Reid ministry
28th Cabinet of the Colony of New South Wales
Premier George Reid and the Colony of New South Wales (1863–1900)
Date formed3 August 1894 (1894-08-03)
Date dissolved13 September 1899 (1899-09-13)
People and organisations
MonarchQueen Victoria
GovernorThe Earl Beauchamp
PremierGeorge Reid
No. of ministers10
Member partyFree Trade Party
Status in legislatureMinority government
Opposition partyProtectionist Party
Opposition leaderSir William Lyne
History
PredecessorThird Dibbs ministry
SuccessorLyne ministry

The Reid ministry was the 28th ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by the 12th Premier, George Reid. The title of Premier was widely used to refer to the Leader of Government, but was not a formal position in the government until 1920. Instead the Premier was appointed to another portfolio, usually Colonial Secretary but on this occasion Reid took the portfolio of Colonial Treasurer until July 1899 and then Attorney General.

Reid was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1880,[1] serving until 1884 when he was defeated in a ministerial by-election.[2] Reid was re-elected to the Assembly at the 1885 election and joined the Free Trade Party on its formation in 1887. He was one of four free traders who were elected as independents at the 1891 election because they did not support the government of Sir Henry Parkes. The Free Trade Party lost 27 seats at the election and lost its majority. Parkes continued as a minority government before resigning in October 1891, replaced as Premier by Sir George Dibbs Protectionist, with the support of Labor. Reid re-joined the Free Trade Party, replacing Parkes as leader.

The 1894 election saw the Free Trade Party gain 6 seats while the Protectionists lost 15 and a split in Labour saw the party lose 20 seats. No party had a majority, with 23 independents. Dibbs said he would not resign, wanting to test his support in parliament, however the Governor Robert Duff forced his hand, with Dibbs resigning on 2 August 1894. The appointment of Joseph Cook was controversial, with Cook being the leader of the Labour parliamentarians who refused to sign a "pledge" to be bound by decisions of the Caucus,[3] and Cook contested the 1894 election as an Independent Labour candidate.[4] Cook's decision to join the Reid ministry was seen as an opportunistic act and Cook was labeled as a class traitor.[3]

Under the constitution, ministers in the Legislative Assembly were required to resign to recontest their seats in an election when appointed.[5] Such ministerial by-elections were usually uncontested and on this occasion a by-election was required in Bathurst (Sydney Smith), Hartley (Joseph Cook), Singleton (Albert Gould) and Sydney-King (George Reid) however all were comfortably re-elected. The other four ministers were re-elected unopposed.[6]

The Free Trade Party gained 8 seats at the 1895 election, largely a result of independent members joining the party and they were still 5 seats short of a majority.[7] The party lost 13 seats at the 1898 election,[8] including ministers Jacob Garrard, Albert Gould and Sydney Smith,[9] mostly to the Protectionist Party which contested the election under the name "National Federal Party", reflecting the party's focus on Federation. The ministry's first re-shuffle occurred in August 1898 as a result of that election, with James Hogue, Charles Lee and Varney Parkes appointed to the ministry. Glebe (James Hogue) was the only electorate in which the by-election was contested.[10] Jack Want resigned as Attorney General in April 1898 as a result of Reid's famous Yes-No speech in order to oppose federation, rejoining in June 1898 after the first referendum was defeated.[11] Want resigned again in April 1899 and Reid was appointed Attorney General, initially in addition to his role as Colonial Treasurer, before relinquishing that role in the second re-shuffle in July 1899. The Reid ministry managed to hold on as a minority government until 13 September 1899,[12][13] when Reid resigned in order to focus on ensuring adequate provisions were made for New South Wales in the federation of the Australian colonies into a Commonwealth.[14]

The Reid ministry

Composition of ministry

Portfolio Minister Party Term start Term end Term length
Premier George Reid QC   Free Trade 3 August 1894 13 September 1899 5 years, 41 days
Colonial Treasurer
Collector of Internal Revenue		 3 July 1899 4 years, 334 days
Joseph Carruthers 3 July 1899 13 September 1899 72 days
Attorney General George Simpson QC, MLC 3 August 1894 1 December 1894 120 days
Jack Want QC, MLC 18 December 1894 4 April 1898 3 years, 107 days
18 June 1898 18 April 1899 304 days
George Reid QC 19 April 1899 13 September 1899 147 days
Solicitor General [lower-alpha 1] 21 December 1894 5 March 1895 74 days
18 December 1895 20 April 1896 124 days
22 December 1896 9 February 1897 49 days
27 April 1898 7 October 1898 163 days
3 January 1899 1 May 1899 118 days
Colonial Secretary
Registrar of Records		 James Brunker 3 August 1894 13 September 1899 5 years, 41 days
Secretary for Lands Joseph Carruthers 3 July 1899 4 years, 334 days
James Young 3 July 1899 13 September 1899 72 days
Secretary for Public Works 3 August 1894 3 July 1899 4 years, 334 days
Charles Lee 3 July 1899 13 September 1899 72 days
Minister of Justice Albert Gould [lower-alpha 2] 3 August 1894 15 August 1898 4 years, 12 days
Charles Lee 15 August 1898 3 July 1899 322 days
John Hughes MLC 3 July 1899 13 September 1899 72 days
Minister of Public Instruction Jacob Garrard [lower-alpha 3] 3 August 1894 15 August 1898 4 years, 12 days
Minister for Labour and Industry 11 March 1895 3 years, 157 days
Minister of Public Instruction James Hogue 27 August 1898 13 September 1899 1 year, 17 days
Minister for Labour and Industry
Secretary for Mines and Agriculture Sydney Smith [lower-alpha 4] 3 August 1894 15 August 1898 4 years, 12 days
Joseph Cook 27 August 1898 13 September 1899 1 year, 17 days
Postmaster-General 3 August 1894 27 August 1898 4 years, 24 days
Varney Parkes 27 August 1898 13 September 1899 1 year, 17 days
Vice-President of the Executive Council
Representative of the Government in Legislative Council		 William Suttor Jr. MLC 7 August 1894 15 March 1895 220 days
Andrew Garran MLC 19 March 1895 18 November 1898 3 years, 244 days
John Hughes MLC 22 November 1898 13 September 1899 295 days

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ George Reid QC was temporarily appointed Solicitor General to allow him to deputise for the Attorney General in his absence.[15]
  2. ↑ Albert Gould was defeated at the 1898 election for Singleton.[9]
  3. ↑ Jacob Garrard was defeated at the 1898 election for Sherbrooke.[9]
  4. ↑ Sydney Smith was defeated at the 1898 election for Bathurst.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Green, Antony. "1880 East Sydney". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  2. ↑ Green, Antony. "1884 results East Sydney by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  3. 1 2 Crowley, F K. "Cook, Sir Joseph (1860–1947)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  4. ↑ Green, Antony. "1894 Hartley". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  5. ↑ Twomey, Anne (2004). The Constitution of New South Wales. Federation Press. pp. 442. ISBN 9781862875166. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  6. ↑ Green, Antony. "1894 to 1895 by-elections". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  7. ↑ Green, Antony. "1895 election totals". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  8. ↑ Green, Antony. "1898 election totals". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Green, Antony. "1898 election districts". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  10. ↑ Green, Antony. "1898 to 1901 by-elections". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  11. ↑ Finn, Paul (1990). "Want, John Henry (1846–1905)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. pp. 380–381. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  12. ↑ "Sir George Houston Reid (1845–1918)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  13. ↑ "Part 6 Ministries since 1856" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  14. ↑ McMinn, W G. "Reid, Sir George Houstoun (1845–1918)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  15. ↑ Appleby, G (2016). Role of the Solicitor-General. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 73. ISBN 9781509903962.

 

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