Leader of the Opposition (New South Wales)

Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition
	Incumbent; The Hon Mark Speakman SC MP; since 21 April 2023
Term length	While leader of the largest political party not in government
Inaugural holder	Charles Lee
Salary	A$309,621

The Leader of the Opposition is a title held by the leader of the second-largest party in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of New South Wales.^[2] There is also a Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council.^[3] The leader acts as the public face of the opposition, leading the opposition on the floor of parliament. They act as a chief critic of the government and ultimately attempt to portray the opposition as a feasible alternate government. They are also given certain additional rights under parliamentary standing orders, such as extended time limits for speeches.

List of leaders of the opposition in New South Wales since 1887

Political parties

Labor Liberal Party of Australia Protectionist Free Trade Progressive Liberal Reform Party Labor (NSW) Nationalist Party of Australia
United Australia Party Democratic Party Country Party

Leaders of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly

No.		Name	Party	Constituency	Term of office		Tenure	Elections
		Joseph Palmer Abbott	Protectionist	Wentworth	9 March 1887	19 May 1887	71 days	–	Parkes 1887–1889
		George Dibbs	Protectionist	Murrumbidgee	20 September 1887	16 January 1889	1 year, 118 days	–	Parkes 1887–1889
		Sir Henry Parkes	Free Trade	St Leonards	17 January 1889	7 March 1889	49 days	1889	Dibbs 1889
		George Dibbs	Protectionist	Murrumbidgee	8 March 1889	23 October 1891	2 years, 229 days	–	Parkes 1889–1891
		George Reid	Free Trade	St Leonards	23 October 1891	2 August 1894	2 years, 283 days	1891 1894	Dibbs 1891–1894
		Sir George Dibbs	Protectionist	Murrumbidgee	3 August 1894	5 July 1895	336 days	1895	Reid 1894–1899
		William Lyne		Hume	14 August 1895	6 October 1898	3 years, 53 days	1898
		Edmund Barton		Hastings and Macleay	6 October 1898	23 August 1899	321 days	–
		William Lyne		Hume	23 August 1899	13 September 1899	21 days	–
		George Reid	Free Trade	Sydney-King	14 September 1899	23 March 1901	1 year, 190 days	–	Lyne 1899–1901
	1	Charles Lee	Liberal Reform	Tenterfield	23 March 1901	18 September 1902	1 year, 179 days	1901	See 1901–1904
	2	Joseph Carruthers	Liberal Reform	St George	18 September 1902	30 August 1904	1 year, 347 days	–	See 1901–1904
	2	Joseph Carruthers	Liberal Reform	St George	18 September 1902	30 August 1904	1 year, 347 days	1904	Waddell 1904
	3	James McGowen	Labor	Redfern	20 September 1904	21 October 1910	6 years, 31 days	1907	Carruthers 1904–1907
	3	James McGowen	Labor	Redfern	20 September 1904	21 October 1910	6 years, 31 days	1910	Wade 1907–1910
	4	Charles Wade	Liberal Reform	Gordon	21 October 1910	15 November 1916	6 years, 25 days	–	McGowen 1910–1913
	4	Charles Wade	Liberal Reform	Gordon	21 October 1910	15 November 1916	6 years, 25 days	1913	Holman 1913–1920
	5	Ernest Durack	Labor	Bathurst	22 November 1916	19 February 1917	89 days	–
	6	John Storey	Labor	Balmain	22 February 1917	13 April 1920	3 years, 51 days	1917
	6	John Storey	Labor	Balmain	22 February 1917	13 April 1920	3 years, 51 days	1920
	7	George Fuller	Nationalist	Wollondilly	14 April 1920	13 April 1922	1 year, 364 days	–	Storey 1920–1921
	7	George Fuller	Nationalist	Wollondilly	14 April 1920	13 April 1922	1 year, 364 days	1922	Dooley 1921–1922
	8	James Dooley	Labor	Bathurst	20 April 1922	9 March 1923	323 days	–	Fuller 1922–1925
	9	Greg McGirr	Labor	Sydney	9 March 1923	16 April 1923	38 days	–
	10	Bill Dunn	Labor	Wammerawa	16 April 1923	31 July 1923	106 days	–
	11	Jack Lang	Labor	Auburn	31 July 1923	17 June 1925	1 year, 321 days	1925
	(7)	George Fuller	Nationalist	Wollondilly	23 June 1925	24 September 1925	93 days	–	Lang 1925–1927
	12	Thomas Bavin	Nationalist	Ryde	24 September 1925	18 October 1927	2 years, 24 days	1927	Lang 1925–1927
	(11)	Jack Lang	Labor	Auburn	18 October 1927	4 November 1930	3 years, 17 days	1930	Bavin 1927–1930
	(12)	Thomas Bavin	Nationalist	Gordon	25 November 1930	5 April 1932	1 year, 132 days	–	Lang 1930–1932
			Nationalist					–
			United Australia					–
	13	Bertram Stevens	United Australia	Croydon	5 April 1932	13 May 1932	38 days	1932
	(11)	Jack Lang	Labor (NSW)	Auburn	22 June 1932	5 September 1939	7 years, 75 days	1935	Stevens 1932–1939
			Labor					1938	Stevens 1932–1939
			Labor					–	Mair 1939–1941
	14	William McKell	Labor	Redfern	5 September 1939	16 May 1941	1 year, 253 days	1941	Mair 1939–1941
	15	Alexander Mair	United Australia	Albury	19 May 1941	10 February 1944	2 years, 267 days	–	McKell 1941–1947
	15	Alexander Mair	Democratic	Albury	19 May 1941	10 February 1944	2 years, 267 days	–
	16	Reginald Weaver	Democratic	Neutral Bay	10 February 1944	12 November 1945	1 year, 275 days	1944
	16	Reginald Weaver	Liberal	Neutral Bay	10 February 1944	12 November 1945	1 year, 275 days	–
	(15)	Alexander Mair	Liberal	Albury	13 November 1945	20 March 1946	127 days	–
	17	Vernon Treatt	Liberal	Woollahra	20 March 1946	10 August 1954	8 years, 143 days	–
								1947	McGirr 1947–1952
								1950	McGirr 1947–1952
								1953	Cahill 1952–1959
	18	Murray Robson	Liberal	Vaucluse	17 August 1954	20 September 1955	1 year, 34 days	–
	19	Pat Morton	Liberal	Mosman	20 September 1955	17 July 1959	3 years, 300 days	1956
	19	Pat Morton	Liberal	Mosman	20 September 1955	17 July 1959	3 years, 300 days	1959
	20	Robert Askin	Liberal	Collaroy	17 July 1959	13 May 1965	5 years, 300 days	–
								1962	Heffron 1959–1964
								1965	Renshaw 1964–1965
	21	Jack Renshaw	Labor	Castlereagh	14 May 1965	23 July 1968	3 years, 70 days	1968	Askin 1965–1975
	22	Pat Hills	Labor	Phillip	30 July 1968	3 December 1973	5 years, 126 days	1971
	22	Pat Hills	Labor	Phillip	30 July 1968	3 December 1973	5 years, 126 days	1973
	23	Neville Wran	Labor	Bass Hill	3 December 1973	14 May 1976	2 years, 163 days	–
								–	Lewis 1975–1976
								1976	Willis 1976
	24	Eric Willis	Liberal	Earlwood	15 May 1976	16 December 1977	1 year, 215 days	–	Wran 1976–1986
	25	Peter Coleman	Liberal	Fuller	16 December 1977	7 October 1978	295 days	1978
	26	John Mason	Liberal	Dubbo	24 October 1978	29 May 1981	2 years, 217 days	–
	27	Bruce McDonald	Liberal	Kirribilli	1 June 1981	12 October 1981	133 days	1981
	28	John Dowd	Liberal	Lane Cove	27 October 1981	15 March 1983	1 year, 139 days	–
	29	Nick Greiner	Liberal	Ku-ring-gai	15 March 1983	25 March 1988	5 years, 10 days	1984
	29	Nick Greiner	Liberal	Ku-ring-gai	15 March 1983	25 March 1988	5 years, 10 days	1988	Unsworth 1986–1988
	30	Bob Carr	Labor	Maroubra	6 April 1988	4 April 1995	6 years, 363 days	1991	Greiner 1988–1992
	30	Bob Carr	Labor	Maroubra	6 April 1988	4 April 1995	6 years, 363 days	1995	Fahey 1992–1995
	31	Peter Collins	Liberal	Willoughby	4 April 1995	7 December 1998	3 years, 247 days	–	Carr 1995–2005
	32	Kerry Chikarovski	Liberal	Lane Cove	7 December 1998	28 March 2002	3 years, 111 days	1999
	33	John Brogden	Liberal	Pittwater	28 March 2002	1 September 2005	3 years, 157 days	2003
	33	John Brogden	Liberal	Pittwater	28 March 2002	1 September 2005	3 years, 157 days	–	Iemma 2005–2008
	34	Peter Debnam	Liberal	Vaucluse	1 September 2005	4 April 2007	1 year, 215 days	2007
	35	Barry O'Farrell	Liberal	Ku-ring-gai	4 April 2007	28 March 2011	3 years, 358 days	–
								–	Rees 2008–2009
								2011	Keneally 2009–2011
	36	John Robertson	Labor	Blacktown	31 March 2011	23 December 2014	3 years, 267 days	–	O'Farrell 2011–2014
	36	John Robertson	Labor	Blacktown	31 March 2011	23 December 2014	3 years, 267 days	–	Baird 2014–2017
	37	Luke Foley	Labor	Legislative Council Auburn	5 January 2015	8 November 2018	3 years, 307 days	2015	Baird 2014–2017
	37	Luke Foley	Labor	Legislative Council Auburn	5 January 2015	8 November 2018	3 years, 307 days	–	Berejiklian 2017–2021
	38	Michael Daley	Labor	Maroubra	10 November 2018	25 March 2019	135 days	2019
	39	Jodi McKay	Labor	Strathfield	29 June 2019	28 May 2021	1 year, 333 days	–
	40	Chris Minns	Labor	Kogarah	4 June 2021	28 March 2023	1 year, 297 days	2023
	40	Chris Minns	Labor	Kogarah	4 June 2021	28 March 2023	1 year, 297 days	2023	Perrottet 2021–2023
	41	Mark Speakman	Liberal	Cronulla	21 April 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 203 days	–	Minns 2023–
Source: Parliament of New South Wales.^[2]

Leaders of the Opposition in the Legislative Council

No.		Name	Party	Term of office		Tenure
	1	Sir Henry Manning ^[a]	United Australia	16 May 1941 (1941-05-16)	22 April 1958 (1958-04-22)	16 years, 341 days
			Democratic
			Liberal
	2	Hector Clayton	Liberal	12 April 1960	30 October 1962	2 years, 201 days
	3	Arthur Bridges	Liberal	30 October 1962	13 May 1965	2 years, 195 days
	4	Reg Downing	Labor	13 May 1965	4 February 1972	6 years, 267 days
	5	Neville Wran	Labor	22 February 1972	19 October 1973	1 year, 239 days
	6	Leroy Serisier	Labor	3 December 1973	13 May 1976	2 years, 162 days
	7	Sir John Fuller	Country	14 May 1976	1 August 1978	2 years, 79 days
	8	Max Willis	Liberal	1 August 1978	20 October 1981	3 years, 80 days
	9	Lloyd Lange	Liberal	20 October 1981	3 April 1984	2 years, 166 days
	10	Ted Pickering	Liberal	3 April 1984	24 March 1988	3 years, 356 days
	11	Jack Hallam	Labor	6 April 1988	2 May 1991	3 years, 26 days
	12	Michael Egan	Labor	2 July 1991	4 April 1995	3 years, 276 days
	13	John Hannaford	Liberal	11 April 1995	31 March 1999	3 years, 354 days
	14	Mike Gallacher	Liberal	31 March 1999	4 March 2011	11 years, 338 days
	15	Tony Kelly	Labor	8 April 2011	6 June 2011	59 days
	16	Luke Foley	Labor	14 June 2011	8 April 2015	3 years, 298 days
	17	Adam Searle	Labor	8 April 2015	8 June 2021	6 years, 61 days
	18	Penny Sharpe	Labor	8 June 2021	28 March 2023	1 year, 293 days
	19	Damien Tudehope	Liberal	21 April 2023	incumbent	1 year, 203 days
Source: Parliament of New South Wales.^[3]

Deputy Leader of the Opposition

Deputy Leaders of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition is a position in the New South Wales Parliament held by a second-largest political party or coalition member. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition assists the Leader of the Opposition in their duties and may act as the Leader of the Opposition if the position becomes vacant. The position was established in New South Wales in 1986, with Peter Collins becoming the first person to hold it in its formalised capacity. Before this, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition was largely informal, with no clear mandate or responsibilities.^[5]

	Name	Party	Constituency	Term of office		Tenure
1	Peter Collins	Liberal	Willoughby Middle Harbour	14 February 1986	2 February 1988	2 years, 8 days
2	Andrew Refshauge	Labor	Marrickville	11 April 1988	4 April 1995	6 years, 358 days
3	Ron Phillips	Liberal	Miranda	4 April 1995	27 March 1999	3 years, 357 days
4	Barry O'Farrell	Liberal	Ku-ring-gai	31 March 1999	28 March 2002	2 years, 362 days
5	Chris Hartcher	Liberal	Gosford	28 March 2002	3 April 2003	1 year, 6 days
(4)	Barry O'Farrell	Liberal	Ku-ring-gai	3 April 2003	4 April 2007	4 years, 1 day
6	Jillian Skinner	Liberal	North Shore	4 April 2007	28 March 2011	3 years, 359 days
7	Linda Burney	Labor	Canterbury	8 April 2011	7 March 2016	4 years, 334 days
8	Michael Daley	Labor	Maroubra	7 March 2016	10 November 2018	2 years, 248 days
9	Yasmin Catley	Labor	Swansea	2 July 2019	28 May 2021	1 year, 330 days
10	Prue Car	Labor	Londonderry	8 June 2021	28 March 2023	1 year, 293 days
11	Robyn Preston	Liberal	Hawkesbury	9 May 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 185 days

Deputy Leaders of the Opposition in the Legislative Council

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council plays an important role in assisting the Leader of the Opposition in managing and leading the opposition party's activities in the upper house of the Parliament of New South Wales. The position of Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council dates back to at least 1966, when James Maloney was formally recognized as the first Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council according to the Alphabetical Roll of Members from the Parliament of New South Wales.^[6] Maloney served in the position from 31st March 1966 to 26th April 1971. Several individuals have filled the position since then. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council is specifically focused on supporting the opposition party's efforts, in contrast to the Deputy Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council, who assists the Leader of the Government in the Upper House. Despite not having a formally established date, the position of Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council remains an important figure in NSW politics and an essential part of the opposition party's leadership team.

	Name	Party	Term of office		Tenure
1	James Maloney	Labor	31 March 1966	26 April 1971	5 years, 26 days
2	Neville Wran	Labor	7 April 1971	21 February 1972	320 days
3	Edna Roper	Labor	3 December 1973	13 May 1976	2 years, 162 days
4	Frederick Hewitt	Liberal	14 May 1976	7 June 1976	24 days
5	Bob Rowland Smith	National	2 August 1978	24 March 1988	9 years, 235 days
6	Deirdre Grusovin	Labor	6 April 1988	31 May 1990	2 years, 55 days
7	Bryan Vaughan	Labor	1 June 1990	2 April 1995	4 years, 305 days
8	Richard Bull	National	11 April 1995	1 February 2000	4 years, 296 days
9	Duncan Gay	National	1 February 2000	4 March 2011	11 years, 31 days
10	Luke Foley	Labor	8 April 2011	14 June 2011	67 days
11	Adam Searle	Labor	14 June 2011	6 March 2015	3 years, 265 days
12	Walt Secord	Labor	5 May 2015	2 July 2019	4 years, 58 days
13	Penny Sharpe^[b]	Labor	2 July 2019	14 May 2021	1 year, 316 days
14	John Graham	Labor	8 June 2021	28 March 2023	1 year, 293 days
15	Natalie Ward^[c]	Liberal	21 April 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 203 days

Notes

^ Manning refused the role of 'official' Leader of the Opposition, when offered to him, owing to his beliefs in a non-partisan Legislative Council. Nevertheless he was considered by his colleagues as the de facto leader of the opposition members.^[4]
^ Also served as Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 2018–2019 under Daley.
^ Also served as Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 8 May 2023 under Speakman.

References

^ "PARLIAMENTARY SALARIES AND ALLOWANCESAS FROM 1 JULY 2020. FOLLOWING APPLICATION OF PARLIAMENTARY REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL dated 7 July 2020" (PDF). Parliament of New South Wales. 7 July 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Leaders of the Opposition in the NSW Legislative Assembly, 1901–present". Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Leaders of the Opposition in the NSW Legislative Council". Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
^ Ward, John M. "Manning, Sir Henry Edward (1877–1963)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
^ "Collins is new NSW deputy Opposition leader". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 February 1986. p. 4.
^ Alphabetical Roll of Members of the Legislative Council of New South Wales from its reconstitution in 1934 until its reconstitution in 197. Sydney: Government Printer, [n.d.]. Accessed 23 April 2021.