McGirr ministry (1947)

The McGirr ministry (1947) or First McGirr ministry was the 52nd ministry of the New South Wales Government, and was led by the 28th Premier, Jim McGirr, of the Labor Party. The ministry was the first of three occasions when the Government was led by McGirr, as Premier.

McGirr ministry
52nd Cabinet of the State of New South Wales
Premier Jim McGirr
Date formed	6 February 1947 (1947-02-6)
Date dissolved	19 May 1947 (1947-05-19)
People and organisations
Monarch	George VI
Governor	Sir John Northcott
Premier	Jim McGirr
Deputy Premier	Jack Baddeley
No. of ministers	15
Member party	Labor
Status in legislature	Majority government
Opposition party	UAP/Country coalition
Opposition leader	Vernon Treatt
History
Election	1944 New South Wales election
Predecessor	Second McKell ministry
Successor	Second McGirr ministry

McGirr was first elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1922 and served continuously until 1952, holding the various seats of Cootamundra, Cumberland, Bankstown, and Liverpool. McGirr was a staunch supporter of Jack Lang and served in the third Lang ministry, he was the only Langite to be appointed to William McKell's first ministry, retaining his portfolio in the second McKell ministry. When McKell stood aside as Premier in 1947 in order to take up an appointment as Governor-General of Australia, there was a bitter struggle for the Labor Leadership between McGirr and Bob Heffron, with McGirr eventually winning by just two votes.^[1]

This ministry covers just 102 days, from 6 February 1947 until the 1947 state election, held on 19 May,^[2][3] when McGirr led Labor to victory and the Second McGirr ministry was sworn in.

Composition of ministry

The composition of the ministry was announced by Premier McGirr on 6 February 1947 and covers until 19 May 1947 when the 1947 state election was held. There were minimal changes from the second McKell ministry, with Clive Evatt replacing McGirr as Minister for Housing and Frank Finnan replacing Evatt.

Portfolio	Minister	Party		Term commence	Term end	Term of office
Premier Treasurer	Jim McGirr		Labor	6 February 1947	19 May 1947	102 days
Minister for Agriculture					13 February 1947	7 days
	Eddie Graham			13 February 1947	19 May 1947	95 days
Chief Secretary Secretary for Mines	Jack Baddeley [a]			6 February 1947		102 days
Deputy Premier Minister for National Emergency Services				25 February 1947		83 days
Minister for Housing	Clive Evatt			6 February 1947		102 days
Minister for Education	Bob Heffron [a]
Attorney–General	Clarrie Martin, KC [a]
Secretary for Lands	Bill Dunn [a]
Minister for Labour and Industry and Social Services	Hamilton Knight [a]
Minister of Justice Vice-President of the Executive Council Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council	Reg Downing, MLC [a]
Secretary for Public Works Minister for Local Government	Joseph Cahill [a]
Minister for Health	Gus Kelly [a]
Minister for Transport	Maurice O'Sullivan [a]
Minister for Conservation	George Weir [a]
Minister in Charge of Tourist Activities and Immigration	Frank Finnan
Assistant Minister	William Dickson, MLC [a]

  Ministers are members of the Legislative Assembly unless otherwise noted.

1. Retained portfolios of from Second McKell ministry.

See also

• New South Wales portal
• Politics portal

• McGirr ministries
• Second
• Third

• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
• 1944–1947

• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council
• 1946–1949