Premier of Queensland

The Premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland.

Premier of Queensland
Coat of Arms of Queensland
Flag of Queensland
Incumbent Annastacia Palaszczuk since 14 February 2015
Department of the Premier and Cabinet
Style	The Honourable (formal) Premier (informal)
Status	Head of Government
Member of	Parliament National Cabinet Cabinet Executive Council
Reports to	Parliament
Seat	1 William Street, Brisbane
Appointer	Governor of Queensland by convention, based on appointee's ability to command confidence in the Legislative Assembly
Term length	At the Governor's pleasure contingent on the premier's ability to command confidence in the house of Parliament
Constituting instrument	None (constitutional convention)
Formation	10 December 1859
First holder	Robert Herbert
Deputy	Deputy Premier of Queensland
Salary	$380,000 per annum
Website	www.thepremier.qld.gov.au

By convention the Premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The Premier is appointed by the Governor of Queensland.

The incumbent Premier of Queensland since the 2015 election is Annastacia Palaszczuk of the Labor Party.

Constitutional role

Under section 42 of the Constitution of Queensland the Premier and other members of Cabinet are appointed by the Governor and are collectively responsible to Parliament. The text of the Constitution assigns to the Premier certain powers, such as the power to assign roles (s. 25) to Assistant Ministers (formerly known as Parliamentary Secretaries), and to appoint Ministers as acting Ministers (s. 45) for a period of 14 days.

In practice, under the conventions of the Westminster System followed in Queensland, the Premier's power is derived from two sources: command of a majority in the Legislative Assembly, and the Premier's role as chair of Cabinet, determining the appointment and roles of Ministers. Although ministerial appointments are the prerogative of the Governor of Queensland, in normal circumstances the Governor will make these appointments under the "advice" (in reality, direction) of the Premier.

Immediately following an election for the Legislative Assembly, the Governor will call on the leader of the party which commands a majority in the Legislative Assembly, and ask them to commission a government. A re-elected government will be resworn, with adjustments to the ministry as determined by the Premier.

Premier's office

The Premier has an office in the Executive Annexe of Parliament House, Brisbane, which is normally used while Parliament is sitting. At other times the Premier's ministerial office is in 1 William Street, which is across the road from the Executive Annexe.

List of Premiers of Queensland

Before the 1890s, there was no developed party system in Queensland. Political affiliation labels before that time indicate a general tendency only. Before the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, political parties were more akin to parliamentary factions, and were fluid, informal and disorganised by modern standards.

No.		Name (lifespan)	Portrait	Term of Office			Party	Constituency	Election(s) Won
	1	Robert Herbert		10 December 1859	1 February 1866	6 years, 53 days	Squatter Conservative	Leichhardt	1860 1863
	2	Arthur Macalister		1 February 1866	20 July 1866	169 days	None	Town of Ipswich	-
	(1)	Robert Herbert		20 July 1866	7 August 1866	18 days	Squatter Conservative	West Moreton	-
	(2)	Arthur Macalister		7 August 1866	15 August 1867	1 year, 8 days	None	Town of Ipswich	-
	3	Robert Mackenzie		15 August 1867	25 November 1868	1 year, 102 days	Squatter Conservative	Burnett	1867
	4	Charles Lilley		25 November 1868	2 May 1870	1 year, 158 days	None	Hamlet of Fortitude Valley	1868
	5	Arthur Palmer		3 May 1870	7 January 1874	3 years, 249 days	Squatter Conservative	Port Curtis	1870 1871
	(2)	Arthur Macalister, CMG		8 January 1874	5 June 1876	2 years, 149 days	None	Ipswich	1873
	6	George Thorn		5 June 1876	8 March 1877	276 days	None	Ipswich	-
	7	John Douglas, CMG		8 March 1877	21 January 1879	1 year, 227 days	None	Maryborough	-
	8	Sir Thomas McIlwraith, KCMG		21 January 1879	13 November 1883	4 years, 296 days	Conservative	Mulgrave	1878
	9	Sir Samuel Griffith, KCMG, QC		13 November 1883	13 June 1888	4 years, 213 days	None	North Brisbane	1883
	(8)	Sir Thomas McIlwraith, KCMG		13 June 1888	30 November 1888	170 days	Conservative	Brisbane North	-
	10	Boyd Dunlop Morehead		30 November 1888	12 August 1890	1 year, 255 days	Conservative	Balonne	1888
	(9)	Sir Samuel Griffith, KCMG, QC		12 August 1890	27 March 1893	2 years, 227 days	None	North Brisbane	-
	(8)	Sir Thomas McIlwraith, KCMG		27 March 1893	27 October 1893	214 days	Conservative	Brisbane North	-
	11	Sir Hugh Nelson, KCMG		27 October 1893	13 April 1898	4 years, 168 days	Ministerial	Murilla	1896
	12	Thomas Joseph Byrnes		13 April 1898	1 October 1898	171 days	Ministerial	Warwick	-
	13	James Dickson		1 October 1898	1 December 1899	1 year, 61 days	Ministerial	Bulimba	1899
	14	Anderson Dawson		1 December 1899	7 December 1899	6 days	Labour	Charters Towers	-
	15	Robert Philp		7 December 1899	17 September 1903	3 years, 284 days	Ministerial	Townsville	1902
	16	Arthur Morgan		17 September 1903	19 January 1906	2 years, 124 days	Liberal	Warwick	1904
	17	William Kidston		19 January 1906	19 November 1907	1 year, 304 days	Labor	South Brisbane	1907
							Kidstonite
	(15)	Robert Philp		19 November 1907	18 February 1908	91 days	Conservative	Townsville	-
	(17)	William Kidston		18 February 1908	7 February 1911	2 years, 354 days	Kidston; Liberal	Rockhampton	1908 1909
	18	Digby Denham		7 February 1911	1 June 1915	4 years, 114 days	Liberal	Oxley	1912
	19	T. J. Ryan, KC		1 June 1915	22 October 1919	4 years, 143 days	Labor	Barcoo	1915 1918
	20	Ted Theodore		22 October 1919	26 February 1925	5 years, 127 days	Labor	Chillagoe	1920 1923
	21	William Gillies		26 February 1925	22 October 1925	238 days	Labor	Eacham	-
	22	William McCormack		22 October 1925	21 May 1929	3 years, 211 days	Labor	Carins	1926
	23	Arthur Edward Moore		21 May 1929	17 June 1932	3 years, 27 days	CPNP	Aubigny	1929
	24	William Forgan Smith		17 June 1932	16 September 1942	10 years, 91 days	Labor	Mackay	1932 1935 1938 1941
	25	Frank Arthur Cooper		16 September 1942	7 March 1946	3 years, 172 days	Labor	Bremer	1944
	26	Ned Hanlon		7 March 1946	17 January 1952	5 years, 316 days	Labor	Ithaca	1947 1950
	27	Vince Gair		17 January 1952	12 August 1957	5 years, 207 days	Labor	South Brisbane	1953 1956
							Queensland Labor
	28	Frank Nicklin, MM		12 August 1957	17 January 1968	10 years, 158 days	Country	Murrumba	1957 1960 1963 1966
	29	Jack Pizzey		17 January 1968	1 August 1968	197 days	Country	Isis	-
	30	Gordon Chalk		1 August 1968	8 August 1968	7 days	Liberal	Lockyer	-
	31	Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, KCMG (knighted in 1984)		8 August 1968	1 December 1987	19 years, 115 days	Country/National	Barambah	1969 1972 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986
	32	Mike Ahern		1 December 1987	25 September 1989	1 year, 298 days	National	Landsborough	-
	33	Russell Cooper		25 September 1989	7 December 1989	84 days	National	Roma	-
	34	Wayne Goss		7 December 1989	19 February 1996	6 years, 74 days	Labor	Logan	1989 1992 1995
	35	Rob Borbidge		19 February 1996	20 June 1998	2 years, 121 days	National	Surfers Paradise	-
	36	Peter Beattie		20 June 1998	13 September 2007	9 years, 85 days	Labor	Brisbane Central	1998 2001 2004 2006
	37	Anna Bligh		13 September 2007	26 March 2012	4 years, 195 days	Labor	South Brisbane	2009
	38	Campbell Newman		26 March 2012	14 February 2015	2 years, 325 days	Liberal National	Ashgrove	2012
	39	Annastacia Palaszczuk		14 February 2015	Incumbent	5 years, 361 days	Labor	Inala	2015 2017 2020

Living former premiers

As of February 2015, six former premiers are alive, the oldest being Russell Cooper (1989, born 1941). The most recent premier to die was Wayne Goss (1951–2014), on 10 November 2014.

Name	Term as premier	Date of birth
Mike Ahern	1987–1989	2 June 1942
Russell Cooper	1989	4 February 1941
Rob Borbidge	1996–1998	12 August 1954
Peter Beattie	1998–2007	18 November 1952
Anna Bligh	2007–2012	14 July 1960
Campbell Newman	2012–2015	12 August 1963

Graphical timeline

See also

• List of premiers of Queensland by age
• List of Premiers of Queensland by time in office
• Government of Queensland
• Politics of Queensland

References

External links