McGirr ministry (1950–1952)

The McGirr ministry (1950–1952) or Third McGirr ministry was the 54th ministry of the New South Wales Government, and was led by the 28th Premier, Jim McGirr, of the Labor Party. The ministry was the third and final of three consecutive occasions when the government was led by McGirr, as Premier.

McGirr ministry
54th Cabinet of the State of New South Wales
Premier Jim McGirr
Date formed	30 June 1950
Date dissolved	2 April 1952
People and organisations
Monarch	George VI Elizabeth II
Governor	Sir John Northcott
Premier	Jim McGirr
Deputy Premier	Joe Cahill
No. of ministers	15
Member party	Labor
Status in legislature	Minority government
Opposition party	Liberal/Country coalition
Opposition leader	Vernon Treatt
History
Election	1950 New South Wales election
Predecessor	Second McGirr ministry
Successor	First Cahill 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. Having served in the third ministry of Jack Lang, and the first and second ministries of William McKell, McGirr was variously torn between Lang Labor and the newly formed Australian Labor Party. When McKell stood aside as Premier in 1947 in order to take up an appointment as Governor-General of Australia, McGirr was elected Labor Leader and became Premier. McGirr led Labor to victory at the 1947 state election. Labor lost its majority at the 1950 state election and had to rely upon the support of two independent members, James Geraghty and John Seiffert, who had been expelled from Labor as a result of voting against the party ticket in the 1949 election for the Legislative Council. Seiffert was subsequently re-admitted to the Labor party

This ministry covers the period from 30 May 1950 until 2 April 1952^[1][2] when McGirr resigned as Premier in favour of his deputy Joe Cahill.^[3]

Composition of ministry

The composition of the ministry was announced by Premier McGirr following the election held on 30 May 1950, and covers the period up until 2 April 1952.

Portfolio	Minister	Party		Term commence	Term end	Term of office
Premier Treasurer	Jim McGirr [a]		Labor	30 June 1950	2 April 1952	1 year, 277 days
Deputy Premier Secretary for Public Works Minister for Local Government	Joe Cahill [a]
Chief Secretary Assistant Treasurer Minister for Co-operative Societies	Clive Evatt [b]
Minister for Education	Bob Heffron [a]
Attorney–General	Clarrie Martin, KC [a]
Minister for Justice Vice-President of the Executive Council Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council	Reg Downing, MLC [a]
Minister for Housing	Gus Kelly
Minister for Health	Maurice O'Sullivan
Minister for Secondary Industries Minister for Building Materials	William Dickson, MLC [a]
Minister for Agriculture	Eddie Graham [a]
Minister for Conservation	George Weir [a]
Minister for Labour and Industry Minister for Social Welfare	Frank Finnan
Minister for Transport	Bill Sheahan
Secretary for Mines Minister for Immigration	Joshua Arthur
Secretary for Lands	Jack Renshaw
Minister without portfolio	Frank Hawkins

  Ministers are members of the Legislative Assembly unless otherwise noted.

1. Retained portfolios of from second McGirr ministry.
2. Retained portfolio of Assistant Treasurer from second McGirr ministry.

See also

• New South Wales portal
• Politics portal

• McGirr ministries
• First
• Second

• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
• 1950–1953

• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council
• 1949–1952