 23/08/1972 color:LIB text:" Bolte" fontsize:10 from:23/08/1972 till: 05/06/1981 color:LIB text:"

Hamer Hamer may refer to: People with the surname Hamer: *Hamer (surname) In places: * Hamer, woreda in Ethiopia * Hamer, Iran * Hamer, Idaho, United States * Hamer, Ohio, United States * Hamer, South Carolina, Unite ...

" fontsize:10 from:05/06/1981 till: 08/04/1982 color:LIB text:"

Thompson Thompson may refer to: People * Thompson (surname) * Thompson M. Scoon (1888–1953), New York politician Places Australia *Thompson Beach, South Australia, a locality Bulgaria * Thompson, Bulgaria, a village in Sofia Province Canada * ...

" fontsize:10 from:08/04/1982 till: 10/08/1990 color:ALP text:" Cain Jr." fontsize:10 from:10/08/1990 till: 06/10/1992 color:ALP text:" Kirner" fontsize:10 from:06/10/1992 till: 20/10/1999 color:LIB text:" Kennett" fontsize:10 from:20/10/1999 till: 30/07/2007 color:ALP text:" Bracks" fontsize:10 from:30/07/2007 till: 02/12/2010 color:ALP text:"

Brumby A brumby is a free-roaming feral horse in Australia. Although found in many areas around the country, the best-known brumbies are found in the Australian Alps region. Today, most of them are found in the Northern Territory, with the second ...

" fontsize:10 from:02/10/2010 till: 06/03/2013 color:LIB text:" Baillieu" fontsize:10 from:06/03/2013 till: 04/12/2014 color:LIB text:" Napthine" fontsize:10 from:04/12/2014 till: end color:ALP text:" Andrews" fontsize:10

References

External links

ABC News – Premiers of Victoria
{{Victorian ministries Victoria, Premier *

Premiers 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 ...

Ministers of the Victoria (Australia) state government