Parkes ministry (1878–83)

Third Parkes ministry
19th cabinet of the Colony of New South Wales
Premier Henry Parkes and the Colony of New South Wales (1863–1900)
Date formed	21 December 1878
Date dissolved	4 January 1883
People and organisations
Head of government	Henry Parkes
Head of state	Queen Victoria (represented by Hercules Robinson, and subsequently Lord Augustus Loftus)
Number of ministers	10
Member party	unaligned
Status in legislature	Minority government
Opposition party	unaligned
Opposition leader	Alexander Stuart
History
Predecessor	Farnell ministry
Successor	Stuart ministry

The third Parkes ministry was the nineteenth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by the Honourable Henry Parkes. It was the third of five occasions that Parkes was Leader of the Government.^[1]

Having served in the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1854 and 1856, Parkes was elected in the first free elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 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 Leader of the Government for a period of three years. However, Parkes lost the confidence of the Assembly following Governor Robinson's decision to release of the bushranger Frank Gardiner led to the defeat of the ministry in 1875.^[2]

John Robertson served as Leader of the Government 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.^[3] Parkes' second term as Colonial Premier lasted just 147 days, with the Farnell ministry giving both Parkes and Robertson reprieve for 12 months, prior to Parkes and Robertson forming an alliance government in this ministry.^[1]

The title of Premier was widely used to refer to the Leader of Government, but not enshrined in formal use until 1920.

There was no party system in New South Wales politics until 1887.^[4] Under the constitution, ministers were required to resign to recontest their seats in a by-election when appointed.^[5] 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 21 December 1878 until 4 January 1883.^[1]

Composition of ministry

Portfolio	Minister	Term start	Term end	Term length
Premier Colonial Secretary	Hon. Henry Parkes MLA	21 December 1878	4 January 1883	4 years, 14 days
Vice-President of the Executive Council Representative of the Government in Legislative Council	Hon. Sir John Robertson KCMG, MLC		10 November 1881	2 years, 324 days
Secretary for Lands		29 December 1881	4 January 1883	1 year, 6 days
	Hon. James Hoskins MLA	21 December 1878	28 December 1881	3 years, 7 days
Colonial Treasurer	Hon. James Watson MLA		4 January 1883	4 years, 14 days
Minister of Justice and Public Instruction	Hon. Francis Suttor MLA		30 April 1880	1 year, 131 days
Minister of Public Instruction		14 November 1881	4 January 1883	1 year, 51 days
Minister of Justice		1 May 1880	10 August 1880	101 days
	Hon. Sir Joseph Innes MLA	11 August 1880	13 October 1881	63 days
	Hon. William Foster MLA	14 October 1881	4 January 1883	1 year, 82 days
Minister of Public Instruction	Hon. Sir John Robertson KCMG, MLC	1 May 1880	10 November 1881	1 year, 193 days
Attorney-General	Hon. William Windeyer MLA	21 December 1878	10 August 1879	232 days
	Hon. Robert Wisdom MLA	13 August 1879	4 January 1883	3 years, 231 days
Secretary for Public Works	Hon. John Lackey MLA	21 December 1878		4 years, 14 days
Postmaster-General	Hon. Saul Samuel MLC		10 August 1880	1 year, 233 days
	Hon. Francis Suttor MLA	11 August 1880	13 November 1881	94 days
	Hon. Stephen Brown MLC	14 November 1881	22 August 1882	281 days
	Hon. Alexander Campbell MLC	30 August 1882	4 January 1883	127 days
Secretary for Mines	Hon. Ezekiel Baker MLA	21 December 1878	11 October 1881	2 years, 294 days
	Hon. Arthur Renwick MLA	12 October 1881	4 January 1883	1 year, 84 days
Vice-President of the Executive Council Representative of the Government in Legislative Council	Hon. Frederick Darley MLC	14 November 1881	4 January 1883	1 year, 51 days

See also

• Henry Parkes – seventh Premier of New South Wales
• Self-government in New South Wales
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1877–1880
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1880–1882
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1882–1885
• First Parkes ministry (1872–1875)
• Second Parkes ministry (1877)
• Fourth Parkes ministry (1887–1889)
• Fifth Parkes ministry (1889–1891)

References

1. "Former Members - Chronological List of Ministries 1856 to 2009 (requires download)" (Excel spreadsheet). Project for the Sesquicentenary of Responsible Government in NSW. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
2. Martin, A. W. "Parkes, Sir Henry (1815–96)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
3. Serle, Percival. "Sir Henry Parkes (1816–1896)". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Project Gutenberg Australia. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
4. Green, Antony (20 October 2010). "Centenary of the First NSW Labor Government". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011.
5. "1904 Redistribution". Atlas of New South Wales (Government of New South Wales). Archived from the original on 20 July 2011.