Treasurer of New South Wales


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 30 January 2017, is The Honourable Dominic Perrottet. The Treasurer is assisted in his portfolio by the Deputy Premier, Minister for Regional New South Wales, Industry and Trade, currently The Hon. John Barilaro ; the Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney, currently The Hon. Stuart Ayres ; and the Minister for Finance and Small Business, currently The Hon. Damien Tudehope, all appointed with effect from 2 April 2019.
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 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. By convention, the Treasurer is usually a member of the New South Wales Parliament with a seat in the Legislative Assembly. The exception to this were Treasurers Egan, Costa and Roozendaal, who were members of the Legislative Council during their tenure as Treasurer.
The Treasurer administers his portfolio responsibilities through The Treasury cluster, and in particular The Treasury and a range of other government agencies.

List of Treasurers

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.