Dibbs ministry (1889)

Second Dibbs ministry
25th cabinet of the Colony of New South Wales
Premier George Dibbs and the Colony of New South Wales (1863–1900)
Date formed	17 January 1889
Date dissolved	7 March 1889
People and organisations
Head of government	George Dibbs
Head of state	Queen Victoria (represented by The Lord Carrington)
Number of ministers	10
Member party	unaligned
Status in legislature	Minority government
Opposition party	Free Trade Party
Opposition leader	Henry Parkes
History
Predecessor	Fourth Parkes ministry
Successor	Fifth Parkes ministry

The second Dibbs ministry was the 25th ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was the second of three occasions of being led by the tenth Premier, the Honourable George Dibbs. Dibbs was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1874.

In a period of great financial stress for the Colony, this ministry covers just 49 days from 17 January 1889 until 7 March 1889. Dibbs took over as Premier on the first occasion in October 1885 following resignation of the Hon. Alexander Stuart MLA due to ill-health, with his ministry lasting for 75 days. Dibbs served as Colonial Secretary in the Jennings ministry, before it too suffered budgetary pressures. It was during this time that the party system was formed in New South Wales with Dibbs aligning himself with the Protectionist Party.^[1][2][3] Dibbs was succeeded by Henry Parkes.^[4]

Composition of ministry

Portfolio	Minister	Term start	Term end	Term length
Premier Colonial Secretary	Hon. George Dibbs MLA	17 January 1889	7 March 1889	49 days
Colonial Treasurer	Hon. James Garvan MLA
Attorney-General Representative of the Government in Legislative Council	Hon. Edmund Barton MLC
Secretary for Lands	Hon. William Lyne MLA
Secretary for Public Works	Hon. James Fletcher MLA
Minister of Justice	Hon. Thomas Slattery MLA
Minister of Public Instruction	Hon. Francis Suttor MLA
Secretary for Mines	Hon. John Chanter MLA
Postmaster-General	Hon. Henry Clarke MLA
Vice-President of the Executive Council	Hon. Sir John Lackey MLA

See also

• George Dibbs - tenth Premier of New South Wales
• Self-government in New South Wales
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1887–1889
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1889–1891
• First Dibbs ministry (1885)
• Third Dibbs ministry (1891–1894)

References

1. Mansfield, Bruce E. "Dibbs, Sir George Richard (1834 - 1904)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
2. "Sir George Richard Dibbs (1834 - 1904)". Members of Parliament. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
3. Serle, Percival. "Dibbs, Sir George Richard (1834 - 1904)". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Project Gutenberg Australia. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
4. "Former Members - Chronological List of Ministries 1856 to 2009 (requires download)" (Excel spreadsheet). Project for the Sesquicentenary of Responsible Government in NSW. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 17 July 2011.