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Premier of Queensland

Head of government of the Australian state of Queensland


Head of government of the Australian state of Queensland

FieldValue
postPremier
bodyQueensland
insigniaCoat of Arms of Queensland.svg
insigniasize120px
insigniacaptionCoat of arms of Queensland
flagFlag of Queensland.svg
flagsize120px
flagcaptionFlag of Queensland
imageDavid Crisafulli photo 2025.png
incumbentDavid Crisafulli
incumbentsince28 October 2024
departmentDepartment of the Premier and Cabinet
style{{plainlist
statusHead of government
member_of
reports_to
seat1 William Street, Brisbane
appointerGovernor of Queensland
appointer_qualifiedby convention, based on appointee's ability to command confidence in the Legislative Assembly
termlengthAt the governor's pleasure
termlength_qualifiedcontingent on the premier's ability to command confidence in the house of Parliament
formation10 December 1859
firstRobert Herbert
deputyDeputy Premier of Queensland
salary$469,367 (as of 1 September 2021)
websitewww.thepremier.qld.gov.au
  • The Honourable (formal)
  • Premier (informal) The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland.

By convention, the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is appointed by the governor of Queensland.

The incumbent premier is David Crisafulli.

Constitutional role

Under section 43 of the Constitution of Queensland the premier and other members of Cabinet are appointed by the governor. They are collectively responsible to Parliament in accordance with responsible government. The text of the Constitution assigns to the premier certain powers, such as the power to assign roles (s 25) to assistant ministers (formerly known as parliamentary secretaries), and to appoint ministers as acting ministers (s 45) for a period of 14 days.

In practice, under the conventions of the Westminster System followed in Queensland, the premier's power is derived from two sources: command of a majority in the Legislative Assembly, and the premier's role as chair of Cabinet, determining the appointment and roles of ministers. Although ministerial appointments are the prerogative of the governor of Queensland, in normal circumstances the governor will make these appointments on the advice of the premier.

Immediately following an election for the Legislative Assembly, the governor will call on the leader of the party which commands a majority in the Legislative Assembly to become premier and ask them to commission a government. A re-elected government will be resworn, with adjustments to the ministry as determined by the premier.

Ministerialists and OppositionistsPrior to the existence of political parties within the Leglislative Assembly, to become premier, that member had to be able to command the support of a majority of the individual members of the assembly; this group of members were known informally as Ministerialists, while those who did not support the member who became premier were known informally as Oppositionists (or the Opposition).

Premier's office

The premier has an office in the Executive Annexe of Parliament House, Brisbane, which is normally used while Parliament is sitting. Their main office is located in 1 William Street, a skyscraper across the road from Parliament House. The office faces south-west, with floor to ceilings windows granting an impressive view of the Brisbane and its surrounds.

List of premiers of Queensland

Before the 1890s, there was no developed party system in Queensland. Political affiliation labels before that time indicate a general tendency only. Before the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, political parties were more akin to parliamentary factions, and were fluid, informal and disorganised by modern standards.

No.PortraitNameElectionTerm of officePolitical partyConstituencyTook officeLeft officeTerm in officeIndependent politician}};"1Independent politician}};"2Independent politician}};"(1)Independent politician}};"(2)Independent politician}};"3Independent politician}};"4Independent politician}};"5Independent politician}};"(2)Independent politician}};"6Independent politician}};"7Independent politician}};"8Independent politician}};"9Independent politician}};"(8)Independent politician}};"10Independent politician}};"(9)Independent politician}};"(8)Commonwealth Liberal Party}};"11Commonwealth Liberal Party}};"12Commonwealth Liberal Party}};"13Australian Labor Party}};"14Commonwealth Liberal Party}};"15Commonwealth Liberal Party}};"16Australian Labor Party}};"17Commonwealth Liberal Party}};"(17)Coalition (Australia)}};"(15)Commonwealth Liberal Party}};"(17)Commonwealth Liberal Party}};"18Australian Labor Party}};"19Australian Labor Party}};"20Australian Labor Party}};"21Australian Labor Party}};"22Country and Progressive National Party}};"23Australian Labor Party}};"24Australian Labor Party}};"25Australian Labor Party}};"26Australian Labor Party}};"27Queensland Labor Party}};"(27)National Party of Australia}};"28National Party of Australia}};"29Liberal Party of Australia}};"30National Party of Australia}};"31National Party of Australia}};"32National Party of Australia}};"33Australian Labor Party}};"34National Party of Australia}};"35Australian Labor Party}};"36Australian Labor Party}};"37Liberal National Party of Queensland}};"38Australian Labor Party}};"39Australian Labor Party}};"40Liberal National Party of Queensland}};"41
[[File:Queensland State Archives 2954 Portrait of The Honourable Sir Robert George Wyndham Herbert Premier of Queensland c 1862.png166x166px]]Robert Herbert
(1831–1905)1860
186310 December 18591 February 1866Squatter ConservativeLeichhardt
[[File:Arthur Macalister.jpg130x130px]]Arthur Macalister
(1818–1883)1 February 186620 July 1866IndependentTown of Ipswich
[[File:Queensland State Archives 2954 Portrait of The Honourable Sir Robert George Wyndham Herbert Premier of Queensland c 1862.png166x166px]]Robert Herbert
(1831–1905)20 July 18667 August 1866Squatter ConservativeWest Moreton
[[File:Arthur Macalister.jpg128x128px]]Arthur Macalister
(1818–1883)7 August 186615 August 1867IndependentTown of Ipswich
[[File:RobertRamsayMackenzie.jpg141x141px]]Robert Mackenzie
(1811–1873)186715 August 186725 November 1868Squatter ConservativeBurnett
[[File:Charles Lilley.jpg149x149px]]Charles Lilley
(1827–1897)186825 November 18682 May 1870IndependentHamlet of Fortitude Valley
[[File:Arthur Hunter Palmer.jpg118x118px]]Arthur Hunter Palmer
(1819–1898)1870
18713 May 18707 January 1874Squatter ConservativePort Curtis
[[File:Arthur Macalister.jpg128x128px]]Arthur Macalister
(1818–1883)18738 January 18745 June 1876IndependentIpswich
[[File:George Thorn.jpg134x134px]]George Thorn
(1838–1905)5 June 18768 March 1877IndependentIpswich
[[File:John Douglas.jpg116x116px]]John Douglas
(1828–1904)8 March 187721 January 1879IndependentMaryborough
[[File:Thomas McIlwraith.jpg161x161px]]Sir Thomas McIlwraith
(1835–1900)187821 January 187913 November 1883ConservativeMulgrave
[[File:SGriff1.jpg137x137px]]Sir Samuel Griffith
(1845–1920)188313 November 188313 June 1888LiberalNorth Brisbane
[[File:Thomas McIlwraith.jpg161x161px]]Sir Thomas McIlwraith
(1835–1900)13 June 188830 November 1888ConservativeBrisbane North
[[File:Boyd Morehead.jpg122x122px]]Boyd Dunlop Morehead
(1843–1905)188830 November 188812 August 1890ConservativeBalonne
[[File:SGriff1.jpg137x137px]]Sir Samuel Griffith
(1845–1920)12 August 189027 March 1893LiberalNorth Brisbane
[[File:Thomas McIlwraith.jpg161x161px]]Sir Thomas McIlwraith
(1835–1900)189327 March 189327 October 1893ConservativeBrisbane North
[[File:Sir Hugh Nelson.jpg132x132px]]Sir Hugh Nelson
(1833–1906)189627 October 189313 April 1898MinisterialMurilla
[[File:Thomas Joseph Byrnes.jpg142x142px]]Thomas Joseph Byrnes
(1860–1898)13 April 189827 September 1898 (†)MinisterialWarwick
[[File:James Robert Dickson.jpg141x141px]]James Dickson
(1832–1901)18991 October 18981 December 1899MinisterialBulimba
[[File:AndersonDawson.jpg143x143px]]Anderson Dawson
(1863–1910)1 December 18997 December 1899LabourCharters Towers
[[File:Queensland State Archives 3062 Portrait of The Honourable Sir Robert Philp Premier of Queensland c 1900 (cropped).png132x132px]]Robert Philp
(1851–1922)19027 December 189917 September 1903MinisterialTownsville
[[File:Sir Arthur Morgan.jpg144x144px]]Arthur Morgan
(1856–1916)190417 September 190319 January 1906LiberalWarwick
[[File:William Kidston.jpg126x126px]]William Kidston
(1849–1919)190719 January 190619 November 1907LaborRockhampton
Kidstonite
[[File:Queensland State Archives 3062 Portrait of The Honourable Sir Robert Philp Premier of Queensland c 1900 (cropped).png131x131px]]Robert Philp
(1851–1922)19 November 190718 February 1908ConservativeTownsville
[[File:William Kidston.jpg126x126px]]William Kidston
(1849–1919)1908
190918 February 19087 February 1911Kidston; LiberalRockhampton
[[File:Digby Denham.jpg127x127px]]Digby Denham
(1859–1944)19127 February 19111 June 1915LiberalOxley
[[File:TJRyanPortrait.jpg140x140px]]T. J. Ryan
(1876–1921)1915
19181 June 191522 October 1919LaborBarcoo
[[File:Ted Theodore 1931.jpg140x140px]]Ted Theodore
(1884–1950)1920
192322 October 191926 February 1925LaborChillagoe
[[File:William Gillies 1920.jpg137x137px]]William Gillies
(1868–1928)26 February 192522 October 1925LaborEacham
[[File:William McCormack.jpg134x134px]]William McCormack
(1879–1947)192622 October 192521 May 1929LaborCairns
[[File:Arthur Edward Moore.jpg146x146px]]Arthur Edward Moore
(1876–1963)192921 May 192917 June 1932CPNPAubigny
[[File:William Forgan Smith.jpg133x133px]]William Forgan Smith
(1887–1953)1932
1935
1938
194117 June 193216 September 1942LaborMackay
[[File:Frank Cooper, circa 1949.jpg140x140px]]Frank Arthur Cooper
(1872–1949)194416 September 19427 March 1946LaborBremer
[[File:Queensland State Archives 4694 Premier Hanlon MLA c 1952.png140x140px]]Ned Hanlon
(1887–1952)1947
19507 March 194615 January 1952 (†)LaborIthaca
[[File:Queensland State Archives 4750 Hon VC Gair Premier of Queensland c 1953.png140x140px]]Vince Gair
(1901–1980)1953
195617 January 195212 August 1957LaborSouth Brisbane
Queensland Labor
[[File:Frank_Nicklin_1963.jpg140x140px]]Frank Nicklin
(1895–1978)1957
1960
1963
196612 August 195717 January 1968CountryLandsborough
[[File:Jack_Pizzey_1968.jpg140x140px]]Jack Pizzey
(1911–1968)17 January 196831 July 1968 (†)CountryIsis
[[File:Gordon_Chalk_1963.jpg133x133px]]Gordon Chalk
(1913–1991)1 August 19688 August 1968LiberalLockyer
[[File:Joh Bjelke-Petersen.jpg133x133px]]Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen
(knighted in 1984)
(1911–2005)1969
1972
1974
1977
1980
1983
19868 August 19681 December 1987Country/NationalBarambah
[[File:Mike Ahern, Parliament House, Brisbane City, October 1988.jpgframeless111x111px]]Mike Ahern
(1942–2023)1 December 198725 September 1989NationalLandsborough
[[File:No image.png70px]]Russell Cooper
(*1941)25 September 19897 December 1989NationalRoma
[[File:Wayne Goss.png145x145px]]Wayne Goss
(1951–2014)1989
1992
19957 December 198919 February 1996LaborLogan
[[File:No image.png70px]]Rob Borbidge
(*1954)19 February 199620 June 1998NationalSurfers Paradise
[[File:Peter_Beattie,_BYCC,_August_2013_(cropped).jpg140x140px]]Peter Beattie
(*1952)1998
2001
2004
200620 June 199813 September 2007LaborBrisbane Central
[[File:Anna Bligh crop.jpg138x138px]]Anna Bligh
(*1960)200913 September 200726 March 2012LaborSouth Brisbane
[[File:Campbell Newman being interviewed (cropped).jpg134x134px]]Campbell Newman
(*1963)201226 March 201214 February 2015Liberal NationalAshgrove
[[File:Annastacia Palaszczuk 2016.jpg126x126px]]Annastacia Palaszczuk
(*1969)2015
2017
202014 February 201515 December 2023LaborInala
[[File:Dr Steven Miles MP (cropped).jpg126x126px]]Steven Miles
(*1977)15 December 202328 October 2024LaborMurrumba
[[File:David Crisafulli photo 2025.png100px]]David Crisafulli
(*1979)202428 October 2024IncumbentLiberal NationalBroadwater

Timelines

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:100 right:130 left:12 AlignBars = late

DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1859 till:2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1859

Colors = id:PRE value:gray(0.8) legend: Independent id:LAB value:red legend: Labor_Party id:PCN value:dullyellow legend: Conservative id:CON value:orange legend: Continuous_Ministry id:LNP value:blue legend: Liberal-National_Party id:LIB value:skyblue legend: Liberal/Liberal_Party id:NAT value:green legend: National/Country_Party id:CPN value:green legend: CPNP id:liteline value:gray(0.8) id:line value:rgb(0.3,0.3,0.3)

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1859 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:liteline unit:year increment:1 start:1859

Legend = columns:4 left:150 top:75 columnwidth:125

TextData = pos:(20,75) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Political parties:"

BarData = bar:Herbert bar:Macalister bar:Mackenzie bar:Lilley bar:Palmer bar:Thorn bar:Douglas bar:McIlwraith bar:Griffith bar:Morehead bar:Nelson bar:Byrnes bar:Dickson bar:Dawson bar:Philp bar:Morgan bar:Kidston bar:Denham bar:Ryan bar:Theodore bar:Gillies bar:McCormack bar:Moore bar:Smith bar:Cooper bar:Hanlon bar:Gair bar:Nicklin bar:Pizzey bar:Chalk bar:Bjelke bar:Ahern bar:Cooper2 bar:Goss bar:Borbidge bar:Beattie bar:Bligh bar:Newman bar:Palaszczuk bar:Miles bar:Crisafulli

PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

bar:Herbert from: 1859 till: 1866 color:PCN text: from: 1866 till: 1866 color:PCN text:"Robert Herbert" bar:Macalister from: 1866 till: 1866 color:PRE text: from: 1866 till: 1867 color:PRE text: from: 1874 till: 1876 color:PRE text:"Arthur Macalister" bar:Mackenzie from: 1867 till: 1868 color:PCN text:"Robert Mackenzie" bar:Lilley from: 1868 till: 1870 color:PRE text:"Charles Lilley" bar:Palmer from: 1870 till: 1874 color:PCN text:"Arthur Hunter Palmer" bar:Thorn from: 1876 till: 1877 color:PRE text:"George Thorn" bar:Douglas from: 1877 till: 1879 color:PRE text:"John Douglas" bar:McIlwraith from: 1879 till: 1883 color:PCN text: from: 1888 till: 1888 color:CON text:"Thomas McIlwraith" bar:Griffith from: 1883 till: 1888 color:LIB text: from: 1890 till: 1893 color:CON text:"Samuel Griffith" bar:Morehead from: 1888 till: 1890 color:PCN text:"Boyd Dunlop Morehead" bar:Nelson from: 1893 till: 1898 color:CON text:"Hugh Nelson" bar:Byrnes from: 1898 till: 1898 color:CON text:"Thomas Joseph Byrnes" bar:Dickson from: 1898 till: 1899 color:CON text:"James Dickson" bar:Dawson from: 1899 till: 1899 color:LAB text:"Anderson Dawson" bar:Philp from: 1899 till: 1901 color:CON text: from: 1907 till: 1908 color:PRE text:"Robert Philp" bar:Morgan from: 1903 till: 1906 color:PRE text:"Arthur Morgan" bar:Kidston from: 1906 till: 1907 color:LAB text: from: 1908 till: 1911 color:LIB text:"William Kidston" bar:Denham from: 1911 till: 1915 color:LIB text:"Digby Denham" bar:Ryan from: 1915 till: 1919 color:LAB text:"T. J. Ryan" bar:Theodore from: 1919 till: 1925 color:LAB text:"Ted Theodore" bar:Gillies from: 1925 till: 1925 color:LAB text:"William Gillies" bar:McCormack from: 1925 till: 1929 color:LAB text:"William McCormack" bar:Moore from: 1929 till: 1932 color:CPN text:"Arthur Edward Moore" bar:Smith from: 1932 till: 1942 color:LAB text:"William Forgan Smith" bar:Cooper from: 1942 till: 1946 color:LAB text:"Frank Arthur Cooper" bar:Hanlon from: 1946 till: 1952 color:LAB text:"Ned Hanlon" bar:Gair from: 1952 till: 1957 color:LAB text:"Vince Gair" bar:Nicklin from: 1957 till: 1968 color:NAT text:"Frank Nicklin" bar:Pizzey from: 1968 till: 1968 color:NAT text:"Jack Pizzey" bar:Chalk from: 1968 till: 1968 color:LIB text:"Gordon Chalk" bar:Bjelke from: 1968 till: 1987 color:NAT text:"Joh Bjelke-Petersen" bar:Ahern from: 1987 till: 1989 color:NAT text:"Mike Ahern" bar:Cooper2 from: 1989 till: 1989 color:NAT text:"Russell Cooper" bar:Goss from: 1989 till: 1996 color:LAB text:"Wayne Goss" bar:Borbidge from: 1996 till: 1998 color:NAT text:"Rob Borbidge" bar:Beattie from: 1998 till: 2007 color:LAB text:"Peter Beattie" bar:Bligh from: 2007 till: 2012 color:LAB text:"Anna Bligh" bar:Newman from: 2012 till: 2015 color:LNP text:"Campbell Newman" bar:Palaszczuk from: 2015 till: 2023 color:LAB text:"Annastacia Palaszcuk" bar:Miles from: 2023 till: 2024 color:LAB text:"Steven Miles" bar:Crisafulli from: 2024 till: 2025 color:LNP text:"David Crisafulli"

Notes

References

References

  1. (15 September 2021). "Legislative Assembly of Queensland – Members' Remuneration Handbook". [[Parliament of Queensland.
  2. (July 2015). "The Premier of Queensland".
  3. Hall, James. (2025-10-24). "The advice Crisafulli ignored on his way to forming government".
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