Bolte Ministry

The Bolte Ministry was a Ministry of the Government of Victoria, and was led by Liberal Premier Henry Bolte. It succeeded the Cain ministry on 7 June 1955, following the defeat of the Labor government at the 1955 election held ten days earlier. The ministry lasted over 17 years and was followed by the Hamer Ministry on 24 August 1972 after the resignation of Bolte from politics.

First Ministry

On 7 and 8 June 1955, the Governor, Sir Dallas Brooks, appointed the following ministers to the portfolios indicated.^[1][2] Some changes resulted from the departure of William Leggatt,^[3] who was appointed Agent-General for Victoria in London in February 1956, the death of Robert Whately the following month,^[4][5] and the appointment of Gordon McArthur as President of the Victorian Legislative Council.^[6] However, the ministry was stable from 1956 until its reconstitution after the 1961 election.

The list below is ordered by decreasing seniority within the Cabinet, as indicated by the Government Gazette and the Victorian Year Book.

Office	Minister
Premier and Treasurer Minister for Conservation	Henry Bolte, MLA
Deputy Premier Chief Secretary Leader of the Government in the Legislative Assembly Attorney-General	Arthur Rylah, BA, LL.B., MLA
Minister for Transport Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council	Arthur Warner, MLC
Minister for Agriculture (21 March 1956 – 10 April 1956:) Minister for Forests Minister for State Development and Decentralisation Minister for Immigration	Gilbert Chandler, MLC
Minister for Education Minister for Immigration	Col. William Leggatt, DSO, MC, BA, LL.B. MLA (until 2 February 1956)
Commissioner of Public Works	Sir Thomas Maltby, MLA
Minister for Health	Ewen Paul Cameron, MLC
Minister for Water Supply Minister for Mines	Wilfred Mibus, MLA
Minister for Forests Minister for State Development and Decentralisation Minister for Immigration (from 14 February 1956)	Robert Whately, MA, Dip.Ed., MLA (until 17 March 1956)
(until 14 February 1956:) Minister for Labour and Industry Minister for Electrical Undertakings Minister for Education (from 14 February 1956)	John Bloomfield, LL.B., MLA
Minister for Housing Minister for Immigration (from 10 April 1956)	Horace Petty, B.Com., MLA
Minister for Soldier Settlement Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey President of the Board of Land of Works	Keith Turnbull, MLA
Minister without portfolio (until 14 February 1956) (from 14 February 1956:) Minister for Labour and Industry Minister for Electrical Undertakings	George Reid, LL.B., MLA
Minister without portfolio (until 10 April 1956) (from 10 April 1956:) Minister for Forests Minister for State Development and Decentralisation	Gordon McArthur, BA (Hons), MLC (until 8 July 1958)
Minister without portfolio (until 16 July 1958) Minister for Forests (16 July 1958 – 21 January 1959) Minister for Local Government (from 16 December 1958)	Murray Porter, MLA (from 14 February 1956)
Minister without portfolio (until 21 January 1959) (from 21 January 1959:) Minister for Forests Minister for State Development	Alexander Fraser, MLA (from 27 March 1956)
Minister without portfolio	Lindsay Thompson, BA (Hons), BEd, MLC (from 16 July 1958)

Second Ministry

On 28 July 1961, following the 1961 election, the Bolte Ministry was reconstituted. Sir Ewen Cameron became Chairman of Committees in the Legislative Council, whilst Sir Thomas Maltby retired from politics. They were replaced by Ronald Mack and Edward Meagher.^[7] The ministry was reconstituted on 8 July 1964 following the 1964 election.

Office	Minister
Premier and Treasurer	Henry Bolte, MLA
Deputy Premier Chief Secretary Leader of the Government in the Legislative Assembly Attorney-General	Arthur Rylah, BA, LL.B., MLA
Minister for Transport Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council	Arthur Warner, MLC (until 5 September 1962)
Minister for Agriculture Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council   (from 5 September 1962)	Gilbert Chandler, MLC
Minister for Water Supply Minister for Mines	Wilfred Mibus, MLA (until 18 April 1964)
Minister for Education	John Bloomfield, LL.B., MLA
Minister for Immigration (until 9 January 1962) Commissioner of Public Works	Horace Petty, B.Com., MLA (until 27 May 1964)
Minister for Conservation Minister for Soldier Settlement Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey President of the Board of Land of Works	Keith Turnbull, MLA
Minister for Labour and Industry Minister for Electrical Undertakings	George Reid, LL.B., MLA
Minister for Local Government Commissioner of Public Works (from 27 May 1964)	Murray Porter, MLA
Minister for State Development	Alexander Fraser, MLA
Minister for Housing Minister for Forests	Lindsay Thompson, BA (Hons), BEd, MLC
Minister for Health	Ronald Mack, MLC
Minister without portfolio (until 9 January 1962) Minister for Immigration (9 January – 5 September 1962) Minister for Transport (from 5 September 1962)	Edward Meagher, MBE, JP, MLA
Minister for Immigration (from 5 September 1962)	Rupert Hamer, LL.M., MLC
Minister for Water Supply Minister for Mines	Jim Balfour, MLA (from 28 April 1964)

Third Ministry

On 8 July 1964, following the 1964 election, the Bolte Ministry was reconstituted.^[8]

Office	Minister
Premier and Treasurer Minister for State Development (until 16 July 1964)	Henry Bolte, MLA
Deputy Premier Chief Secretary Leader of the Government in the Legislative Assembly Attorney-General Minister for Health (15–22 September 1965)	Arthur Rylah, BA, LL.B., MLA
Minister for Agriculture Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council	Gilbert Chandler, MLC
Minister for Education	John Bloomfield, LL.B., MLA
(until 2 December 1965:) Minister for Labour and Industry Minister for Electrical Undertakings Minister for Fuel and Power (from 2 December 1965)	George Reid, LL.B., MLA
Commissioner of Public Works	Murray Porter, MLA
Minister for Housing Minister for Forests	Lindsay Thompson, BA (Hons), BEd, MLC
Minister for Health	Ronald Mack, MLC (until 15 September 1965)
Minister for Transport	Edward Meagher, MBE, JP, MLA
Minister for Local Government	Rupert Hamer, LL.M., MLC
Minister for Conservation Minister for Soldier Settlement Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey President of the Board of Land of Works	Jim Balfour, MLA
Minister for Water Supply Minister for Mines	Thomas Darcy, MLA
Minister without portfolio (until 2 December 1965) Minister for Immigration (from 2 December 1965)	John Rossiter, MLA
Minister for Immigration (until 2 December 1965) Minister for Labour and Industry (from 2 December 1965)	Vernon Wilcox, MLA
Minister for State Development (until 2 December 1965) Minister for Health (from 22 September 1965)	Pat Dickie, MLC (from 16 July 1964)
Minister without portfolio (until 2 December 1965) Minister for State Development (from 2 December 1965)	Jim Manson, MLA (from 22 September 1965)

References

1. "Ministers of the Crown". Victorian Government Gazette. 7 June 1955. p. 1955:2803-2804.
2. "Ministers of the Crown". Victorian Government Gazette. 8 June 1955. p. 1955:2845-2846.
3. "Ministers of the Crown". Victorian Government Gazette. 14 February 1956. p. 1956:1033.
4. "Ministers of the Crown". Victorian Government Gazette. 21 March 1956. p. 1956:1321.
5. "Ministers of the Crown". Victorian Government Gazette. 10 April 1956. p. 1956:1913.
6. "Ministers of the Crown". Victorian Government Gazette. 16 July 1958. p. 1958:1977.
7. "Ministers of the Crown". Victorian Government Gazette. 28 July 1961. p. 1961:2601.
8. "Ministers of the Crown". Victorian Government Gazette. 8 July 1964. p. 1964:2233.