Leader of the Opposition (New South Wales)

Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition
Incumbent Luke Foley since 5 January 2015
Term length	While leader of the largest political party not in government
Inaugural holder	Charles Lee
Formation	23 March 1901
Deputy	Linda Burney

The role of the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition (or more commonly the Leader of the Opposition) in New South Wales is a title held by the leader of the largest minority party in the state lower house, the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. There is also a Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council. He or she acts as the public face of the opposition, leading the opposition on the floor of parliament. They act as a chief critic of the government and ultimately attempt to portray the opposition as a feasible alternate government. They are also given certain additional rights under parliamentary standing orders, such as extended time limits for speeches.

Since 2015, the Leader of the Opposition is Luke Foley. Adam Searle serves as leader in the Legislative Council.

List of Leaders of the Opposition in New South Wales

Leaders of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly

Order	Name[1]	Party	Term begin	Term end	Term of office
1	Charles Lee	Liberal Reform	23 March 1901	18 September 1902	1 year, 179 days
2	Joseph Carruthers	Liberal Reform	18 September 1902	30 August 1904	1 year, 347 days
3	James McGowen	Labor	20 September 1904	21 October 1910	6 years, 31 days
4	Charles Wade	Liberal Reform	21 October 1910	15 November 1916	6 years, 25 days
5	Ernest Durack	Labor	22 November 1916	19 February 1917	89 days
6	John Storey	Labor	22 February 1917	13 April 1920	3 years, 51 days
7	George Fuller	Nationalist	14 April 1920	13 April 1922	1 year, 364 days
8	James Dooley	Labor	20 April 1922	31 July 1923	1 year, 102 days
9	Greg McGirr	Labor	9 March 1923	16 April 1923	38 days
10	Bill Dunn	Labor	16 April 1923	31 July 1923	106 days
11	Jack Lang	Labor	31 July 1923	17 June 1925	1 year, 321 days
n/a	Sir George Fuller	Nationalist	23 June 1925	24 September 1925	93 days
12	Thomas Bavin	Nationalist	24 September 1925	18 October 1927	2 years, 24 days
n/a	Jack Lang	Labor	18 October 1927	4 November 1930	3 years, 17 days
n/a	Thomas Bavin	Nationalist United Australia	25 November 1930	5 April 1932	1 year, 132 days
13	Sir Bertram Stevens	United Australia	5 April 1932	13 May 1932	38 days
n/a	Jack Lang	Labor	22 June 1932	5 September 1939	7 years, 75 days
14	William McKell	Labor	5 September 1939	16 May 1941	1 year, 253 days
15	Alexander Mair	United Australia Democratic	19 May 1941	10 February 1944	2 years, 267 days
16	Reginald Weaver	Democratic Liberal	10 February 1944	12 November 1945	1 year, 275 days
n/a	Alexander Mair	Liberal	13 November 1945	20 March 1946	127 days
17	Vernon Treatt	Liberal	20 March 1946	10 August 1954	8 years, 143 days
18	Murray Robson	Liberal	17 August 1954	20 September 1955	1 year, 34 days
19	Pat Morton	Liberal	20 September 1955	17 July 1959	3 years, 300 days
20	Sir Robert Askin	Liberal	17 July 1959	13 May 1965	5 years, 300 days
21	Jack Renshaw	Labor	14 May 1965	23 July 1968	3 years, 70 days
22	Pat Hills	Labor	30 July 1968	3 December 1973	5 years, 126 days
23	Neville Wran	Labor	3 December 1973	14 May 1976	2 years, 163 days
24	Sir Eric Willis	Liberal	15 May 1976	16 December 1977	1 year, 215 days
25	Peter Coleman	Liberal	16 December 1977	7 October 1978	295 days
26	John Mason	Liberal	24 October 1978	29 May 1981	2 years, 217 days
27	Bruce McDonald	Liberal	1 June 1981	12 October 1981	133 days
28	John Dowd	Liberal	27 October 1981	15 March 1983	1 year, 139 days
29	Nick Greiner	Liberal	15 March 1983	25 March 1988	5 years, 10 days
30	Bob Carr	Labor	6 April 1988	4 April 1995	6 years, 363 days
31	Peter Collins	Liberal	4 April 1995	7 December 1998	3 years, 247 days
32	Kerry Chikarovski	Liberal	7 December 1998	28 March 2002	3 years, 111 days
33	John Brogden	Liberal	28 March 2002	1 September 2005	3 years, 157 days
34	Peter Debnam	Liberal	1 September 2005	4 April 2007	1 year, 215 days
35	Barry O'Farrell	Liberal	4 April 2007	28 March 2011	3 years, 358 days
36	John Robertson	Labor	31 March 2011	23 December 2014	3 years, 267 days
37	Luke Foley	Labor	5 January 2015	incumbent	1 year, 24 days

Leaders of the Opposition in the Legislative Council

Order	Name[2]	Party	Term begin	Term end	Term of office
1	Sir Henry Manning[3]	United Australia Democratic Liberal	16 May 1941	22 April 1958	16 years, 341 days
2	Hector Clayton	Liberal	12 April 1960	30 October 1962	2 years, 201 days
3	Arthur Bridges	Liberal	30 October 1962	13 May 1965	2 years, 195 days
4	Reg Downing	Labor	13 May 1965	4 February 1972	6 years, 267 days
5	Neville Wran	Labor	22 February 1972	19 October 1973	1 year, 239 days
6	Leroy Serisier	Labor	3 December 1973	13 May 1976	2 years, 162 days
7	Sir John Fuller	National Country	14 May 1976	1 August 1978	2 years, 79 days
8	Max Willis	Liberal	1 August 1978	20 October 1981	3 years, 80 days
9	Lloyd Lange	Liberal	20 October 1981	3 April 1984	2 years, 166 days
10	Ted Pickering	Liberal	3 April 1984	24 March 1988	3 years, 356 days
11	Jack Hallam	Labor	6 April 1988	2 May 1991	3 years, 26 days
12	Michael Egan	Labor	2 July 1991	4 April 1995	3 years, 276 days
13	John Hannaford	Liberal	11 April 1995	31 March 1999	3 years, 354 days
14	Michael Gallacher	Liberal	31 March 1999	4 March 2011	11 years, 338 days
15	Tony Kelly	Labor	8 April 2011	6 June 2011	59 days
16	Luke Foley	Labor	14 June 2011	8 April 2015	3 years, 298 days
17	Adam Searle	Labor	8 April 2015	incumbent	296 days

References

1. "Leaders of the Opposition in the NSW Legislative Assembly, 1901 - present".
2. "Leaders of the Opposition in the NSW Legislative Council". About Parliament. NSW Parliament. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
3. Manning refused the role of 'official' Leader of the Opposition, when offered to him, owing to his beliefs in a non-partisan council. Nevertheless he was considered by his colleagues as the de facto leader of the opposition members.

See also

• Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party
• Leader of the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales
• Opposition (Australia)