Reid ministry (New South Wales)

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Reid ministry
28th Cabinet of the Colony of New South Wales
George Reid cph.3c31684.jpg Australian states history 13.gif
Premier George Reid and the Colony of New South Wales (1863–1900)
Date formed3 August 1894 (1894-08-03)
Date dissolved13 September 1899 (1899-09-13)
People and organisations
Monarch Queen Victoria
Governor The Earl Beauchamp
Premier George Reid
No. of ministers10
Member party Free Trade Party
Status in legislatureMinority government
Opposition party Protectionist Party
Opposition leaderSir William Lyne
History
Predecessor Third Dibbs ministry
Successor Lyne ministry

The Reid ministry was the 28th ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by the 12th Premier, George Reid. The title of Premier was widely used to refer to the Leader of Government, but was not a formal position in the government until 1920. Instead the Premier was appointed to another portfolio, usually Colonial Secretary but on this occasion Reid took the portfolio of Colonial Treasurer until July 1899 and then Attorney General.

Contents

Reid was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1880, [1] serving until 1884 when he was defeated in a ministerial by-election. [2] Reid was re-elected to the Assembly at the 1885 election and joined the Free Trade Party on its formation in 1887. He was one of four free traders who were elected as independents at the 1891 election because they did not support the government of Sir Henry Parkes. The Free Trade Party lost 27 seats at the election and lost its majority. Parkes continued as a minority government before resigning in October 1891, replaced as Premier by Sir George Dibbs Protectionist, with the support of Labour. Reid re-joined the Free Trade Party, replacing Parkes as leader.

The 1894 election saw the Free Trade Party gain 6 seats while the Protectionists lost 15 and a split in Labour saw the party lose 20 seats. No party had a majority, with 23 independents. Dibbs said he would not resign, wanting to test his support in parliament, however the Governor Robert Duff forced his hand, with Dibbs resigning on 2 August 1894. The appointment of Joseph Cook was controversial, with Cook being the leader of the Labour parliamentarians who refused to sign a "pledge" to be bound by decisions of the Caucus, [3] and Cook contested the 1894 election as an Independent Labour candidate. [4] Cook's decision to join the Reid ministry was seen as an opportunistic act and Cook was labeled as a class traitor. [3]

Under the constitution, ministers in the Legislative Assembly were required to resign to recontest their seats in an election when appointed. [5] Such ministerial by-elections were usually uncontested and on this occasion a by-election was required in Bathurst (Sydney Smith), Hartley (Joseph Cook), Singleton (Albert Gould) and Sydney-King (George Reid) however all were comfortably re-elected. The other four ministers were re-elected unopposed. [6]

The Free Trade Party gained 8 seats at the 1895 election, largely a result of independent members joining the party and they were still 5 seats short of a majority. [7] The party lost 13 seats at the 1898 election, [8] including ministers Jacob Garrard, Albert Gould and Sydney Smith, [9] mostly to the Protectionist Party which contested the election under the name "National Federal Party", reflecting the party's focus on Federation. The ministry's first re-shuffle occurred in August 1898 as a result of that election, with James Hogue, Charles Lee and Varney Parkes appointed to the ministry. Glebe (James Hogue) was the only electorate in which the by-election was contested. [10] Jack Want resigned as Attorney General in April 1898 as a result of Reid's famous Yes-No speech in order to oppose federation, rejoining in June 1898 after the first referendum was defeated. [11] Want resigned again in April 1899 and Reid was appointed Attorney General, initially in addition to his role as Colonial Treasurer, before relinquishing that role in the second re-shuffle in July 1899. The Reid ministry managed to hold on as a minority government until 13 September 1899, [12] [13] when Reid resigned in order to focus on ensuring adequate provisions were made for New South Wales in the federation of the Australian colonies into a Commonwealth. [14]

The Reid ministry Reid ministry.png
The Reid ministry

Composition of ministry

PortfolioMinisterPartyTerm startTerm endTerm length
Premier George Reid QC   Free Trade 3 August 189413 September 18995 years, 41 days
Colonial Treasurer
Collector of Internal Revenue		3 July 18994 years, 334 days
Joseph Carruthers 3 July 189913 September 189972 days
Attorney General George Simpson QC , MLC 3 August 18941 December 1894120 days
Jack Want QC , MLC 18 December 18944 April 18983 years, 107 days
18 June 189818 April 1899304 days
George Reid QC 19 April 189913 September 1899147 days
Solicitor General   [lower-alpha 1] 21 December 18945 March 189574 days
18 December 189520 April 1896124 days
22 December 18969 February 189749 days
27 April 18987 October 1898163 days
3 January 18991 May 1899118 days
Colonial Secretary
Registrar of Records		 James Brunker 3 August 189413 September 18995 years, 41 days
Secretary for Lands Joseph Carruthers 3 July 18994 years, 334 days
James Young 3 July 189913 September 189972 days
Secretary for Public Works 3 August 18943 July 18994 years, 334 days
Charles Lee 3 July 189913 September 189972 days
Minister of Justice Albert Gould   [lower-alpha 2] 3 August 189415 August 18984 years, 12 days
Charles Lee 15 August 18983 July 1899322 days
John Hughes MLC 3 July 189913 September 189972 days
Minister of Public Instruction Jacob Garrard   [lower-alpha 3] 3 August 189415 August 18984 years, 12 days
Minister for Labour and Industry 11 March 18953 years, 157 days
Minister of Public Instruction James Hogue 27 August 189813 September 18991 year, 17 days
Minister for Labour and Industry
Secretary for Mines and Agriculture Sydney Smith   [lower-alpha 4] 3 August 189415 August 18984 years, 12 days
Joseph Cook 27 August 189813 September 18991 year, 17 days
Postmaster-General 3 August 189427 August 18984 years, 24 days
Varney Parkes 27 August 189813 September 18991 year, 17 days
Vice-President of the Executive Council
Representative of the Government in Legislative Council 		William Suttor Jr. MLC 7 August 189415 March 1895220 days
Andrew Garran MLC 19 March 189518 November 18983 years, 244 days
John Hughes MLC 22 November 189813 September 1899295 days

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ George Reid QC was temporarily appointed Solicitor General to allow him to deputise for the Attorney General in his absence. [15]
  2. ↑ Albert Gould was defeated at the 1898 election for Singleton. [9]
  3. ↑ Jacob Garrard was defeated at the 1898 election for Sherbrooke. [9]
  4. ↑ Sydney Smith was defeated at the 1898 election for Bathurst. [9]

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References

  1. ↑ Green, Antony. "1880 East Sydney". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  2. ↑ Green, Antony. "1884 results East Sydney by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  3. 1 2 Crowley, F K. "Cook, Sir Joseph (1860–1947)". Australian Dictionary of Biography . National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN   1833-7538 . Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  4. ↑ Green, Antony. "1894 Hartley". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  5. ↑ Twomey, Anne (2004). The Constitution of New South Wales. Federation Press. pp.  442. ISBN   9781862875166 . Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  6. ↑ Green, Antony. "1894 to 1895 by-elections". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  7. ↑ Green, Antony. "1895 election totals". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  8. ↑ Green, Antony. "1898 election totals". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Green, Antony. "1898 election districts". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  10. ↑ Green, Antony. "1898 to 1901 by-elections". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  11. ↑ Finn, Paul (1990). "Want, John Henry (1846–1905)". Australian Dictionary of Biography . National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. pp. 380–381. ISSN   1833-7538 . Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  12. ↑ "Sir George Houston Reid (1845–1918)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  13. ↑ Part 6 Ministries since 1856 (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  14. ↑ McMinn, W G. "Reid, Sir George Houstoun (1845–1918)". Australian Dictionary of Biography . National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN   1833-7538 . Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  15. ↑ Appleby, G (2016). Role of the Solicitor-General. Bloomsbury Publishing. p.  73. ISBN   9781509903962.

 

Preceded by Reid ministry
1894–1899		Succeeded by
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