The treasurer of New South Wales, known from 1856 to 1959 as the colonial treasurer of New South Wales, is the minister in the Government of New South Wales responsible for government expenditure and revenue raising and is the head of the New South Wales Treasury. The treasurer plays a key role in the economic policy of the government.
The current treasurer, since 28 March 2023 is Daniel Mookhey.
Each year, the treasurer presents the NSW Budget to the Parliament. In some other countries the equivalent role is the minister for finance, although NSW has had a separate office of that name responsible for regulating government spending. For 103 years, the treasurer was originally known as the 'colonial treasurer', however the 'colonial' word was removed with the passing of the Ministers of the Crown Act 1959 (NSW) from 1 April 1959.
Treasurers Forster, Stuart, Dibbs, Jennings, Reid, Lyne, Waddell, Carruthers, McGowen, Holman, Fuller, Lang, Bavin, Stevens, Mair, McKell, McGirr, Cahill, Heffron, Renshaw, Askin, Lewis, Willis, Wran, Greiner, Fahey and Iemma were also premier during some or all of their period as treasurer.
Current Premier Chris Minns is the seventh consecutive premier who had not served as his own treasurer.
By convention, the treasurer is usually a member of the Legislative Assembly. The exception to this were Treasurers Egan, Costa, Roozendaal and currently Mookhey, who were members of the Legislative Council during their tenure as Treasurer. Egan is the longest serving Treasurer of New South Wales.
The treasurer administers their portfolio responsibilities through The Treasury cluster, and in particular The Treasury and a range of other government agencies.
List of treasurers Ordinal Minister Party Title Term start Term end Time in office Notes 1 Prior to responsible government Colonial Treasurer
Acting Colonial Treasurer
2
Colonial Treasurer
Acting for the Colonial Treasurer
Acting Colonial Treasurer
3 No party Colonial Treasurer
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
7 hours
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
Treasurer
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66Matt Kean 67
incumbent
Former ministerial titles Assistant treasurers The assistant treasurer, when in use and along with the minister for finance, effectively acted as Deputy to the Treasurer. In January 1914, Henry Hoyle was appointed as an Honorary Minister in Holman ministry, charged with the duties of Colonial Treasurer, which was held by Premier Holman, but Hoyle was often referred to as the "assistant treasurer".
From 1925–1929, there existed the office of "Assistant Colonial Treasurer". However, this office was abolished and, when it returned in 1933, it was titled as "Assistant Treasurer". The assistant treasurer is not an essential cabinet post, often being appointed on an on-off basis, and there is no assistant treasurer at the present. Significantly, the role exists only when in use; there can be a lengthy period between successive holders of the title. The last assistant treasurer was John Della Bosca from 1999 to 2006. The title Minister for Finance is also used within New South Wales governments but that role is primarily made responsible for the revenue collection and administration side of governance.
Minister Party Title Term start Term end Time in office Notes
Minister without portfolioassisting the Treasurer 29 August 1904 1 October 1907
Henry Hoyle
Minister without portfolioassisting the Treasurer 29 January 1914 31 October 1916
Assistant Colonial Treasurer 17 June 1925 7 June 1927
Robert Cruickshank 19 September 1927 18 October 1927
18 October 1927 15 April 1929
Eric Spooner
Assistant Treasurer 15 February 1933 21 August 1935
Clive Evatt
Assistant Treasurer 19 May 1947 23 February 1953
George Freudenstein
Assistant Treasurer 11 March 1971 19 June 1972
Wal Fife
19 June 1972 3 January 1975
Max Ruddock 3 January 1975 10 October 1975
Peter Coleman 10 October 1975 23 January 1976
Max Ruddock 23 January 1976 14 May 1976
Ken Booth
Assistant Treasurer 29 February 1980 2 October 1981
Phillip Smiles
Assistant Treasurer 1 February 1991 1 February 1992
George Souris
3 July 1992 26 May 1993
John Della Bosca
Assistant Treasurer 8 April 1999 17 February 2006
See also
List of New South Wales government agencies Deputy Premier of New South Wales Minister for Industrial Relations Minister for Finance Minister for Small Business
References