The State of New South Wales was established on 1 January 1901, at the time of Federation. Previously, it was the Colony of New South Wales.
Previous members of the New South Wales Parliament played a substantial role within the new Federal Parliament. 27 out of 32 New South Wales represntatives were former Colonial government members and of this four of them went on to become Australian Prime Minister.
By the time of the State the role of the Governor of New South Wales was generally regarded as a ceremonial role with some constitutional functions, though not active in executive government. Governor Game's decision to dismiss Premier Lang and call an election in 1932 was an exceptional use of the reserve powers the head of state has.
Sources used to compile this entry: 'History of democracy in NSW', in Parliament of New South Wales, State of New South Wales, 27 October 2014, https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/about/historyofdemocracy/pages/history-of-democracy-in-nsw.aspx.
Prepared by: Nicola Laurent
Created: 15 July 2015, Last modified: 21 July 2015
Last updated: 4 August 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/nsw/biogs/NE01698b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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