The Unsworth ministry was the 79th 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 36th

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. ...

Barrie Unsworth Barrie John Unsworth (born 16 April 1934) is a former Australian politician, representing the Labor Party in the Parliament of New South Wales from 1978 to 1991. He served as the 36th Premier from July 1986 to March 1988. Early years Unswort ...

, representing the Labor Party. After the surprise announcement in June 1986 that

Neville Wran Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman of ...

would retire as Premier, NSW Labor Leader, and from

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

with effect from 4 July 1986, Unsworth, then a

Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

, was elected as the leader of the NSW Labor Party and thus became Premier. However, by parliamentary convention, Premiers are members of the Legislative Assembly. In order for Unsworth to move from the Legislative Council to the Legislative Assembly, Brian Bannon, the member for Rockdale, resigned to accept a role as Chairman of the Homebush States Sport Centre Trust, and Unsworth contested the resulting by-election held on 2 August 1986. He narrowly won the seat, with a 17.1% decline in the primary vote and independent preferences giving him a margin of just 54 votes. A by-election for Wran's safe Labor seat of

Bass Hill Bass Hill, () a suburb of local government area City of Canterbury-Bankstown, is located 23 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is a part of the South-western Sydne ...

was even worse, with a 22.2 per cent decline in the primary vote delivering a 103vote victory to the Liberal candidate. The ministry covers the period from 4 July 1986 when Unsworth was elected by Labor caucus as the NSW Labor Leader until 21 March 1988 when Labor suffered a landslide defeat at the state election by the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

, led by

Nick Greiner Nicholas Frank Hugo Greiner (;) (born 27 April 1947) is an Australian politician who served as the 37th Premier of New South Wales from 1988 to 1992. Greiner was Leader of the New South Wales Division of the Liberal Party from 1983 to 1992 an ...

and

Wal Murray Wallace Telford John Murray (11 September 1931 – 15 July 2004) was an Australian politician, elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. He was a National Party member for the seat of Barwon from 1 May 1976 until 3 Mar ...

. Unsworth did not contest the 1991 election.

Composition of ministry

Fifteen of the twenty ministers retained some or all of their portfolios from the eighth Wran ministry. There were two minor rearrangements of the ministry, in November 1986 with a new portfolio of

Forests A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

and in November 1987, when

Laurie Brereton Laurence John "Laurie" Brereton (born 29 May 1946) is a former Australian politician who was a state minister, a federal member of cabinet, and kingmaker in the election of several Australian Labor Party leaders, including Paul Keating and Mark ...

resigned from the ministry, triggering a reshuffle. Ministers are members of the Legislative Assembly unless otherwise noted.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unsworth ministry (1986-1988) New South Wales ministries 1986 establishments in Australia 1988 disestablishments in Australia Australian Labor Party ministries in New South Wales

Composition of ministry

See also

Notes

References