Governors of the Australian states

The title was first used with the Governor of New South Wales, and dates back to 1788 to the day on which the area (which is now the city of Sydney) became the first British settlement in Australia.

From the 1820s, however, the increasing number of free settlers in the colonies led to a process of constitutional reform which gradually reduced the powers of the governors.

When the six colonies federated to form the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901, there were some suggestions that the position of state governor should be abolished or that its appointment be made by the Governor-General as is done in Canada.

The post of governor was again called into question during the Depression of the 1930s, when the cost of maintaining six vice-regal establishments (as well as a governor-general in Canberra) drew criticism from the labour movement and others.

But no state attempted to abolish the post of governor, and this could not have been done at this time without the consent of the Crown (acting on the advice of the British government).

Even when Australians replaced Britons as governors, most continued to be retired Army, Navy or Air Force officers until the 1970s.

Davis McCaughey, born in Northern Ireland, was not an Australian citizen at the time his appointment as governor of Victoria was announced in 1985,[1] but was a long-time resident of Australia and took up citizenship before commencing his term in 1986.

However, in 1976 the Foreign Secretary refused to advise the Queen to extend extend the term of Sir Colin Hannah as governor, as recommended by Queensland premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, on the grounds of the governor's partisan comments on the federal Whitlam government.

Regarding constitutional practices, in most cases the governor observes the convention to act on the advice of the state's cabinet (and/or premier).

In 1987 the Governor of Queensland, Sir Walter Campbell, refused to accept the advice of the National Party premier, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, to dismiss five of his ministers and call fresh elections.

He was also reluctant to call an election for a legislature that was barely a year old, and felt that the situation was a political rather than a constitutional matter.

Although no one party had a majority in the new House of Assembly, Bennett had already been assured that the Tasmanian Greens would support a minority Labor government under Michael Field.

When Peter Hollingworth resigned in May 2003, Sir Guy Green, Governor of Tasmania, took on that role, serving until Major-General Michael Jeffery took office in August 2003.

In 1976, South Australia appointed Sir Douglas Nicholls as the first (and, to date, the only) Aboriginal governor of an Australian state.

Queensland is also the first state to have had two female governors in succession (Penelope Wensley succeeded Quentin Bryce), followed by Tasmania (Kate Warner in 2014 and Barbara Baker in 2021) and then Victoria in 2023.

With the appointment of Margaret Gardner who was sworn in on 9 August 2023; New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria will have had two each whilst Western Australia has only one so far.