Robertson ministry (1875–77)

Third Robertson ministry
15th cabinet of the Colony of New South Wales
Premier John Robertson and the Colony of New South Wales (1863–1900)
Date formed	9 February 1875
Date dissolved	21 March 1877
People and organisations
Head of government	John Robertson
Head of state	Queen Victoria (represented by Sir Hercules Robinson)
Number of ministers	8
Member party	unaligned
Status in legislature	Minority government
Opposition party	unaligned
Opposition leader	Henry Parkes
History
Outgoing election	1877
Predecessor	First Parkes ministry
Successor	Second Parkes ministry

The third Robertson ministry was the fifteenth ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by the Honourable John Robertson. It was the third of five occasions that Robertson was Premier. Robertson was elected in the first free elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly held in March 1856.

The title of Premier was widely used to refer to the Leader of Government, but not enshrined in formal use until 1920.

There was no party system in New South Wales politics until 1887. Under the constitution, ministers were required to resign to recontest their seats in a by-election when appointed. These by-elections are only noted when the minister was defeated; in general, he was elected unopposed.

This ministry covers the period from 9 February 1875 until 21 March 1877, when Robertson was defeated by Henry Parkes at the 1877 election.^[1][2]

Composition of ministry

Portfolio	Minister	Term start	Term end	Term length
Premier Colonial Secretary	Hon. John Robertson MLA	9 February 1875	21 March 1877	2 years, 40 days
Colonial Treasurer	Hon. William Forster MLA		7 February 1876	363 days
	Hon. Stuart Alexander MLA	8 February 1876	21 March 1877	1 year, 41 days
Minister for Justice and Public Instruction Representative of the Government in Legislative Council	Hon. Joseph Docker MLC	9 February 1875		2 years, 40 days
Secretary for Lands	Hon. Thomas Garrett MLA		5 February 1877	1 year, 362 days
	Hon. Ezekiel Baker MLA	6 February 1877	21 March 1877	43 days
Secretary for Public Works	Hon. John Lackey MLA	9 February 1875		2 years, 40 days
Attorney-General	Hon. William Dalley MLC^a
Secretary for Mines	Hon. John Lucas MLA
Postmaster-General	Hon. John Burns MLA

:^a A Member of the Government without a seat in the Executive Council.

See also

• John Robertson - fifth Premier of New South Wales
• Self-government in New South Wales
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1874–1877
• First Robertson ministry (1860–1861)
• Second Robertson ministry (1868–1870)
• Fourth Robertson ministry (1877)
• Fifth Robertson ministry (1885–1886)

References

1. Serle, Percival. "Robertson, Sir John (1816-1891)". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Project Gutenberg Australia. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
2. "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 20 March 2011.