Governor of Western Australia Information & Governor of Western Australia Links at HealthHaven.com

**Ken Michael**
Governor of Western Australia
	Viceroy
	Provincial/State
	; Badge of the Governor
	Incumbent:; Ken Michael;
Style:;	His Excellency
Appointed by:;	Elizabeth II; as Queen of Australia
First viceroy:;	Captain James Stirling
Formation:;	6 February 1832

The Governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of Australia's Monarch Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor performs important constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:

presiding over the Executive Council;
proroguing and dissolving the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council;
issuing writs for elections; and
appointing Ministers, Judges, Magistrates and Justices of the Peace.

Furthermore, all Bills passed by the Parliament of Western Australia require the Governor's signature before they become law (i.e. an Act).

The Governor of Western Australia is presently Ken Michael.

The first Australian- (and Western Australian-) born Governor of Western Australia was Sir James Mitchell (appointed 1948). His two successors were British; then came two Australians; but in 1980, another Briton was appointed, Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Trowbridge. His term ended in 1983 and he was the last British governor of any Australian state.

For further information on the office of Governor, see Governors of the Australian states.

[edit] List of Governors of Western Australia

This is a list of Governors and Lieutenant-Governors of Western Australia.

[edit] Lieutenant-Governors of Western Australia

Flag of the Governor of Western Australia

Stirling was in fact only commissioned as Governor of Western Australia from 4 March 1831, rectifying the absence of a legal instrument providing the authority detailed in Stirling's Instructions of 30 December 1828. Stirling had said of his own position:

I believe I am the first Governor who ever formed a settlement without Commission, Laws, Instructions and Salary.^[1]

No.	Lieutenant-Governor	From	To
1	Captain Sir James Stirling RN	30 December 1828	5 February 1832

[edit] Governors

No.	Governor	From	To
1	Captain Sir James Stirling RN	4 March 1832	2 January 1839
2	John Hutt	3 January 1839	26 January 1846
3	Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Andrew Clarke KCH	27 January 1846	11 February 1847
-	Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Irwin (a/g Governor)	12 February 1847	11 August 1848
4	Captain Charles Fitzgerald	12 August 1848	22 July 1855
5	Sir Arthur Kennedy GCMG KCB	23 July 1855	27 February 1862
6	Dr John Hampton	28 February 1862	1 November 1868
7	Sir Benjamin Pine^[2]	2 November 1868	29 September 1869
8	The Hon. Sir Frederick Weld GCMG	30 September 1869	10 January 1875
9	Sir William Robinson GCMG	11 January 1875	11 November 1877
10	The Hon. Major-General Sir Harry Ord GCMG CB RE^[3]	12 November 1877	9 April 1880
11	Sir William Robinson GCMG	10 Apr 1880	1 June 1883
12	Sir Frederick Broome KCMG	2 June 1883	19 October 1890
13	Sir William Robinson GCMG	20 October 1890	22 December 1895
14	Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Gerard Smith KCMG	23 December 1895	30 April 1901
15	The Rt Hon. Baron Wenlock GCIE KCMG	1 May 1901	23 March 1903
16	Admiral Sir Frederick Bedford KCB	24 March 1903	30 May 1909
17	Sir Gerald Strickland KCMG	31 May 1909	16 March 1913
18	Major General Sir Harry Barron KCMG CVO	17 March 1913	8 April 1917
19	The Rt Hon. Sir William Ellison-Macartney KCMG	9 April 1917	8 April 1920
20	Sir Francis Newdegate GCMG	9 April 1920	27 October 1924
21	Colonel Sir William Campion KCMG DSO TD	28 October 1924	8 June 1931
	N/A^[4]	1931	1948
22	Sir James Mitchell GCMG	5 October 1948	30 June 1951
23	General Sir Charles Gairdner GBE KCMG KCVO CB	6 November 1951	25 October 1963
24	Major General Sir Douglas Kendrew KCMG CB CBE DSO	25 October 1963	6 January 1974
25	Air Commodore Sir Hughie Edwards VC KCMG CB DSO OBE DFC	7 January 1974	23 November 1975
26	Air Chief Marshal Sir Wallace Hart Kyle GCB KCVO CBE DSO DFC RAF	24 November 1975	24 November 1980
27	Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Trowbridge KCVO	25 November 1980	1 July 1984
28	Professor Gordon Reid AC	2 July 1984	September 1989
29	The Hon. Sir Francis Burt AC KCMG QC	29 March 1990	31 October 1993
30	Major-General Michael Jeffery AC CVO MC KStJ	November 1993	2000
31	Lieutenant-General John Sanderson AC	18 August 2000	17 January 2006
32	Dr Ken Michael AC	18 January 2006	present

Government House, the residence of the Governor of Western Australia.

[edit] Living former governors

As of November 2007, two former governors are alive, the oldest being Michael Jeffery. The most recent governor to die was Sir Francis Burt in 2004.

Name	Term as governor	Date of birth
Michael Jeffery	1993–2000	12 December 1937
John Sanderson	2000–2005	1940

[edit] See also

Government House, Perth

[edit] References

^ "Commission appointing Stirling Governor and Commander-in-Chief 4 March 1831 (UK)". Documenting a Democracy. National Archives of Australia. http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item.asp?dID=94. Retrieved 2008-03-05. - see also Scan of 1st page of parchment original and Bathurst (1831). "Transcription of Commission appointing Stirling Governor and Commander-in-Chief 4 March 1831 (UK)" (pdf (5 pages)). Founding documents: 110 key documents that are the foundation of our nation. National Archives of Australia. http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/resources/transcripts/wa5i_doc_1831.pdf. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
^ Although formally appointed Governor, Pine never actually came to Western Australia to take up his post; the role was filled by an administrator, Lieutenant Colonel John Bruce.
^ Ord was Lieutenant-Governor from 12 November 1877 to 29 January 1878.
^ The post of Governor was not filled between 1931 and 1948. Sir John Northmore was administrator until 29 June 1932. He was Lieutenant-Governor until 10 July 1933, and was succeeded as Lieutenant-Governor by Sir James Mitchell until 4 October 1948. Mitchell was appointed Governor from 5 October 1948.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Government House, Western Australia

Government House, Western Australia: The Official Website of the Governor of Western Australia

[0] "Commission appointing Stirling Governor and Commander-in-Chief 4 March 1831 (UK)". Documenting a Democracy. National Archives of Australia. http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item.asp?dID=94. Retrieved 2008-03-05. - see also Scan of 1st page of parchment original and Bathurst (1831). "Transcription of Commission appointing Stirling Governor and Commander-in-Chief 4 March 1831 (UK)" (pdf (5 pages)). Founding documents: 110 key documents that are the foundation of our nation. National Archives of Australia. http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/resources/transcripts/wa5i_doc_1831.pdf. Retrieved 2008-03-05.

[1] Although formally appointed Governor, Pine never actually came to Western Australia to take up his post; the role was filled by an administrator, Lieutenant Colonel John Bruce.

[2] Ord was Lieutenant-Governor from 12 November 1877 to 29 January 1878.

[3] The post of Governor was not filled between 1931 and 1948. Sir John Northmore was administrator until 29 June 1932. He was Lieutenant-Governor until 10 July 1933, and was succeeded as Lieutenant-Governor by Sir James Mitchell until 4 October 1948. Mitchell was appointed Governor from 5 October 1948.

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