Premier of Western Australia

The premier must be a member of one of the two Houses of the Parliament of Western Australia; and by convention the premier is a member of the lower house, the Legislative Assembly.^[a] He or she is appointed by the governor on the advice of the lower house, and must resign if he or she loses the support of the majority of that house. Consequently, the premier is almost always the leader of the political party or coalition of parties with the majority of seats in the lower house.

The office of premier of Western Australia was first formed in 1890, after Western Australia was officially granted responsible government by Britain in 1889. The Constitution of Western Australia[2] does not explicitly provide for a premier, and the office was not formally listed as one of the executive offices until the appointment of Ross McLarty in 1947. Nonetheless, John Forrest immediately adopted the title on taking office as first premier of Western Australia in 1890, and it has been used ever since.

John Forrest was the only premier of Western Australia as a self-governing colony. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, Western Australia became an Australian state and the responsibilities of the office of premier were diminished.

Party politics began in Western Australia with the rise of the Labor party in 1901. By 1904, the party system was entrenched in Western Australian politics. Since then the premiers have been associated with political parties.

Western Australia's constitution contains nothing to preclude the premier being a member of the upper house, the Western Australian Legislative Council. Historically and by convention, however, the premier is a member of the Assembly. The only exception has been Hal Colebatch, a member of the Legislative Council who accepted the premiership in April 1919 on the understanding that an Assembly seat would be found for him, only to resign a month later when no seat could be found.

During the economic boom of the 1980s, the Western Australian government became closely involved with a number of large businesses. A succession of deals were made between the government and businesses, and these ultimately caused great losses for the state. A subsequent royal commission found evidence of widespread corruption. Three former premiers were found to have acted improperly and two of them, Ray O'Connor and Brian Burke, were jailed. This scandal became popularly known as WA Inc.

The median age of a premier on the first day of their first term is roughly 49 years, and 280 days which falls between Mark McGowan and Philip Collier. The youngest person to assume the office was John Scaddan at 35 years and 64 days. The oldest person to assume office was John Tonkin at 69 years and 29 days.

The oldest living former premier is Peter Dowding, born 6 October 1943 (age 78 years, 209 days). The youngest living former premier is Alan Carpenter, born 4 January 1957, (age 65 years, 119 days). The youngest living premier is the incumbent Mark McGowan, born 13 July 1967, (age 54 years, 294 days).

The longest-lived premier was Charles Court who died on 22 December 2007 aged 96 years and 84 days. John Tonkin was the second longest-lived premier, aged 93 years and 260 days, 2 years and 189 days short of Court. The oldest living premier, Peter Dowding will tie Tonkin if he lives to 23 June 2037, and tie Court if he lives to 29 December 2039. The shortest-lived premier was George Leake who died in office at the age of 45 years and 203 days on 24 June 1902.

The premier with the longest retirement is Frank Wise. He left office on 1 April 1947, and died 39 years and 89 days later on 29 June 1986. Brian Burke left office on 25 February 1988. If he's still alive on 25 May 2027, he will surpass Wise's record, and become the premier with the longest retirement. The premier with the shortest retirement is Frank Wilson, who died on 7 December 1918, 1 year and 162 days after leaving office on 28 June 1917.

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As of 3 May 2022, seven former premiers are alive, the oldest being Peter Dowding (born 1943), who served from 1988 to 1990. The most recent premier to die was Ray O'Connor, on 25 February 2013, aged 86.

Not all premiers live to become the oldest of their time. Of the 22 deceased premiers, 12 eventually became the oldest of their time, while 10 did not. Frank Wise became the oldest living premier when Ross McLarty died in 1962 and remained so until his death in 1986, for a record 23 years and 189 days. Hal Colebatch became the oldest living premier when James Mitchell died in 1951, but he survived Mitchell by only 1 year and 201 days.

On one occasion the oldest living premier lost this distinction not by his death, but due to the appointment of a premier who was older. John Forrest lost this distinction when George Throssell was appointed, but when Throssell died in 1910, Forrest regained it again until his own death in 1918 for a total period of 18 years and 51 days. John Tonkin was the oldest to acquire this distinction at the age of 84 years, and 147 days. Albert Hawke, who was aged 85 years, and 73 days when he died, on 14 February 1986 was the oldest and most recent premier to die without ever acquiring this distinction.

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Premiers of Western Australia.

• List of premiers of Western Australia by time in office
• Leader of the Opposition (Western Australia)
• Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly

^a The only premier to serve in the upper house while premier was Sir Hal Colebatch, who was elected by the Nationalist Party to fill the vacancy presented by the resignation of Henry Lefroy, on the condition that a seat in the lower house would be found for him. He served as premier for a month before resigning after no seat could be found.
^b Prior to the 1904 election, no organised political parties existed, other than the Labor Party. Parliamentary factions included the Ministerialist, or pro-Forrest, faction, and the Opposition, or pro-Leake, faction.
^c Leake died in office on 24 June 1902 from complications resulting from pneumonia, but the new Walter James-led ministry was not sworn in until 1 July 1902. Walter Kingsmill served as Acting Premier during this time.