Governor of New South Wales

Sir John Northcott, the first Australian-born person appointed as governor (1946–57).

The Office of Governor is required by the New South Wales Constitution Act, 1902. The Australian monarch, on the advice and recommendation of the premier of New South Wales, approves the appointment of governor with a commission issued under the royal sign-manual and Public Seal of the State, who is from then until being sworn in by the premier and chief justice referred to as the governor-designate.

Besides the administration of the oaths of office, there is no set formula for the swearing-in of a governor-designate. The constitution act stipulates that: "Before assuming office, a person appointed to be Governor shall take the Oath or Affirmation of Allegiance and the Oath or Affirmation of Office in the presence of the Chief Justice or another Judge of the Supreme Court."[2] The sovereign will also hold an audience with the appointee and will at that time induct the governor-designate as a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).[3]

The incumbent will generally serve for at least five years, though this is only a developed convention, and the governor still technically acts at His Majesty's pleasure (or the Royal Pleasure). The premier may therefore recommend to the King that the viceroy remain in his service for a longer period of time, sometimes upwards of more than seven years. A governor may also resign[note 1] and three have died in office.[note 2] In such a circumstance, or if the governor leaves the country for longer than one month, the lieutenant governor of New South Wales, concurrently held by the chief justice of New South Wales since 1872, serves as Administrator of the Government and exercises all powers of the governor.[note 3] Furthermore, if the lieutenant governor becomes incapacitated while serving in the office of governor or is also absent from the state, the next most senior judge of the Supreme Court is sworn in as the administrator.[note 4]

As the sovereign predominantly lives outside New South Wales, the governor's primary task is to perform the sovereign's constitutional duties on their behalf.[5]

Lord Wakehurst takes the oath of office upon his arrival in Sydney in 1937.

It is the governor who is required, by the Constitution Act 1902, to appoint persons to the Government of New South Wales, who are all theoretically tasked with tendering to the monarch and viceroy guidance on the exercise of the Royal Prerogative. Convention dictates that the governor must draw from the Parliament an individual to act as premier, who is also capable of forming government—in almost all cases the Member of Parliament who commands the confidence of the Legislative Assembly. The premier then directs the governor to appoint other members of parliament to the Executive Council of New South Wales known as the Cabinet, and it is in practice only from this group of ministers of the Crown that the King and governor will take direction on the use of executive power, an arrangement called the King-in-Council or, more specifically, the Governor-in-Council. In this capacity, the governor will issue royal proclamations and sign orders in council. The governor-in-council is also required to appoint in the King's name the president of the Legislative Council, the speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Supreme Court and District Court justices, and local court magistrates in the state, though all of these are made on the advice of either the premier and cabinet or the majority of elected members of each house in the case of the speaker or president. The advice given by the Cabinet is, in order to ensure the stability of government, typically binding; both the King and his viceroy, however, may in exceptional circumstances invoke the reserve powers, which remain the Crown's final check against a ministry's abuse of power, this was last fully exercised in 1932, when Sir Philip Game revoked the commission of Premier Jack Lang.

The governor alone is constitutionally mandated to summon parliament. Beyond that, the viceroy carries out the other conventional parliamentary duties in the sovereign's absence, including reading the Speech from the throne and the proroguing and dissolving of parliament. The governor grants royal assent in the King's name; legally, by granting royal assent (making the bill law), withholding royal assent (vetoing the bill), or reserving the bill for the King's pleasure (allowing the sovereign to personally grant or withhold assent). If the governor withholds the King's assent, the sovereign may, within two years, disallow the bill, thereby annulling the law in question. No modern viceroy has denied royal assent to a bill. With most constitutional functions delegated to Cabinet, the governor acts in a primarily ceremonial fashion. The governor hosts members of Australia's royal family, as well as foreign royalty and heads of state. Also as part of international relations, the governor receives letters of credence and of recall from foreign consuls-general appointed to Sydney. When they are the longest-serving state governor, the governor of New South Wales holds a dormant commission to act as the administrator of the Commonwealth when the governor-general of Australia is absent from Australia, a role most recently held by Governor Bashir.[6]

The governor is also tasked with fostering unity and pride. The governor inducts individuals into the various national orders and present national medals and decorations, however the most senior awards such as ACs or the Victoria Cross are the sole prerogative of the governor general. The governor also ex-officio serves as Honorary Colonel of the Royal New South Wales Regiment (since 1960), Honorary Air Commodore of No. 22 (City of Sydney) Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (since 1937) and Honorary Commodore of the Royal Australian Navy , as well as the Chief Scout for New South Wales.[7]

As the personal representative of the monarch, the governor follows only the sovereign in the NSW order of precedence. The incumbent governor is entitled to use the style of His or Her Excellency, while in office. On 28 November 2013 the premier of NSW announced that the Queen had given approval for the title of "The Honourable" to be accorded to the governors and former governors of New South Wales.[8] Upon installation, the governor serves as a Deputy Prior of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem in Australia and is also traditionally invested as either a Knight or Dame of Justice or Grace of the Order.[7] It is also customary that the governor is made a Companion of the Order of Australia, though this is not necessarily automatic. The use by the governor of an elaborate uniform, comprising a plain blue tailcoat, scarlet collar and cuffs (embroidered in silver), silver epaulettes, and a plumed bicorne hat, fell out of use with the appointment of the first Australian-born Governor, Sir John Northcott, in 1946.

The Viceregal Salute—composed of the first and last four bars of the national anthem ("Advance Australia Fair")—is the salute used to greet the governor upon arrival at, and mark his or her departure from most official events, although "God Save The King", as the royal anthem, is also used. The state badge of the New South Wales crowned with the St Edward's Crown (a change to effect the preference of King Charles III for the Tudor Crown has not yet taken place) is employed as the badge of the governor, appearing on the viceroy's flag and on other objects associated with the person or the office.

To mark the viceroy's presence at any building, ship, aeroplane, or car in Australia, the governor's standard or flag is employed. Following the example of other states adopting unique Governor's standards, in 1980 the Government of New South Wales sought to introduce a new standard for the governor to replace the Union Flag that had been in use since 1788.[9] Premier Neville Wran wrote to the Governor, Sir Roden Cutler, on 25 November 1980 advising: “His Excellency’s Ministers of State now consider that there should be a change in the Personal Standard of the Governor of New South Wales, such change to take effect at the conclusion of His Excellency’s term of office. The Premier therefore recommends for approval a change in the Governor’s distinctive flag from the Union Flag to the New South Wales State Flag with a Crown surmounting the State badge in the fly.” However, Cutler did not agree with this change, and it was recommended that the change be undertaken after he had left office.[9] The new Governor's Standard was designed and presented by the Garter King of Arms to the Agent-General for New South Wales in London on 8 January 1981, who then sought Royal assent of the new design, which was given on 15 January 1981.[9] The flag was first flown on 20 January 1981 over Parliament House for the official swearing-in of Governor Sir James Rowland, and was flown for the first time over Government House on 29 January 1981.[10][11]

Past and present standards of the governor

• 
  1788–1800
• 
  1800–1981
• 
  1981–present

The First Fleet in Botany Bay at voyage's end in 1788. Its arrival marked the establishment of the colony of New South Wales and the office of the governor.

Aside from the Crown itself, the office of Governor of New South Wales is the oldest constitutional office in Australia. Captain Arthur Phillip assumed office as Governor of New South Wales on 7 February 1788, when the Colony of New South Wales, the first British settlement in Australia, was formally proclaimed. The early colonial governors held an almost autocratic power due to the distance from and poor communications with Great Britain, until 1824 when the New South Wales Legislative Council, Australia's first legislative body, was appointed to advise the governor.[12]

Between 1850 and 1861, the Governor of New South Wales was titled Governor-General, in an early attempt at federalism imposed by Earl Grey. All communication between the Australian colonies and the British Government was meant to go through the Governor-General, and the other colonies had lieutenant-Governors. As South Australia (1836), Tasmania (January 1855) and Victoria (May 1855) obtained responsible government, their lieutenant-Governors were replaced by Governors. Although he had ceased acting as a Governor-General, Sir William Denison retained the title until his retirement in 1861.[13]

The six British colonies in Australia joined to form the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. New South Wales and the other colonies became states in the federal system under the Constitution of Australia. In 1902, the New South Wales Constitution Act 1902 confirmed the modern system of government of New South Wales as a state, including defining the role of the governor as the monarch's representative, who acts by and with the advice of the Executive Council. Like the new federal Governor-General and the other state governors, in the first years after federation, the governor of New South Wales continued to act both as a constitutional head of the state, and as a liaison between the government and the imperial government in London. However, the British government's involvement in Australian affairs gradually reduced in the next few years.

The copy of the Australia Act 1986 (UK) bearing the Queen's signature, now displayed in Canberra

In 1942, the Commonwealth of Australia passed the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942, which rendered Australia dominion status under the Statute of Westminster, and while Australia and Britain share the same person as monarch, that person acts in a distinct capacity when acting as the monarch of each dominion. The convention that the monarch acts in respect of Australian affairs on the advice of his or her Australian ministers, rather than his or her British ministers, became enshrined in law. For New South Wales however, because the Statute of Westminster did not disturb the constitutional arrangements of the Australian states, the governor remains (at least formally) in New South Wales the representative of the British monarch. This arrangement seemed incongruous with the Commonwealth of Australia's independent dominion status conferred by the Statute of Westminster, and with the federal structure.

After much negotiation between the federal and state governments of Australia, the British government and Buckingham Palace, the Australia Act 1986 removed any remaining constitutional roles of the British monarch and British government in the Australian states, and established that the governor of New South Wales (along with the other state governors) was the direct, personal representative of the Australian monarch, and not the British monarch or the British government, nor the governor-general of Australia or the Australian federal government.

The following individuals have served as a governor of New South Wales:[21]

No.	Portrait	Governor	Term start	Term end	Time in office
Governors appointed by George III (1760–1820):
1		Captain Arthur Phillip RN	7 February 1788	10 December 1792	4 years, 307 days
2		Captain John Hunter RN	11 September 1795	27 September 1800	5 years, 16 days
3		Captain Philip Gidley King RN	28 September 1800	12 August 1806	5 years, 318 days
4		Captain William Bligh FRS, RN	13 August 1806	26 January 1808	1 year, 166 days
5		Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB	1 January 1810	1 December 1821	11 years, 334 days
Governors appointed by George IV (1820–1830):
6		Major-General Sir Thomas Brisbane Bt, GCH, GCB	1 December 1821	1 December 1825	4 years, 0 days
7		Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Darling GCH	19 December 1825	21 October 1831	5 years, 306 days
Governors appointed by William IV (1830–1837):
8		Major-General Sir Richard Bourke KCB	3 December 1831	5 December 1837	6 years, 2 days
Governors appointed by Queen Victoria (1837–1901):
9		Major Sir George Gipps	24 February 1838	11 July 1846	8 years, 137 days
10		Lieutenant Colonel Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy KCH, KCB	3 August 1846	28 January 1855	8 years, 178 days
11		Sir William Denison KCB	20 January 1855	22 January 1861	6 years, 2 days
12		The Rt Hon. Sir John Young Bt, GCMG, KCB	16 May 1861	24 December 1867	6 years, 222 days
13		The Rt Hon. The Earl Belmore GCMG, PC	8 January 1868	21 February 1872	4 years, 44 days
14		The Rt Hon. Sir Hercules Robinson GCMG	3 June 1872	19 March 1879	6 years, 289 days
15		The Rt Hon. Lord Augustus Loftus GCB	4 August 1879	9 November 1885	6 years, 97 days
16		The Rt Hon. The Lord Carrington GCMG, PC	12 December 1885	3 November 1890	4 years, 326 days
17		The Rt Hon. The Earl of Jersey GCB, GCMG, PC	15 January 1891	2 March 1893	2 years, 46 days
18		The Rt Hon. Sir Robert Duff GCMG	29 May 1893	15 March 1895	2 years, 291 days
19		The Rt Hon. The Viscount Hampden GCMG	21 November 1895	5 March 1899	3 years, 104 days
20		The Rt Hon. The Earl Beauchamp KCMG, PC	18 May 1899	30 April 1901	1 year, 347 days
Governors appointed by Edward VII (1901–1910):
21		Admiral Sir Harry Rawson GCB, GCMG, RN	27 May 1902	27 May 1909	7 years, 0 days
22		The Rt Hon. The Lord Chelmsford GCMG	28 May 1909	11 March 1913	3 years, 287 days
Governors appointed by George V (1910–1936):
23		The Hon. Sir Gerald Strickland GCMG	14 March 1913	27 October 1917	4 years, 227 days
24		Sir Walter Davidson KCMG	18 February 1918	4 September 1923[note 2]	5 years, 198 days
25		Admiral Sir Dudley de Chair KCB, MVO	28 February 1924	7 April 1930	6 years, 38 days
26		Air Vice Marshal Sir Philip Game GBE, KCB, DSO	29 May 1930	15 January 1935	4 years, 231 days
27		The Rt. Hon. The Lord Gowrie VC, GCMG, CB, DSO	21 February 1935	22 January 1936	335 days
Governors appointed by Edward VIII (1936):
28		Admiral Sir Murray Anderson KCB, KCMG, MVO	6 August 1936	30 October 1936[note 2][note 3]	85 days
Governors appointed by George VI (1936–1952):
29		The Rt. Hon. The Lord Wakehurst KCMG	8 April 1937	8 January 1946	8 years, 275 days
30		Lieutenant General Sir John Northcott KCMG, KCVO, CB	1 August 1946	31 July 1957	10 years, 364 days
Governors appointed by Queen Elizabeth II (1952–2022):
31		Lieutenant General Sir Eric Woodward KCMG, KCVO, CB, CBE, DSO	1 August 1957	31 July 1965	7 years, 364 days
32		Sir Roden Cutler VC, KCMG, KCVO, CBE	20 January 1966	19 January 1981	14 years, 365 days
33		Air Marshal Sir James Rowland AC, KBE, DFC, AFC	20 January 1981	20 January 1989	8 years, 0 days
34		Rear Admiral Sir David Martin KCMG, AO, RAN	20 January 1989	7 August 1990[note 1]	1 year, 199 days
35		Rear Admiral The Hon. Peter Sinclair AC	8 August 1990	29 February 1996	5 years, 205 days
36		The Hon. Gordon Samuels AC, CVO, QC	1 March 1996	28 February 2001	4 years, 364 days
37		Professor The Hon. Dame Marie Bashir AD, CVO	1 March 2001	1 October 2014	13 years, 214 days
38		General The Hon. David Hurley AC, DSC (Retd)	2 October 2014	1 May 2019	4 years, 211 days
39		The Hon. Margaret Beazley AC, KC	2 May 2019	Incumbent	4 years, 174 days

• Spouse of the governor of New South Wales
• Governor-General of Australia
• Governors of the Australian states
• Governor's Body Guard of Light Horse

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Governors of New South Wales.

• Governor of New South Wales official website