Wran ministry (1984–1986)

The Wran ministry (1984–1986) or Seventh Wran ministry was the 77th ministry of the New South Wales Government, and was led by the 35th Premier of New South Wales, Neville Wran, representing the Labor Party. It was the seventh of eight consecutive occasions when Wran was Premier.

Seventh Wran ministry
77th Cabinet of Government of New South Wales
Premier Neville Wran
Date formed	5 April 1984 (1984-04-05)
Date dissolved	6 February 1986 (1986-02-06)
People and organisations
Monarch	Queen Elizabeth II
Governor	Sir James Rowland
Premier	Neville Wran
Deputy Premier	Ron Mulock
No. of ministers	20
Member party	Labor
Opposition parties	Liberal National coalition
Opposition leader	Nick Greiner
History
Predecessor	Sixth Wran ministry
Successor	Eighth Wran ministry

Background

Wran had been elected to the Legislative Council of New South Wales by a joint sitting of the New South Wales Parliament on 12 March 1970.^[1] He was Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council from 22 February 1972.^[2] He resigned from the council on 19 October 1973 to switch to the Legislative Assembly, successfully contesting the election for Bass Hill, which he would hold until his retirement in 1986.^[3] Wran successfully challenged Pat Hills to become Leader of Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from 3 December 1973 and became Premier following a narrow one seat victory at the 1976 election.^[4]

Labor retained government at the 1984 election, despite a 6.95% swing against Labor, losing 11 seats, but retaining a majority of 8 seats in the Legislative Assembly and a single seat majority in the Legislative Council.^[a]

Composition of ministry

The ministry covers the period from 5 April 1984 the Wran–led Labor Party was re-elected at the 1984 election. There were four minor rearrangements of the ministry, commencing in November 1984 with the death of Paul Landa,^[b] and a second rearrangement in December.^[c] The third rearrangement in February 1985 saw the creation of a new portfolio of Ethnic Affairs.^[d] The fourth minor rearrangement was caused by the retirement of Eric Bedford and Kevin Stewart in December 1985.^[e] The ministry ended on 6 February 1986 when Wran reconfigured his ministry, and the eighth Wran ministry was formed.^[5]

Portfolio	Minister	Party		Term commence	Term end	Term of office
Premier Minister for the Arts	Neville Wran		Labor	5 April 1984	6 February 1986	1 year, 307 days
Minister for Ethnic Affairs [d]				6 February 1985		334 days
Deputy Premier Minister for Health	Ron Mulock [f]			5 April 1984		1 year, 307 days
Minister for Youth and Community Services Minister for Housing	Frank Walker [f]
Minister for Public Works Minister for Ports Minister for Roads	Laurie Brereton
Attorney General	Paul Landa, MLC [b]				4 November 1984	213 days
	Neville Wran [b][c]			7 November 1984	12 December 1984	35 days
	Terry Sheahan [c]			12 December 1984	6 February 1986	1 year, 56 days
Minister for Industrial Relations	Pat Hills			5 April 1984		1 year, 307 days
Minister for Police and Emergency Services	Peter Anderson
Minister Assisting the Premier [d]				6 February 1985	1 January 1986	329 days
Treasurer	Ken Booth [f]			5 April 1984	6 February 1986	1 year, 307 days
Minister for Planning and Environment	Terry Sheahan [c]				12 December 1984	251 days
	Bob Carr [c]			12 December 1984	6 February 1986	1 year, 56 days
Minister for Transport Vice-President of the Executive Council Leader of the Government in Legislative Council	Barrie Unsworth, MLC			5 April 1984		1 year, 307 days
Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries	Jack Hallam, MLC [f]
Minister for Education	Rodney Cavalier
Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy	Peter Cox
Minister for Local Government	Kevin Stewart [f][e]				31 December 1985	1 year, 270 days
	Peter Anderson [e]			1 January 1986	6 February 1986	36 days
Minister for Industry and Decentralisation Minister for Small Business and Technology	Eric Bedford [e]			5 April 1984	31 December 1985	1 year, 270 days
	Neville Wran [e]			1 January 1986	6 February 1986	36 days
Minister for Sport and Recreation Minister for Tourism	Michael Cleary [f]			5 April 1984		1 year, 307 days
Minister for Consumer Affairs Minister for Aboriginal Affairs	George Paciullo
Minister for Natural Resources	Janice Crosio
Minister for Employment Minister for Finance	Bob Debus
Minister for Corrective Services	John Akister

  Ministers are members of the Legislative Assembly unless otherwise noted.

See also

• New South Wales portal
• Politics portal

• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1984–1988
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council, 1984–1988

Notes

1. Labour retained 24 seats in the Legislative Council however the council had expanded from 44 to 45 seats due to the final step in the transition to a fully directly elected body.
2. Paul Landa died in November 1984, with Wran initially taking on his portfolio of Attorney General.
3. Terry Sheahan was appointed Attorney General in December and Bob Carr was promoted to the ministry to replace Sheehan in the portfolio of Planning and Environment.
4. A new portfolio of Ethnic Affairs was created in February 1985 and Wran took on the additional responsibilities. Peter Anderson gained an additional role of assisting the Premier.
5. Eric Bedford and Kevin Stewart retired in December 1985 with Wran taking on Bedford's portfolios of Industry and Decentralisation and Small Business and Technology and Anderson taking on Stewart's portfolio of Local Government.
6. Retained portfolios from the sixth Wran ministry.