Parkes ministry (1889-1891) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Parkes ministry or Fifth Parkes ministry was the 26th ministry of the Colony of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, and was led by the seventh Premier

Premiers 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 system, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature...

, the Honourable Sir Henry Parkes

Henry Parkes

Sir Henry Parkes, GCMG was an Australian statesman, the "Father of Federation." As the earliest advocate of a Federal Council of the colonies of Australia, a precursor to the Federation of Australia, he was the most prominent of the Australian Founding Fathers.Parkes was described during his...

, GCMG

Order of St Michael and St George

The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....

. It was the fifth and final occasion that Parkes was Premier.

Having served in the New South Wales Legislative Council

New South Wales Legislative Council

The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...

between 1854 and 1856, Parkes was elected in the first free elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

held in 1856, however resigned from Parliament later that year. He served in the Assembly on several occasions, between 1858 and 1870, being forced to resign on at least one occasion due to his personal insolvency. He came to power as Premier on the first occasion in 1872, serving as Premier for a period of three years. However, Parkes lost the confidence of the Assembly following Governor Robinson

Hercules Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead

Hercules George Robert Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead, GCMG, PC was a British colonial administrator who became the 5th Governor of Hong Kong...

's decision to release of the bushranger

Bushranger

Bushrangers, or bush rangers, originally referred to runaway convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who had the survival skills necessary to use the Australian bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities...

Frank Gardiner

Frank Gardiner was a noted Australian bushranger of the 19th century. He was born in Scotland about 1827 and migrated from to Australia as a child with his parents in 1834,. His real name was Francis Christie, though he often used one of several other aliases including Gardiner, Clarke or Christie...

led to the defeat of the ministry in 1875.

John Robertson

John Robertson (Australian politician)

Sir John Robertson, KCMG was an Australian politician and Premier of New South Wales on five occasions. Robertson is best remembered for land reform and in particular the Robertson Land Acts of 1861, which sought to open up the selection of Crown land and break the monopoly of the...

served as Premier between 1875 and 1877, before Robertson was defeated at the 1877 election. Parkes formed his second ministry in a challenging environment where both Parkes and Robertson shared equal representation in the Legislative Assembly and business was sometimes at a standstill. Parkes' second term as Colonial Premier lasted just 147 days, with the Farnell ministry

Farnell ministry

The Farnell ministry was the eighteenth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by the Premier, the Honourable James Farnell. Farnell was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1860....

giving both Parkes and Robertson reprieve for 12 months, prior to Parkes and Robertson forming an alliance government in the third Parkes ministry

Parkes ministry (1878–1883)

The Parkes ministry or Third Parkes ministry was the nineteenth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by the seventh Premier, the Honourable Henry Parkes...

. The retirement of Robertson pitted Parkes against George Dibbs

George Dibbs

Sir George Richard Dibbs KCMG was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales on three occasions.-Early years:Dibbs was born in Sydney, son of Captain John Dibbs, who disappeared in the same year...

and after the governments of both Dibbs and Sir Patrick Jennings faultered under public debt, Parkes formed his fourth ministry, lasting nearly two years.

Dibbs again formed government, but lasted for less than two months, before Parkes again formed government, where he agitated for the formation of a Commonwealth of Australia against a somewhat hostile New South Wales Colonial government. When the New South Wales Legislative Assembly voted in favour of a motion of no confidence against Parkes, he resigned from Parliament in October 1891.

There was no party system in New South Wales politics until 1887. Under the constitution, ministers were required to resign to recontest their seats in a by-election when appointed. In the table below, these by-elections are only noted when the minister was defeated; in general, he was elected unopposed.

This ministry covers the period from 8 March 1889 until 22 October 1891.

Composition of ministry

Portfolio	Minister		Term commence	Term end	Term of office
Premier Colonial Secretary Chief Secretary The Chief Secretary is the title of a senior civil servant in members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and, historically, in the British Empire. Prior to the dissolution of the colonies, the Chief Secretary was the second most important official in a colony of the British Empire after the... Registrar of Records	Hon. Sir Henry Parkes Henry Parkes Sir Henry Parkes, GCMG was an Australian statesman, the "Father of Federation." As the earliest advocate of a Federal Council of the colonies of Australia, a precursor to the Federation of Australia, he was the most prominent of the Australian Founding Fathers.Parkes was described during his... GCMG, MLA	Free Trade Free Trade Party The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states and renamed the Anti-Socialist Party in 1906, was an Australian political party, formally organised between 1889 and 1909...	8 March 1889	22 October 1891
Colonial Treasurer Treasurer of New South Wales The Treasurer of New South Wales, known from 1856–1959 as the Colonial Treasurer of New South Wales, is the minister in the Government of New South Wales responsible for government expenditure and revenue raising and is the head of the New South Wales Treasury. The Treasurer plays a key role in... Collector of Internal Revenue	Hon. William McMillan William McMillan (Australian politician) Sir William McMillan KCMG was an Australian politician and businessman. Alfred Deakin said he was a "thoughtful, educated businessman, narrow and cold after the manner of the Manchester School … business-like in manner and incisive in debate".McMillan was born in Derry, Ireland and... MLA	Free Trade	8 March 1889	27 July 1891
	Hon. Bruce Smith Bruce Smith (Australian politician) Arthur Bruce Smith KC was a long serving Australian politician and leading political opponent of the White Australia policy.-Early life:... MLA	Free Trade	14 August 1891	22 October 1891	days
Attorney-General	Hon. George Simpson QC Queen's Counsel Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law... , MLC	Free Trade	8 March 1889
Secretary for Lands	Hon. James Brunker MLA	Free Trade
Secretary for Public Works	Hon. Bruce Smith MLA	Free Trade		13 August 1891
Secretary for Public Works	Hon. James Young James Henry Young James Henry Young was an Australian colonial businessman and politician and Speaker of the of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.... MLA	Free Trade	14 August 1891	22 October 1891	days
Minister of Justice	Hon. Albert Gould Albert Gould Sir Albert John Gould was an Australian politician and solicitor who served as the second President of the Australian Senate.... MLA	Free Trade	8 March 1889
Minister of Public Instruction Minister for Education (New South Wales) The New South Wales Minister for Education has responsibilities which includes all schools and TAFE colleges in NSW.The current Minister for Education is Adrian Piccoli...	Hon. Joseph Carruthers Joseph Carruthers Sir Joseph Hector McNeil Carruthers KCMG was an Australian politician and Premier of New South Wales.According to Percival Serle, few premiers of New South Wales succeeded in doing so much distinguished work... MLA	Free Trade
Secretary for Mines	Hon. Sydney Smith Sydney Smith (Australian politician) -Early years:Born in Colyton, near Penrith, west of Sydney, the son of a hotel keeper, Smith was educated at public schools before gaining work with the railways... MLA	Free Trade
Secretary for Agriculture		Free Trade	28 February 1890
Postmaster-General	Hon. Daniel O'Connor Daniel O'Connor (politician) The Honourable Daniel O'Connor JP was an Irish-born politician and businessman active in colonial-era New South Wales.-Early life and education:... MLA	Free Trade	8 March 1889	22 October 1891
Representative of the Government in Legislative Council	Hon. William Suttor, Jnr MLC	Free Trade	8 March 1889
Vice-President of the Executive Council	Hon. William Suttor, Jnr MLC	Free Trade	30 April 1889

Composition of ministry

See also