Liberal Party of Australia (New South Wales Division)

Liberal Party of Australia (NSW Division)
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Leader	Mike Baird
President	Trent Zimmerman (acting)
Headquarters	East Sydney
Ideology	Australian conservatism Economic liberalism
National affiliation	Liberal Party of Australia
Legislative Assembly	41 / 93
Legislative Council	12 / 42
NSW Seats in the House of Representatives	22 / 46
NSW Seats in the Senate	4 / 12
NSW Local Councillors	184 / 1,480
Politics of Australia Political parties Elections

Liberal Party of Australia (NSW Division) is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in New South Wales. The party currently governs in New South Wales in coalition with the National Party of Australia (NSW), despite having a majority in its own right. The party is part of the federal Liberal Party of Australia which governs nationally in Coalition with the National Party of Australia. In the 66 years since its foundation the party has won seven state elections to the Australian Labor Party's 13, and has spent 20 years in office (1965 to 1976, 1988 to 1995 and 2011 to the present) to Labor's 46. Six leaders have become Premier of New South Wales; of those, four, Sir Robert Askin, Nick Greiner, Barry O'Farrell and Mike Baird, have won at least one state election.

Parliamentary party leaders

Leader of the Liberal Party
Incumbent The Hon. Mike Baird MP since 17 April 2014
Inaugural holder	Reginald Weaver
Formation	20 April 1945
Deputy	The Hon. Gladys Berejiklian MP

The position of leader of the Liberal Party of Australia New South Wales Division is a formal role held by a Liberal member of the Parliament of New South Wales. As the Liberal Party has, since its foundation in 1945, been either the largest or second largest party in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, its leader is usually either the Premier or the Leader of the Opposition, depending on the majority or minority respectively of the party. The current leader of the Liberal Party is Mike Baird, and the deputy leader is Gladys Berejiklian. Both have served in those roles since 17 April 2014. Baird is currently Premier of New South Wales, a post he has held since 17 April 2014.

The role is selected by state members of the parliamentary party, but the position is non-fixed in duration, and is usually only vacated upon resignation, retirement from politics, or a spill motion with the support of the majority of the parliamentary members.

The leader only has a role in a parliamentary context; the party division as a whole is governed by a President and Vice Presidents, who act on the advice of the party division's Director and Deputy Directors. The division also gathers annually at a State Conference to vote on and develop policy to be used by the party's elected representatives. The majority of the twenty Liberal Leaders have been deposed, either after losing elections or when their colleagues determined they could not win an election.

#	Party leader	Assumed office	Left office	Premier	Reason for departure	Time in office
1	Reginald Weaver	20 April 1945	12 November 1945		Death in office	days
2	Alexander Mair	13 November 1945	20 March 1946	1939–1941	Resignation; Premier under UAP	days
3	Sir Vernon Treatt	20 March 1946	10 August 1954		Resignation
4	Murray Robson	17 August 1954	20 September 1955		Deposed
5	Pat Morton	20 September 1955	17 July 1959		Deposed
6	Sir Robert Askin	17 July 1959	3 January 1975	1965–1975	Retirement
7	Tom Lewis	3 January 1975	23 January 1976	1975–1976	Deposed
8	Sir Eric Willis	23 January 1976	16 December 1977	1976	Resignation
9	Peter Coleman	16 December 1977	7 October 1978		Loss of seat at 1978 election	days
10	John Mason	24 October 1978	29 May 1981		Deposed
11	Bruce McDonald	1 June 1981	12 October 1981		Loss of seat at 1981 election	days
12	John Dowd	20 October 1981	15 March 1983		Resignation
13	Nick Greiner	15 March 1983	24 June 1992	1988–1992	Resignation prior to no confidence motion
14	John Fahey	24 June 1992	4 April 1995	1992–1995	Resignation following 1995 election
15	Peter Collins	4 April 1995	7 December 1998		Deposed
16	Kerry Chikarovski	7 December 1998	28 March 2002		Deposed
17	John Brogden	28 March 2002	29 August 2005		Resignation
18	Peter Debnam	1 September 2005	4 April 2007		Resignation following 2007 election
19	Barry O'Farrell	4 April 2007	16 April 2014	2011–2014	Resignation
20	Mike Baird	17 April 2014	present	2014–present

Deputy leaders

Party Leader	Start of Term	End of Term
Athol Richardson	1945	1945
Vernon Treatt	1946	1946
Walter Howarth	1946	1954
Robert Askin	1954	1959
Eric Willis	1959	1975
John Maddison	1975	1977
John Mason	1977	1978
Bruce McDonald	1978	1981
Jim Cameron	1981	1981
Kevin Rozzoli	1981	1983
Rosemary Foot	1983	1986
Peter Collins	1986	1992
Bruce Baird	1992	1994
Kerry Chikarovski	1994	1995
Ron Phillips	1995	1999
Barry O'Farrell	1999	2002
Chris Hartcher	2002	2003
Barry O'Farrell	2003	2007
Jillian Skinner	2007	2014
Gladys Berejiklian	2014	Incumbent

See also

• National Party of Australia - NSW