Wran ministry (1984–1986)

The Wran ministry (1984–1986) or Seventh Wran ministry was the 77th ministry of the New South Wales Government, and was led by the 35th Premier of New South Wales, Neville Wran, representing the Labor Party. It was the seventh of eight consecutive occasions when Wran was Premier.

Seventh Wran ministry

77th Cabinet of Government of New South Wales
Premier Neville Wran
Date formed5 April 1984 (1984-04-05)
Date dissolved6 February 1986 (1986-02-06)
People and organisations
MonarchQueen Elizabeth II
GovernorSir James Rowland
PremierNeville Wran
Deputy PremierRon Mulock
No. of ministers20
Member partyLabor
Opposition partiesLiberal National coalition
Opposition leaderNick Greiner
History
PredecessorSixth Wran ministry
SuccessorEighth Wran ministry

Background

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Wran had been elected to the Legislative Council of New South Wales by a joint sitting of the New South Wales Parliament on 12 March 1970.[1] He was Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council from 22 February 1972.[2] He resigned from the council on 19 October 1973 to switch to the Legislative Assembly, successfully contesting the election for Bass Hill, which he would hold until his retirement in 1986.[3] Wran successfully challenged Pat Hills to become Leader of Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from 3 December 1973 and became Premier following a narrow one seat victory at the 1976 election.[4]

Labor retained government at the 1984 election, despite a 6.95% swing against Labor, losing 11 seats, but retaining a majority of 8 seats in the Legislative Assembly and a single seat majority in the Legislative Council.[a]

Composition of ministry

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The ministry covers the period from 5 April 1984 the Wran–led Labor Party was re-elected at the 1984 election. There were four minor rearrangements of the ministry, commencing in November 1984 with the death of Paul Landa,[b] and a second rearrangement in December.[c] The third rearrangement in February 1985 saw the creation of a new portfolio of Ethnic Affairs.[d] The fourth minor rearrangement was caused by the retirement of Eric Bedford and Kevin Stewart in December 1985.[e] The ministry ended on 6 February 1986 when Wran reconfigured his ministry, and the eighth Wran ministry was formed.[5]

Portfolio Minister Party Term commence Term end Term of office
Premier
Minister for the Arts
Neville Wran   Labor 5 April 1984 6 February 1986 1 year, 307 days
Minister for Ethnic Affairs[d] 6 February 1985 334 days
Deputy Premier
Minister for Health
Ron Mulock[f] 5 April 1984 1 year, 307 days
Minister for Youth and Community Services
Minister for Housing
Frank Walker[f]
Minister for Public Works
Minister for Ports
Minister for Roads
Laurie Brereton
Attorney General Paul Landa, MLC[b] 4 November 1984 213 days
Neville Wran[b][c] 7 November 1984 12 December 1984 35 days
Terry Sheahan[c] 12 December 1984 6 February 1986 1 year, 56 days
Minister for Industrial Relations Pat Hills 5 April 1984 1 year, 307 days
Minister for Police and Emergency Services Peter Anderson
Minister Assisting the Premier[d] 6 February 1985 1 January 1986 329 days
Treasurer Ken Booth[f] 5 April 1984 6 February 1986 1 year, 307 days
Minister for Planning and Environment Terry Sheahan[c] 12 December 1984 251 days
Bob Carr[c] 12 December 1984 6 February 1986 1 year, 56 days
Minister for Transport
Vice-President of the Executive Council
Leader of the Government in Legislative Council
Barrie Unsworth, MLC 5 April 1984 1 year, 307 days
Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Jack Hallam, MLC[f]
Minister for Education Rodney Cavalier
Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy Peter Cox
Minister for Local Government Kevin Stewart[f][e] 31 December 1985 1 year, 270 days
Peter Anderson[e] 1 January 1986 6 February 1986 36 days
Minister for Industry and Decentralisation
Minister for Small Business and Technology
Eric Bedford[e] 5 April 1984 31 December 1985 1 year, 270 days
Neville Wran[e] 1 January 1986 6 February 1986 36 days
Minister for Sport and Recreation
Minister for Tourism
Michael Cleary[f] 5 April 1984 1 year, 307 days
Minister for Consumer Affairs
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs
George Paciullo
Minister for Natural Resources Janice Crosio
Minister for Employment
Minister for Finance
Bob Debus
Minister for Corrective Services John Akister

  Ministers are members of the Legislative Assembly unless otherwise noted.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Labour retained 24 seats in the Legislative Council however the council had expanded from 44 to 45 seats due to the final step in the transition to a fully directly elected body.
  2. ^ a b c Paul Landa died in November 1984, with Wran initially taking on his portfolio of Attorney General.
  3. ^ a b c d e Terry Sheahan was appointed Attorney General in December and Bob Carr was promoted to the ministry to replace Sheehan in the portfolio of Planning and Environment.
  4. ^ a b c A new portfolio of Ethnic Affairs was created in February 1985 and Wran took on the additional responsibilities. Peter Anderson gained an additional role of assisting the Premier.
  5. ^ a b c d e Eric Bedford and Kevin Stewart retired in December 1985 with Wran taking on Bedford's portfolios of Industry and Decentralisation and Small Business and Technology and Anderson taking on Stewart's portfolio of Local Government.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Retained portfolios from the sixth Wran ministry.

References

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  1. ^ "Candidates declared to be elected Members of the Legislative Council". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 36–37. 13 March 1970. p. 849. Retrieved 3 December 2020 – via Trove.
  2. ^ "Part 3 Members of the Legislative Council" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  3. ^ Green, Antony. "Elections for the District of Bass Hill". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  4. ^ "The Hon. Neville Kenneth Wran (1926–2014)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  5. ^ "Part 6 Ministries since 1856" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 14 March 2022.

 

Preceded by Seventh Wran ministry
1984–1986
Succeeded by