Minister for Agriculture and Food (Western Australia)

The Minister for Agriculture and Food is a position in the Cabinet of Western Australia. The minister is responsible for the Department of Agriculture and Food, and usually holds several other portfolios.

Minister for Agriculture and Food
Incumbent Alannah MacTiernan MLC since 17 March 2017
Department of Agriculture and Food
Style	The Honourable
Nominator	Premier of Western Australia
Appointer	Governor of Western Australia
Inaugural holder	John Drew MLC (as Minister for Agriculture)
Formation	7 June 1905
Website	Minister Alannah MacTiernan MLC

The responsibilities now incorporated in the portfolio were originally held by the Colonial Secretary, and it was not until the 1904 Daglish Ministry that a separate Minister for Agriculture was appointed, with the inaugural minister being the nominally independent John Drew. From its first implementation through to the 1920s, and sporadically afterward, the titles of Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Lands were generally held by the same person, although the positions were legally separate, and were quite different in scope. A similar situation has existed since the late 1970s with the Fisheries and Forests portfolios. The minister's title was simply "Minister for Agriculture" until 1993, when Monty House was made Minister for Primary Industries in the Court–Cowan Ministry. The current title was implemented in 2005.

The current Minister for Agriculture and Food is Alannah MacTiernan of the Labor Party. The previous Minister for Agriculture and Food was Mark Lewis of the Liberal Party. Lewis was only the third Liberal to hold the position – in previous Coalition governments, the position has been reserved for members of the National Party (and its predecessors).[1][2]

List of Ministers for Agriculture and Food

Thirty three people have been appointed as Minister for Agriculture and Food (or equivalent) in Western Australia, with Crawford Nalder's 11 years and 335 days the longest time period in the position.[3] In the table below, members of the Legislative Council are designated "MLC". All others were members of the Legislative Assembly at the time of their service. In Western Australia, serving ministers are entitled to be styled "The Honourable", and may retain the style after three years' service in the ministry.[4]

Order	Minister	Party		Premier	Title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	John Drew MLC		Independent	Daglish	Minister for Agriculture	7 June 1905	25 August 1905	79 days
2	Newton Moore		Ministerialist	Rason		25 August 1905	7 May 1906	255 days
3	Frank Wilson			Moore		7 May 1906	30 June 1909	3 years, 54 days
4	James Mitchell					30 June 1909	16 September 1910	2 years, 99 days
			Liberal	Wilson		16 September 1910	7 October 1911
5	Thomas Bath		Labor	Scaddan		7 October 1911	23 November 1914	3 years, 47 days
6	William Johnson					23 November 1914	27 July 1916	1 year, 247 days
7	Sir Henry Lefroy KCMG		Liberal	Wilson		27 July 1916	28 July 1917	2 years, 264 days
			Nationalist	Lefroy		28 July 1917	17 April 1919
8	Charles Baxter MLC		Country	Colebatch		17 April 1919	17 May 1919	30 days
9	Hal Colebatch MLC		Nationalist	Mitchell		17 May 1919	3 April 1921	1 year, 351 days
10	Henry Kennedy Maley		Country			3 April 1921	15 April 1924	3 years, 12 days
11	Michael Troy		Labor	Collier		15 April 1924	15 December 1927	3 years, 244 days
12	Harry Millington					15 December 1927	23 April 1930	2 years, 129 days
13	Percy Ferguson		Country	Mitchell		23 April 1930	24 April 1933	3 years, 1 day
– (12)	Harry Millington		Labor	Collier		24 April 1933	26 March 1935	1 year, 336 days
14	Frank Wise					26 March 1935	19 August 1936	10 years, 130 days
				Willcock		19 August 1936	31 July 1945
				Wise		31 July 1945	3 August 1945
15	John Tonkin					3 August 1945	1 April 1947	1 year, 241 days
16	Lindsay Thorn		Country	McLarty		1 April 1947	5 January 1948	279 days
17	Garnet Wood MLC				Honorary Minister for Agriculture	5 January 1948	24 October 1950	3 years, 363 days
					Minister for Agriculture	24 October 1950	3 January 1952
18	Sir Charles Latham MLC					3 January 1952	23 February 1953	1 year, 79 days
19	Ernest Hoar		Labor	Hawke		23 February 1953	17 December 1957	4 years, 297 days
20	Lionel Kelly					17 December 1957	2 April 1959	1 year, 106 days
21	Crawford Nalder		Country	Brand		2 April 1959	3 March 1971	11 years, 335 days
22	David Evans		Labor	Tonkin		3 March 1971	8 April 1974	3 years, 36 days
23	Ray McPharlin		National Alliance	Court		8 April 1974	20 May 1975	1 year, 42 days
24	Dick Old		National Country			5 June 1975	25 January 1982	7 years, 263 days
				O'Connor		25 January 1982	23 February 1983
– (22)	David Evans		Labor	Burke		23 February 1983	26 February 1986	3 years, 3 days
25	Julian Grill					26 February 1986	25 February 1988	3 years, 2 days
				Dowding		25 February 1988	28 February 1989
26	Ernie Bridge					28 February 1989	12 February 1990	3 years, 354 days
				Lawrence		12 February 1990	16 February 1993
27	Monty House		National	Court	Minister for Primary Industries	16 February 1993	16 February 2001	8 years, 0 days
28	Kim Chance		Labor	Gallop	Minister for Agriculture	16 February 2001	1 July 2001	7 years, 220 days
					Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries	1 July 2001	10 March 2005
					Minister for Agriculture and Forestry	10 March 2005	25 January 2006
				Carpenter		25 January 2006	3 February 2006
					Minister for Agriculture and Food	3 February 2006	23 September 2008
29	Terry Redman		National	Barnett		23 September 2008	21 March 2013	4 years, 179 days
30	Ken Baston MLC		Liberal			21 March 2013	31 March 2016	3 years, 10 days
31	Dean Nalder					31 March 2016	20 September 2016	173 days
32	Mark Lewis					22 September 2016	17 March 2017	4 years, 126 days
33	Alannah MacTiernan MLC		Labor	McGowan		17 March 2017	incumbent	3 years, 315 days

References

1. Cattle, Tyson (30 March 2013). "New Ag Minister to hit the ground running". Farm Weekly. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
2. Thompson, Brad (17 May 2013). "Grylls defends farm policy". The West Australian. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
3. Agriculture Ministers of Western Australia – Parliamentary Library of Western Australia. Last updated 29 June 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
4. Addressing a Member of Parliament – Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 1 October 2013.