Lewis–Cutler ministry

The Lewis–Cutler ministry or First Lewis ministry was the 68th ministry of the New South Wales Government, and was led by the 33rd Premier, the Honourable Tom Lewis MLA, of the Liberal Party in coalition with the Country Party, led by the Honourable Sir Charles Cutler KBE ED MLA. It was the first of two occasions when Lewis was Premier; and the seventh and final occasion when Cutler served as Deputy Premier.

Background

Lewis was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1957 and served continuously up until 1978, representing the seat of Wollondilly. When the Askin government came to power in 1965, Lewis was given relatively junior portfolios of Lands and Mines. In 1972, Tourism was added to his ministerial responsibilities when Eric Willis moved to Education. Late in 1974, Askin announced his resignation and Lewis was chosen as leader over Willis and Justice Minister John Maddison.

Cutler was elected to the NSW Legislative Assembly in 1947 and served continuously up until 1975, representing the seat of Orange. Elected Deputy Leader of the Country Party in 1958, Cutler was elected as leader of his party following the 1959 state election, replacing Davis Hughes.

Lewis inherited a relatively stable government that had been in power for ten years. However, the Liberal government was engaged in almost daily warfare with the Whitlam Labor federal government, most notably over the Medibank health care scheme, to which New South Wales was the last state to sign.

Tenure of ministry

This ministry covers the period from 3 January 1975, when the former Premier, Sir Robert Askin KCMG MLA resigned as Premier and as Member for Pittwater, until 17 December 1975,^[1][2] the day after Cutler resigned as Deputy Premier, the Leader of the Country Party, and as Member for Orange.

The Hon. Leon Punch, MLA succeeded Cutler as the Leader of the Country Party and became Deputy Premier, and entered into a Liberal/Country coalition with Lewis, necessitating a reconfiguration of the ministry. The Lewis/Punch ministry lasted a few months until Lewis was deposed as Liberal leader by The Hon. Eric Willis CMG MLA in January 1976, necessitating a further reconfiguration of the ministry.

Composition of ministry

First arrangement

The composition of the ministry was announced by Premier Lewis and sworn in on 3 January 1975, and covers the period up until 30 June 1975, when the Hon. Milton Morris resigned from the ministry, necessitating a minor rearrangement. Ministers are listed in order of seniority and in some cases, serve the full term of this ministry.

Portfolio	Minister	Party		Term commence	Term end	Term of office
Premier Treasurer	Hon. Tom Lewis, MLA		Liberal	3 January 1975	17 December 1975	348 days
Deputy Premier Minister for Local Government Minister for Tourism	Hon. Sir Charles Cutler KBE ED MLA		Country		16 December 1975	347 days
Attorney General Minister of Justice	Hon. John Maddison, MLA		Liberal		17 December 1975	348 days
Minister for Planning and Environment Vice-President of the Executive Council Representative of the Government in Legislative Council	Hon. John Fuller, MLC		Country
Minister for Public Works Minister for Ports	Hon. Leon Punch, MLA
Minister for Education	Hon. Eric Willis, CMG MLA		Liberal
Minister for Labor and Industry Minister for Consumer Affairs Minister for Federal Affairs	Hon. Frederick Hewitt, MLC
Minister for Lands Minister for Forests	Hon. Milton Morris, MLA^1				30 June 1975	178 days
Minister for Agriculture	Hon. Geoff Crawford DCM MLA		Country		16 December 1975	347 days
Minister for Transport Minister for Highways	Hon. Wal Fife, MLA^2		Liberal		10 October 1975	280 days
Minister for Police Minister for Services	Hon. John Lloyd Waddy OBE DFC MLA				17 December 1975	348 days
Minister for Mines Minister for Energy	Hon. George Freudenstein, MLA		Country
Minister for Decentralisation and Development	Hon. Tim Bruxner, MLA
Minister for Housing Minister for Co-operative Societies	Hon. Laurence McGinty, MLA		Liberal
Minister for Health	Hon. Dick Healey, MLA
Minister for Revenue Assistant Treasurer	Hon. Max Ruddock, MLA^2 ^3				10 October 1975	280 days
Minister for Youth, Ethnic and Community Affairs	Hon. Stephen Mauger, MLA				17 December 1975	348 days
Minister for Culture, Sport and Recreation	Hon. Lindley Barraclough, MLA

¹ Milton Morris resigned on 30 June 1975. The Hon. John Mason was appointed to the ministry to replace Morris.

² Wal Fife resigned on 10 October 1975. His ministerial responsibilities were transferred to Ruddock.

³ Peter Coleman was a new appointment to the ministry, taking on the portfolio responsibilities previously held by Ruddock, who was promoted

Second arrangement

This arrangement covers the period from a minor ministerial reshuffle on 30 June 1975 until a reconfiguration of the ministry on 17 December 1975, following Cutler's resignation a day earlier. The same day, the Hon. Geoff Crawford also resigned from the ministry, and announced that he would not contest the 1976 state election. On 10 October 1975, the Hon. Wal Fife resigned from the ministry and from Parliament in order to successfully contest the Australian House of Representatives seat of Farrer at the 1975 federal election. Only changes in portfolio are shown, as below.

Portfolio	Minister	Party		Term commence	Term end	Term of office
Minister for Lands Minister for Forests	Hon. John Mason, MLA^1		Liberal	30 June 1975	17 December 1975	170 days
Minister for Transport Minister for Highways	Hon. Max Ruddock, MLA^2 ^3			10 October 1975		68 days
Minister for Revenue Assistant Treasurer	Hon. Peter Coleman, MLA^3

See also

• Hon. Tom Lewis, MLA - 33rd Premier of New South Wales
• Hon. Sir Charles Cutler KBE MLA - NSW Country Party leader
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1973–1976
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council, 1973–1976

References

1. "Former Members - Chronological List of Ministries 1856 to 2009 (requires download)" (MS Excel spreadsheet). Project for the Sesquicentenary of Responsible Government in NSW. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
2. Wah, Malvyne Jong; Page, Jeffrey E. (November 2007). "New South Wales Parliamentary Record 1824 – 2007" (PDF) VI. Parliament of New South Wales: 41. Retrieved 26 April 2014.