Lewis–Punch ministry

The Lewis–Punch ministry or Second Lewis ministry was the 69th ministry of the New South Wales Government, and was led by the 33rd Premier, Tom Lewis, of the Liberal Party in coalition with the Country Party, led by Leon Punch. It was the first of two occasions when Lewis was Premier and the first of two occasions when Punch served as Deputy Premier.

Background

Lewis was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1957 and served continuously until 1978, representing the seat of Wollondilly. When the Askin government came to power in 1965, Lewis was given relatively junior portfolios of Lands and Mines. In 1972, Tourism was added to his ministerial responsibilities when Eric Willis moved to Education. Late in 1974, Askin announced his resignation and Lewis was chosen as leader over Willis and Justice Minister John Maddison.

Punch was elected to the NSW Legislative Assembly in 1959 and served continuously until 1985, representing variously the seats of Upper Hunter (1959-1962) and then Gloucester (1962-1985. Elected Deputy Leader of the Country Party in 1973, Punch was elected as leader of his party following the retirement and resignation of Sir Charles Cutler in December 1975.

Lewis inherited a relatively stable government that had been in power for ten years. However, the Liberal government was engaged in almost daily warfare with the Whitlam Labor federal government, most notably over the Medibank health care scheme, to which New South Wales was the last state to sign.

Composition of ministry

The composition of the ministry was announced by Premier Lewis and sworn in on 17 December 1975, and covers the period until 23 January 1976,^[1] when Lewis was deposed as Liberal leader by Sir Eric Willis following a spill motion on 20 January 1976, necessitating a reconfiguration of the ministry as the Willis–Punch ministry.

Portfolio	Minister	Party		Term commence	Term end	Term of office
Premier Treasurer	Tom Lewis [a]		Liberal	17 December 1975	23 January 1976	37 days
Deputy Premier Minister for Public Works Minister for Ports	Leon Punch		Country
Attorney General Minister of Justice	John Maddison [a]		Liberal
Minister for Planning and Environment Vice-president of the Executive Council Leader of the Government in Legislative Council	John Fuller, MLC [a]		Country
Minister for Decentralisation and Development Minister for Tourism	Tim Bruxner
Minister for Education	Sir Eric Willis [a]		Liberal
Minister for Labour and Industry Minister for Consumer Affairs Minister for Federal Affairs	Frederick Hewitt, MLC [a]
Minister for Police Minister for Services	John Waddy [a]
Minister for Mines Minister for Energy	George Freudenstein [a]		Country
Minister for Housing Minister for Co-operative Societies	Laurence McGinty [a]		Liberal
Minister for Health	Dick Healey [a]
Minister for Transport Minister for Highways	Max Ruddock
Minister for Youth, Ethnic and Community Affairs	Steve Mauger
Minister for Culture, Sport and Recreation	John Barraclough
Minister for Agriculture Minister for Water Resources	Bruce Cowan [a]		Country
Minister for Lands Minister for Forests	John Mason		Liberal
Minister for Local Government	Col Fisher		Country
Minister for Revenue Assistant Treasurer	Peter Coleman [a]		Liberal

  Ministers are members of the Legislative Assembly unless otherwise noted.

See also

• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1973–1976
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council, 1973–1976

Notes

1. Retained portfolios from the Lewis–Cutler ministry.

References

1. "Part 6 Ministries since 1856" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 April 2020.

 

Preceded by Lewis–Cutler ministry

Lewis–Punch ministry 1975–1976

Succeeded by Willis–Punch ministry