The premier of Western Australia is the

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...

of the state of

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 ...

. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the

prime minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...

at a federal level. The premier leads the executive branch of the

Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government o ...

and is accountable to the

Parliament of Western Australia The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Western Australia, forming the legislative branch of the Government of Western Australia. The parliament consists of a lower house, the Legislative Ass ...

. The premier is appointed by the

governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutional ...

. By convention, the governor appoints as premier whoever has the support of the majority of the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House in the Western Australian capital, Perth. The Legisla ...

. In practice, this means that the premier is the leader of the political party or group of parties with a majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly (

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

). Since Western Australia achieved self-governance in 1890, there have been 31 premiers.

Mark McGowan Mark McGowan (born 13 July 1967) is an Australian politician, the 30th premier of Western Australia, and the leader of the Western Australian branch of the Labor Party. McGowan was born and raised in Newcastle, New South Wales. He attended t ...

is the current premier, having been appointed to the position on 17 March 2017.

History

The position of premier is not mentioned in the

constitution of 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 ...

. From 1890 to 1917, the premier was not an official position, rather, it was the title unofficially given, but widely used to refer, to the head of the government. When Western Australia became a

self-governing colony In the British Empire, a self-governing colony was a colony with an elected government in which elected rulers were able to make most decisions without referring to the colonial power with nominal control of the colony. This was in contrast to ...

in 1890, Governor William Robinson initially indicated he would use the title ''prime minister'' to refer to the head of the government. However, after he selected John Forrest, the title ''premier'' was used for consistency with the other Australian colonies. The position was first officially mentioned when the governor appointed

Henry Lefroy Sir Henry Bruce Lefroy (24 March 1854 – 19 March 1930) was the eleventh Premier of Western Australia. Biography Lefroy was born in Perth, Western Australia on 24 March 1854. His father was Anthony O'Grady Lefroy, Colonial Treasurer of Weste ...

as premier on 28 June 1917. However, when the governor designated and declared the six executive offices of the government on 2 July 1917, the position of premier was not listed, creating an ambiguity. It was not until 3 April 1947 that the premier became one of the executive offices of the government. The most common cause for a change of premier is an election. Since the 1990s, elections have occurred roughly every four years. Before then, elections were at most three years apart, except for during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. A less common cause for a change of premier is the ruling party changing its leader. This can occur as a result of a resignation, death or

leadership spill In Australian politics, a leadership spill (or simply spill) is a colloquialism referring to a declaration that the leadership of a parliamentary party is vacant and open for contest. A spill may involve all or some of the leadership positions (l ...

. In this case, the new premier is whoever the party elects as its new leader. Another cause for a change of premier is a loss of majority support in the legislative assembly. This commonly occurred in the first three decades of self-governance, but has not occurred since 1916. If this occurs, the premier must either resign or be dismissed by the governor.

Powers and function

The powers of the premier are set out by convention and by legislation. By convention, the premier advises the

Monarch of Australia The monarchy of Australia is Australia's form of government embodied by the Australian sovereign and head of state. The Australian monarchy is a constitutional monarchy, modelled on the Westminster system of parliamentary government, while in ...

as to who to appoint as governor. The premier advises the governor as to who to appoint to

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

and which portfolios should be given to each cabinet minister, and the governor follows this advice by convention. The premier sets out the responsibilities of ministers and the acts that they would administer. The premier leads the cabinet and chairs cabinet meetings. They communicate with the governor, the cabinet, the state government, other state and territory governments, the federal government, and overseas governments. The premier advises the governor on when state elections should be held. They oversee the Department of the Premier and Cabinet. Whilst premier, they stay as a member of parliament, and they retain their responsibility for representing their electorate.

Characteristics

As of 2022, there have been 31 premiers of Western Australia.

Carmen Lawrence Carmen Mary Lawrence (born 2 March 1948) is an Australian academic and former politician who was the Premier of Western Australia from 1990 to 1993, the first woman to become the premier of an Australian state. A member of the Labor Party, sh ...

, who was appointed on 12 February 1990, is the first and only woman to be premier of Western Australia. She is also the first woman to be premier of an Australian state. By convention, the premier is a member of the Legislative Assembly. However, the premier can be a member of either house of parliament. Hal Colebatch is the only premier to be a member of the Legislative Council (

upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

). He served for 30 days in 1919, making him the shortest serving premier of Western Australia.

David Brand Sir David Brand KCMG (1 August 1912 – 15 April 1979) was an Australian politician. A member of the Liberal Party, he was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1945 to 1975, and also the 19th and longest-serving Prem ...

is the longest serving premier, serving for 11 years and 335 days between 1959 and 1971. The youngest premier is

John Scaddan John Scaddan, CMG (4 August 1876 – 21 November 1934), popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916. Early life John Scaddan was born in Moonta, South Australia, into a Cornish A ...

, who was 35 years, 2 months and 3 days old when he was sworn in in 1911. The oldest premier is

John Tonkin John Trezise Tonkin AC (2 February 1902 – 20 October 1995), popularly known as "Honest John", was an Australian politician. A member of the Labor Party, he served as a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for a record 44 ...

, who was 69 years, 1 month and 1 day old when he was sworn in in 1971.

Newton Moore Major General Sir Newton James Moore, (17 May 1870 – 28 October 1936) was an Australian politician, businessman and army officer. He served as the eighth Premier of Western Australia from 1906 to 1910 and, following service in the First World ...

became premier after two years in parliament, the least time aside from John Forrest. John Tonkin became premier after almost 38 years in parliament, the most time in parliament before becoming premier. The only father and son pair to have both been premier is

Charles Court Sir Charles Walter Michael Court, (29 September 1911 – 22 December 2007) was a Western Australian politician, and the 21st Premier of Western Australia from 1974 to 1982. He was a member of the Liberal Party. Early life Court's family e ...

and his son

Richard Court Richard Fairfax Court (born 27 September 1947) is a former Australian politician and diplomat. He served as Premier of Western Australia from 1993 to 2001 and as Australian Ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2020. A member of the Liberal Party, ...

George Leake George Leake (3 December 1856 – 24 June 1902) was the third Premier of Western Australia, serving from May to November 1901 and then again from December 1901 to his death. Leake was born in Perth, into a prominent local family. Studying l ...

, who died of pneumonia on 24 June 1902, is the only premier to have died in office. Newton Moore,

Philip Collier Philip Collier (21 April 1873 – 18 October 1948) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th Premier of Western Australia from 1924 to 1930 and from 1933 to 1936. He was leader of the Labor Party from 1917 to 1936, and is Western Au ...

John Willcock John Collings Willcock (9 August 1879 – 7 June 1956) was the 15th Premier of Western Australia, serving from 1936 until 1945. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party. Early life John Willcock was born at Frogmoor (now Frogmore), New So ...

and Geoff Gallop are the only premiers to have resigned due to ill health. The only premier to subsequently serve as governor is James Mitchell. Two former premiers have been sentenced to jail. In 1994, Brian Burke was sentenced to two years in jail for defrauding the state by $17,000 by making false claims on the parliamentary imprest account. He was released on parole after serving seven months. In 1995,

Ray O'Connor Raymond James O'Connor (6 March 1926 – 25 February 2013) was an Australian politician who served as the premier of Western Australia from 25 January 1982 to 25 February 1983. He was a member of parliament from 1959 to 1984, and a minister in ...

was sentenced to six months in jail for stealing a $25,000 cheque from the

Bond Corporation Alan Bond (22 April 1938 – 5 June 2015) was an English-born Australian businessman noted for his high-profile and often corrupt business dealings. These included his central role in the WA Inc scandals of the 1980s, and what was at the time ...

during his time as premier. In 1997, Burke was sentenced to three years jail for stealing $122,585 in Labor Party campaign donations. He served six months before this conviction was quashed upon appeal.

List

Premiers to have gone into federal politics

The premiers to have gone into federal politics are John Forrest, Hal Colebatch and

Ministries held by premiers

Prior to 2001, the premier was typically the

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

(colonial treasurer prior to 1924) as well. Since then, the only premiers to also be treasurer are

Colin Barnett Colin James Barnett (born 15 July 1950) is a former Australian politician who was the 29th Premier of Western Australia. He concurrently served as the state's Treasurer at several points during his tenure and had previously held various other po ...

, who held the position intermittently, and

, who has held the position since March 2021.

Birthplace

There are 16 premiers born in Western Australia, eight premiers born in the eastern parts of Australia, and six premiers born outside Australia. Every premier born in the eastern parts of Australia is a Labor Premier, and every Labor premier prior to

was born in the eastern parts of Australia. Every premier born outside Australia is a non-Labor premier, and all were born in the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

. Two premiers came from Bunbury: John Forrest and James Mitchell.

Ross McLarty Sir Duncan Ross McLarty, (17 March 1891 – 22 December 1962) was an Australian politician and the 17th Premier of Western Australia. Early life McLarty was born in Pinjarra, Western Australia, the youngest of seven children of Edward McLarty ...

was born in the small town of Pinjarra,

was born in Dongara, and

was born in

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

was born in Northam but grew up in Gutha, Morawa and Dongara. Geoff Gallop was born and raised in

Geraldton Geraldton ( Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

Alan Carpenter Alan John Carpenter (born 4 January 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th Premier of Western Australia, from 2006 to 2008. From Albany, Carpenter graduated from the University of Western Australia, and worked as a journ ...

was born and raised in Albany. The eight remaining premiers were born in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Age

The

median In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic fe ...

age of a premier on the first day of their first term is roughly 49 years, and 280 days which falls between

and

. The youngest person to assume the office was

at 35 years and 64 days. The oldest person to assume office was

at 69 years and 29 days. The oldest living former premier is

Peter Dowding Peter McCallum Dowding SC (born 6 October 1943) is an Australian lawyer and former politician who served as the 24th Premier of Western Australia, from 25 February 1988 until his forced resignation on 12 February 1990. He was a member of parli ...

, born 6 October 1943 (age ). The youngest living former premier is

, born 4 January 1957, (age ). The youngest living premier is the incumbent

, born 13 July 1967, (age ). The longest-lived premier was

who died on 22 December 2007 aged 96 years and 84 days.

was the second longest-lived premier, aged 93 years and 260 days, 2 years and 189 days short of Court. The oldest living premier,

will tie Tonkin if he lives to 23 June 2037, and tie Court if he lives to 29 December 2039. The shortest-lived premier was

who died in office at the age of 45 years and 203 days on 24 June 1902. The premier with the longest retirement is

Frank Wise Frank Joseph Scott Wise AO (30 May 1897 – 29 June 1986) was a Labor Party politician who was the 16th Premier of Western Australia. He took office on 31 July 1945 in the closing stages of the Second World War, following the resignation of ...

. He left office on 1 April 1947, and died 39 years and 89 days later on 29 June 1986. Brian Burke left office on 25 February 1988. If he's still alive on 25 May 2027, he will surpass Wise's record, and become the premier with the longest retirement. The premier with the shortest retirement is Frank Wilson, who died on 7 December 1918, 1 year and 162 days after leaving office on 28 June 1917.

Living former premiers

As of , there are seven former premiers alive, as well as the current premier. The most recent premier to die is

, who died on 25 February 2013 aged 86.

Oldest living premiers of Western Australia

Not all premiers live to become the oldest of their time. Of the 22 deceased premiers, 12 eventually became the oldest of their time, while 10 did not.

became the oldest living premier when

died in 1962 and remained so until his death in 1986, for a record 23 years and 189 days. Hal Colebatch became the oldest living premier when James Mitchell died in 1951, but he survived Mitchell by only 1 year and 201 days. On one occasion the oldest living premier lost this distinction not by his death, but due to the appointment of a premier who was older. John Forrest lost this distinction when

George Throssell George Lionel Throssell (23 May 1840 – 30 August 1910) was the second Premier of Western Australia. He served for just three months, from 15 February to 27 May 1901, during a period of great instability in Western Australian politics. Geor ...

was appointed, but when Throssell died in 1910, Forrest regained it again until his own death in 1918 for a total period of 18 years and 51 days.

was the oldest to acquire this distinction at the age of 84 years, and 147 days. Albert Hawke, who was aged 85 years, and 73 days when he died, on 14 February 1986 was the oldest and most recent premier to die without ever acquiring this distinction. Updated daily according to UTC.

Graphical timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:100 right:150 left:15 AlignBars = late DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1890 till:07/06/2022 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1890 Colors= id:canvas value:gray(0.5) id:LIB value:blue legend:Liberal id:NAT value:powderblue legend:Nationalist id:LWA value:skyblue legend:Liberal_(pre–1917) id:LAB value:red legend:Labor id:MIN value:tan1 legend:Ministerialist id:OPP value:dullyellow legend:Opposition Legend = columns:3 left:150 top:50 columnwidth:200 TextData = pos:(20,55) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Political parties:" BarData = bar:JohnForrest bar:GeorgeThrossell bar:GeorgeLeake bar:AlfMorgans bar:WalterJames bar:HenryDaglish bar:HectorRason bar:NewtonMoore bar:FrankWilson bar:JohnScaddan bar:HenryLefroy bar:HalColebatch bar:JamesMitchell bar:PhilipCollier bar:JohnWillcock bar:FrankWise bar:RossMcLarty bar:AlbertHawke bar:DavidBrand bar:JohnTonkin bar:CharlesCourt bar:RayO'Connor bar:BrianBurke bar:PeterDowding bar:CarmenLawrence bar:RichardCourt bar:GeoffGallop bar:AlanCarpenter bar:ColinBarnett bar:MarkMcGowan PlotData = width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till bar:JohnForrest from:29/12/1890 till:14/02/1901 color:MIN text:" John Forrest (1890–1901)" bar:GeorgeThrossell from:14/02/1901 till:27/05/1901 color:MIN text:"

(1901)" bar:GeorgeLeake from:27/05/1901 till:21/11/1901 color:OPP from:23/12/1901 till:24/06/1902 color:OPP text:"

(1901, 1901–1902)" bar:AlfMorgans from:21/11/1901 till:23/12/1901 color:MIN text:"

Alf Morgans Alfred Edward Morgans (17 February 1850 – 10 August 1933) was the fourth Premier of Western Australia, serving for just over a month, from 21 November to 23 December 1901. Born in Wales, Morgans trained as an engineer, and supervised mining ...

(1901)" bar:WalterJames from:01/07/1902 till:10/08/1904 color:OPP text:"

Walter James Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 1 ...

(1902–1904)" bar:HenryDaglish from:10/08/1904 till:25/08/1905 color:LAB text:"

Henry Daglish Henry Daglish (18 November 1866 – 16 August 1920) was an Australian politician who was the sixth premier of Western Australia and the first from the Labor Party, serving from 10 August 1904 to 25 August 1905. Daglish was born in Ballarat, V ...

(1904–1905)" bar:HectorRason from:25/08/1905 till:07/05/1906 color:MIN text:"

Hector Rason Sir Cornthwaite Hector William James Rason (18 June 1858 – 15 March 1927), better known as Hector Rason, was the seventh Premier of Western Australia. Early life Rason was born in Cleeve, Somerset, in England on 18 June 1858. He was the son ...

(1905–1906)" bar:NewtonMoore from:07/05/1906 till:16/09/1910 color:MIN text:"

(1906–1910)" bar:FrankWilson from:16/09/1910 till:07/10/1911 color:MIN from:27/07/1916 till:28/06/1917 color:LWA text:" Frank Wilson (1910–1911, 1916–1917)" bar:JohnScaddan from:07/10/1911 till:27/07/1916 color:LAB text:"

(1911–1916)" bar:HenryLefroy from:28/06/1917 till:17/04/1919 color:NAT text:"

(1917–1919)" bar:HalColebatch from:17/04/1919 till:17/05/1919 color:NAT text:" Hal Colebatch (1919)" bar:JamesMitchell from:17/05/1919 till:16/04/1924 color:NAT from:24/04/1930 till:24/04/1933 color:NAT text:" James Mitchell (1919–1924, 1930–1933)" bar:PhilipCollier from:16/04/1924 till:24/04/1930 color:LAB from:24/04/1933 till:19/08/1936 color:LAB text:"

(1924–1930, 1933–1936)" bar:JohnWillcock from:20/08/1936 till:31/07/1945 color:LAB text:"

(1936–1945)" bar:FrankWise from:31/07/1945 till:01/04/1947 color:LAB text:"

(1945–1947)" bar:RossMcLarty from:01/04/1947 till:23/02/1953 color:LIB text:"

(1947–1953)" bar:AlbertHawke from:23/02/1953 till:02/04/1959 color:LAB text:" Albert Hawke (1953–1959)" bar:DavidBrand from:02/04/1959 till:03/03/1971 color:LIB text:"

(1959–1971)" bar:JohnTonkin from:03/03/1971 till:08/04/1974 color:LAB text:"

(1971–1974)" bar:CharlesCourt from:08/04/1974 till:25/01/1982 color:LIB text:"

(1974–1982)" bar:RayO'Connor from:25/01/1982 till:25/02/1983 color:LIB text:"

(1982–1983)" bar:BrianBurke from:25/02/1983 till:25/02/1988 color:LAB text:" Brian Burke (1983–1988)" bar:PeterDowding from:25/02/1988 till:12/02/1990 color:LAB text:"

(1988–1990)" bar:CarmenLawrence from:12/02/1990 till:16/02/1993 color:LAB text:"

(1990–1993)" bar:RichardCourt from:16/02/1993 till:10/02/2001 color:LIB text:"

(1993–2001)" bar:GeoffGallop from:10/02/2001 till:25/01/2006 color:LAB text:" Geoff Gallop (2001–2006)" bar:AlanCarpenter from:25/01/2006 till:23/09/2008 color:LAB text:"

(2006–2008)" bar:ColinBarnett from:23/09/2008 till:17/03/2017 color:LIB text:"

(2008–2017)" bar:MarkMcGowan from:17/03/2017 till:end color:LAB text:"

(2017–present)"

References

Bibliography

* * {{Western Australian ministerial portfolios

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 ...