Leader Gladys Berejiklian Headquarters East Sydney | President Chris Downy Legislative Assembly 36 / 93 | |
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Ideology Australian conservatism
Economic liberalism National affiliation Liberal Party of Australia | ||
Liberal Party of Australia (NSW Division) is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in New South Wales. The party currently governs in New South Wales in coalition with the National Party of Australia (NSW), despite having a majority in its own right. The party is part of the federal Liberal Party of Australia which governs nationally in Coalition with the National Party of Australia. In the 66 years since its foundation the party has won seven state elections to the Australian Labor Party's 13, and has spent 20 years in office (1965 to 1976, 1988 to 1995 and 2011 to the present) to Labor's 46. Seven leaders have become Premier of New South Wales; of those, four, Sir Robert Askin, Nick Greiner, Barry O'Farrell and Mike Baird, have won at least one state election.
Parliamentary party leaders
The position of leader of the Liberal Party of Australia New South Wales Division is a formal role held by a Liberal member of the Parliament of New South Wales. As the Liberal Party has, since its foundation in 1945, been either the largest or second largest party in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, its leader is usually either the Premier or the Leader of the Opposition, depending on the majority or minority respectively of the party. The current leader of the Liberal Party is Gladys Berejiklian, and the deputy leader is Dominic Perrottet. Both have served in those roles since 23 January 2017. Berejiklian is currently Premier of New South Wales, a post she has held since 23 January 2017.
The role is selected by state members of the parliamentary party, but the position is non-fixed in duration, and is usually only vacated upon resignation, retirement from politics, or a spill motion with the support of the majority of the parliamentary members.
The leader only has a role in a parliamentary context; the party division as a whole is governed by a President and Vice Presidents, who act on the advice of the party division's Director and Deputy Directors. The division also gathers annually at a State Conference to vote on and develop policy to be used by the party's elected representatives. The majority of the twenty Liberal Leaders have been deposed, either after losing elections or when their colleagues determined they could not win an election.