Minister for Agriculture and Food (Western Australia)

The Minister for Agriculture and Food is a position in the Cabinet of Western Australia. The minister is responsible for the Department of Agriculture and Food, and usually holds several other portfolios.

Minister for Agriculture and Food
Incumbent Jackie Jarvis MLC since 14 December 2022 (2022-12-14)
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
Style	The Honourable
Nominator	Premier of Western Australia
Appointer	Governor of Western Australia
Inaugural holder	John Drew MLC (as Minister for Agriculture)
Formation	7 June 1905 (1905-06-07)
Website	https://www.wa.gov.au/government/premier-and-cabinet-ministers/jackie-jarvis

The responsibilities now incorporated in the portfolio were originally held by the Colonial Secretary, and it was not until the 1904 Daglish Ministry that a separate Minister for Agriculture was appointed, with the inaugural minister being the nominally independent John Drew. From its first implementation through to the 1920s, and sporadically afterward, the titles of Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Lands were generally held by the same person, although the positions were legally separate, and were quite different in scope. A similar situation has existed since the late 1970s with the Fisheries and Forests portfolios. The minister's title was simply "Minister for Agriculture" until 1993, when Monty House was made Minister for Primary Industries in the Court–Cowan Ministry. The current title was implemented in 2005.

The current Minister for Agriculture and Food is Jackie Jarvis of the Labor Party.^[1] The previous Minister for Agriculture and Food was Mark Lewis of the Liberal Party. Lewis was only the third Liberal to hold the position – in previous Coalition governments, the position has been reserved for members of the National Party (and its predecessors).^[2][3]

List of ministers for agriculture and food

Thirty three people have been appointed as Minister for Agriculture and Food (or equivalent) in Western Australia, with Crawford Nalder's 11 years and 335 days the longest time period in the position.^[4] In the table below, members of the Legislative Council are designated "MLC". All others were members of the Legislative Assembly at the time of their service. In Western Australia, serving ministers are entitled to be styled "The Honourable", and may retain the style after three years' service in the ministry.^[5]

Order	Minister	Party		Premier	Title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	John Drew MLC		Independent	Daglish	Minister for Agriculture	7 June 1905 (1905-06-07)	25 August 1905 (1905-08-25)	79 days
2	Newton Moore		Ministerialist	Rason		25 August 1905 (1905-08-25)	7 May 1906 (1906-05-07)	255 days
3	Frank Wilson			Moore		7 May 1906 (1906-05-07)	30 June 1909 (1909-06-30)	3 years, 54 days
4	James Mitchell					30 June 1909 (1909-06-30)	16 September 1910 (1910-09-16)	2 years, 99 days
			Liberal	Wilson		16 September 1910 (1910-09-16)	7 October 1911 (1911-10-07)
5	Thomas Bath		Labor	Scaddan		7 October 1911 (1911-10-07)	23 November 1914 (1914-11-23)	3 years, 47 days
6	William Johnson					23 November 1914 (1914-11-23)	27 July 1916 (1916-07-27)	1 year, 247 days
7	Sir Henry Lefroy KCMG		Liberal	Wilson		27 July 1916 (1916-07-27)	28 July 1917 (1917-07-28)	2 years, 264 days
			Nationalist	Lefroy		28 July 1917 (1917-07-28)	17 April 1919 (1919-04-17)
8	Charles Baxter MLC		Country	Colebatch		17 April 1919 (1919-04-17)	17 May 1919 (1919-05-17)	30 days
9	Hal Colebatch MLC		Nationalist	Mitchell		17 May 1919 (1919-05-17)	3 April 1921 (1921-04-03)	1 year, 351 days
10	Henry Kennedy Maley		Country			3 April 1921 (1921-04-03)	15 April 1924 (1924-04-15)	3 years, 12 days
11	Michael Troy		Labor	Collier		15 April 1924 (1924-04-15)	15 December 1927 (1927-12-15)	3 years, 244 days
12	Harry Millington					15 December 1927 (1927-12-15)	23 April 1930 (1930-04-23)	2 years, 129 days
13	Percy Ferguson		Country	Mitchell		23 April 1930 (1930-04-23)	24 April 1933 (1933-04-24)	3 years, 1 day
– (12)	Harry Millington		Labor	Collier		24 April 1933 (1933-04-24)	26 March 1935 (1935-03-26)	1 year, 336 days
14	Frank Wise					26 March 1935 (1935-03-26)	19 August 1936 (1936-08-19)	10 years, 130 days
				Willcock		19 August 1936 (1936-08-19)	31 July 1945 (1945-07-31)
				Wise		31 July 1945 (1945-07-31)	3 August 1945 (1945-08-03)
15	John Tonkin					3 August 1945 (1945-08-03)	1 April 1947 (1947-04-01)	1 year, 241 days
16	Lindsay Thorn		Country	McLarty		1 April 1947 (1947-04-01)	5 January 1948 (1948-01-05)	279 days
17	Garnet Wood MLC				Honorary Minister for Agriculture	5 January 1948 (1948-01-05)	24 October 1950 (1950-10-24)	3 years, 363 days
					Minister for Agriculture	24 October 1950 (1950-10-24)	3 January 1952 (1952-01-03)
18	Sir Charles Latham MLC					3 January 1952 (1952-01-03)	23 February 1953 (1953-02-23)	1 year, 79 days
19	Ernest Hoar		Labor	Hawke		23 February 1953 (1953-02-23)	17 December 1957 (1957-12-17)	4 years, 297 days
20	Lionel Kelly					17 December 1957 (1957-12-17)	2 April 1959 (1959-04-02)	1 year, 106 days
21	Crawford Nalder		Country	Brand		2 April 1959 (1959-04-02)	3 March 1971 (1971-03-03)	11 years, 335 days
22	David Evans		Labor	Tonkin		3 March 1971 (1971-03-03)	8 April 1974 (1974-04-08)	3 years, 36 days
23	Ray McPharlin		National Alliance	Court		8 April 1974 (1974-04-08)	20 May 1975 (1975-05-20)	1 year, 42 days
24	Dick Old		National Country			5 June 1975 (1975-06-05)	25 January 1982 (1982-01-25)	7 years, 263 days
				O'Connor		25 January 1982 (1982-01-25)	23 February 1983 (1983-02-23)
– (22)	David Evans		Labor	Burke		23 February 1983 (1983-02-23)	26 February 1986 (1986-02-26)	3 years, 3 days
25	Julian Grill					26 February 1986 (1986-02-26)	25 February 1988 (1988-02-25)	3 years, 2 days
				Dowding		25 February 1988 (1988-02-25)	28 February 1989 (1989-02-28)
26	Ernie Bridge					28 February 1989 (1989-02-28)	12 February 1990 (1990-02-12)	3 years, 354 days
				Lawrence		12 February 1990 (1990-02-12)	16 February 1993 (1993-02-16)
27	Monty House		National	Court	Minister for Primary Industries	16 February 1993 (1993-02-16)	16 February 2001 (2001-02-16)	8 years, 0 days
28	Kim Chance		Labor	Gallop	Minister for Agriculture	16 February 2001 (2001-02-16)	1 July 2001 (2001-07-01)	7 years, 220 days
					Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries	1 July 2001 (2001-07-01)	10 March 2005 (2005-03-10)
					Minister for Agriculture and Forestry	10 March 2005 (2005-03-10)	25 January 2006 (2006-01-25)
				Carpenter		25 January 2006 (2006-01-25)	3 February 2006 (2006-02-03)
					Minister for Agriculture and Food	3 February 2006 (2006-02-03)	23 September 2008 (2008-09-23)
29	Terry Redman		National	Barnett		23 September 2008 (2008-09-23)	21 March 2013 (2013-03-21)	4 years, 179 days
30	Ken Baston MLC		Liberal			21 March 2013 (2013-03-21)	31 March 2016 (2016-03-31)	3 years, 10 days
31	Dean Nalder					31 March 2016 (2016-03-31)	20 September 2016 (2016-09-20)	173 days
32	Mark Lewis					22 September 2016 (2016-09-22)	17 March 2017 (2017-03-17)	8 years, 329 days
33	Alannah MacTiernan MLC		Labor	McGowan		17 March 2017 (2017-03-17)	14 December 2022	5 years, 272 days
34	Jackie Jarvis					14 December 2022	8 June 2023	2 years, 248 days
				Cook		8 June 2023	incumbent