Dibbs ministry (1889)

The second Dibbs ministry was the 25th ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was the second of three occasions of being led by the tenth Premier, George Dibbs. Dibbs was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1874. In a period of great financial stress for the Colony, this ministry covers just 49 days from 17 January 1889 until 7 March 1889. Dibbs took over as Premier on the first occasion in October 1885 following resignation of the Alexander Stuart due to ill-health, with his ministry lasting for 75 days. Dibbs served as Colonial Secretary in the Jennings ministry, before it too suffered budgetary pressures. It was during this time that the party system was formed in New South Wales with Sir Henry Parkes leading the Free Trade Party. Dibbs had been elected as an independent free trader, however his opposition to Parkes caused Dibbs to align himself with the Protectionist Party.^[1][2][3] Dibbs had assumed office when Parkes lost a vote on the floor of the Assembly. Parliament was dissolved on 19 January 1889 and an election was held in February. There was a significant swing to the Protectionists, gaining 29 seats,^[4] however it was insufficient to command a majority of the Legislative Assembly and Parkes resumed the premiership.^[1][5]

Second Dibbs ministry
25th Cabinet of the Colony of New South Wales
Premier George Dibbs and the Colony of New South Wales (1863–1900)
Date formed	17 January 1889 (1889-1-17)
Date dissolved	7 March 1889 (1889-3-7)
People and organisations
Monarch	Queen Victoria
Governor	The Lord Carrington
Premier	George Dibbs
No. of ministers	10
Member party	unaligned
Status in legislature	Minority government
Opposition party	Free Trade Party
Opposition leader	Henry Parkes
History
Predecessor	Fourth Parkes ministry
Successor	Fifth Parkes ministry

Under the constitution, ministers in the Legislative Assembly were required to resign to recontest their seats in an election when appointed.^[6] On this occasion however no by-elections were required as the ministers had all been appointed prior to the general election.^[7]

Composition of ministry

Portfolio	Minister	Party		Term start	Term end	Term length
Premier Colonial Secretary	George Dibbs		Protectionist	17 January 1889	7 March 1889	49 days
Colonial Treasurer	James Garvan
Attorney General Representative of the Government in Legislative Council	Edmund Barton MLC
Secretary for Lands	William Lyne
Secretary for Public Works	James Fletcher
Minister of Justice	Thomas Slattery
Minister of Public Instruction	Francis Suttor MLC [a]
Secretary for Mines	John Chanter
Postmaster-General	Henry Clarke
Vice-President of the Executive Council	John Lackey MLC

Ministers were members of the Legislative Assembly unless otherwise noted.

See also

• • Members of Legislative Assembly
  • (1887–1889)
  • (1889–1891)
• • Members of Legislative Council
  • (1887–1889)
  • (1889–1891)
• • Dibbs ministries
  • First (1885)
  • Third (1891–1894)

Notes

1. Francis Suttor was not a member of parliament at the time of his appointment. He was a candidate for Bathurst at the 1889 election but was unsuccessful,^[8] and was appointed to the Legislative Council on 21 February 1889.^[9]