Governor of Western Australia - Wikipedia Governor of Western Australia Governor of Western Australia Badge of the Governor of Western Australia Incumbent Kim Beazley AC since 1 May 2018 Office of the Governor Executive Council of Western Australia Style His Excellency the Honourable Reports to Monarch of Australia Residence Government House, Perth Seat Perth, Western Australia Nominator Premier of Western Australia Appointer Monarch of Australia Term length At Her Majesty 's pleasure Formation 6 February 1832 First holder Captain James Stirling Deputy Lieutenant - Governor Wayne Martin Website Office of the Governor The Governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the Queen of Australia, Elizabeth II. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the Governor of Western Australia 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 Acts and pass into law. The current governor is Kim Beazley. He succeeded Kerry Sanderson, who was the first woman to hold the position, in May 2018. Until the appointment of Sir James Mitchell in 1948, all governors of Western Australia had been British officials. After Mitchell 's appointment, a further three Britons served as governor : Mitchell 's two immediate successors, and then, from 1980 to 1983, Rear - Admiral Sir Richard Trowbridge who was the last British governor of any Australian state. Contents 1 Styles 2 List of Lieutenant Governors of the Swan River Colony and Governors of Western Australia 2.1 Lieutenant Governors of the Swan River Colony 2.2 Governors 3 Living former governors 4 See also 5 References 6 External links Styles The Governor of Western Australia is styled His Excellency during his term in office ( or Her Excellency for a female governor ). In August 2014, three of the four living past governors -- John Sanderson, Ken Michael and Malcolm McCusker -- were given the style `` The Honourable '', on the recommendation of the premier. The other living former governor, Michael Jeffery, already held the style in virtue of his later service as Governor - General of Australia. List of Lieutenant governors of the swan river colony and governors of Western Australia This is a list of Governors and Lieutenant - Governors of Western Australia. Lieutenant governors of the swan river colony Standard of the Governor of Western Australia Standard of the Governor of Western Australia 1953 - 1988 Standard of the Governor of Western Australia 1870 - 1953 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. No. Image Lieutenant - Governor From To Captain Sir James Stirling RN 30 December 1828 5 February 1832 Governors No. Image Governor From To Captain Sir James Stirling RN 4 March 1832 2 January 1839 John Hutt 3 January 1839 26 January 1846 Lieutenant Colonel Sir Andrew Clarke KCH 27 January 1846 11 February 1847 - Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Irwin ( acting Governor ) 12 February 1847 11 August 1848 Captain Charles Fitzgerald 12 August 1848 22 July 1855 5 Sir Arthur Kennedy GCMG CB 23 July 1855 27 February 1862 6 Dr John Hampton 28 February 1862 1 November 1868 7 Sir Benjamin Pine 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 Major General The Hon. Sir Harry Ord GCMG CB RE 12 November 1877 9 April 1880 - Sir William Robinson GCMG ( 2nd time ) 10 April 1880 1 June 1883 11 Sir Frederick Broome KCMG 2 June 1883 19 October 1890 - Sir William Robinson GCMG ( 3rd time ) 20 October 1890 22 December 1895 12 Lieutenant Colonel Sir Gerard Smith KCMG 23 December 1895 30 April 1901 13 The Rt Hon. Baron Wenlock GCIE KCMG 1 May 1901 23 March 1903 14 Admiral Sir Frederick Bedford KCB 24 March 1903 30 May 1909 15 Sir Gerald Strickland KCMG 31 May 1909 16 March 1913 16 Major General Sir Harry Barron KCMG CVO 17 March 1913 8 April 1917 17 The Rt Hon. Sir William Ellison - Macartney KCMG 9 April 1917 8 April 1920 18 Sir Francis Newdegate GCMG 9 April 1920 27 October 1924 19 Colonel Sir William Campion KCMG DSO TD 28 October 1924 8 June 1931 N / A 1931 1948 20 Sir James Mitchell GCMG 5 October 1948 30 June 1951 21 General Sir Charles Gairdner GBE KCMG KCVO CB 6 November 1951 25 October 1963 22 Major General Sir Douglas Kendrew KCMG CB CBE DSO 25 October 1963 6 January 1974 23 Air Commodore Sir Hughie Edwards VC KCMG CB DSO OBE DFC 7 January 1974 23 November 1975 24 Air Chief Marshal Sir Wallace Hart Kyle GCB KCVO CBE DSO DFC RAF 24 November 1975 24 November 1980 25 Rear Admiral Sir Richard Trowbridge KCVO 25 November 1980 24 November 1983 26 Professor Gordon Reid AC 2 July 1984 30 September 1989 27 The Hon. Sir Francis Burt AC KCMG QC 29 March 1990 31 October 1993 28 Major General Michael Jeffery AC CVO MC KStJ 1 November 1993 17 August 2000 29 Lieutenant General John Sanderson AC 18 August 2000 31 October 2005 30 Dr Ken Michael AC 18 January 2006 2 May 2011 31 Malcolm McCusker AC CVO QC 1 July 2011 30 June 2014 32 Kerry Sanderson AC 20 October 2014 1 May 2018 33 Kim Beazley AC 1 May 2018 Incumbent Government House, the residence of the Governor of Western Australia. Living former governors Five former governors are alive, the oldest being Michael Jeffery. The most recent governor to die was Sir Francis Burt, on 8 September 2004. Name Term as governor Date of birth Michael Jeffery 1993 -- 2000 ( 1937 - 12 - 12 ) 12 December 1937 ( age 80 ) John Sanderson 2000 -- 2006 ( 1940 - 11 - 04 ) 4 November 1940 ( age 77 ) Ken Michael 2006 -- 2011 ( 1938 - 04 - 12 ) 12 April 1938 ( age 80 ) Malcolm McCusker 2011 -- 2014 ( 1938 - 08 - 06 ) 6 August 1938 ( age 80 ) Kerry Sanderson 2014 -- 2018 ( 1950 - 12 - 21 ) 21 December 1950 ( age 67 ) See also Government House, Perth References Jump up ^ `` Kim Beazley named new governor of WA, capping distinguished career for ex-Labor leader ''. ABC News. 3 April 2018. Jump up ^ Dr Geoff Gallop, Premier ( 13 May 2003 ). `` Rear Admiral Sir Richard John Trowbridge Condolence Motion '' ( PDF ). Parliamentary Debates ( Hansard ). Western Australia : Western Australian Legislative Assembly. Part 1 : pp. 7514 -- 7514. Jump up ^ Western Australian Government Gazette, 15 August 2014, No. 126, p. 2951. Retrieved 15 October 2014. Jump up ^ `` Commission appointing Stirling Governor and Commander - in - Chief 4 March 1831 ( UK ) ''. Documenting a Democracy. National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 7 February 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2008. - see also Scan of 1st page of parchment original Archived 23 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine. 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. Retrieved 2008 - 03 - 05. Jump up ^ 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. Jump up ^ Ord was Lieutenant - Governor from 12 November 1877 to 29 January 1878. Jump up ^ 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. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Governors of Western Australia. Government House, Western Australia : The Official Website of the Governor of Western Australia Governors of Western Australia Before Federation Stirling Hutt Clarke Irwin Fitzgerald Kennedy Hampton Pine Weld Robinson Ord Robinson Broome Robinson Smith After Federation Lawley Bedford Strickland Barron Ellison - Macartney Newdegate Campion Mitchell Gairdner Kendrew Edwards Kyle Trowbridge Reid Burt Jeffery J. Sanderson Michael McCusker K. Sanderson Beazley Current Governors and Administrators of the States and territories of Australia NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS NT NI AIOT David Hurley Linda Dessau Paul de Jersey Kim Beazley Hieu Van Le Kate Warner Vicki O'Halloran Eric Hutchinson Natasha Griggs Representatives of the monarch in Commonwealth realms and Dominions National Counsellors of State United Kingdom Governors - general Antigua and Barbuda Australia Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Grenada Jamaica New Zealand Papua New Guinea Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Solomon Islands Tuvalu Sub-national Australia Governors New South Wales Queensland South Australia Tasmania Victoria Western Australia Administrator Northern Territory Norfolk Island ( former ) Canada Lieutenant governors Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Newfoundland Nova Scotia Ontario Prince Edward Island Quebec Saskatchewan Realm of New Zealand Governor - general Niue, New Zealand Queen 's Representative Cook Islands Administrator Tokelau United Kingdom Lords lieutenant England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland ( list Former Governors general Ceylon ( now Sri Lanka ) Fiji The Gambia Ghana Guyana India Irish Free State ( now Ireland ) Kenya Malawi Malta Mauritius Nigeria Pakistan Sierra Leone Union of South Africa Tanganyika Trinidad and Tobago Uganda Government of Western Australia Executive Monarchy Governor Premier Deputy Premier Cabinet Entities Police Legislative Parliament Legislative Assembly MLAs Electoral districts Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Legislative Council MLCs Opposition Leader President of the Legislative Council Judicial Supreme Court District Court Children 's Court Family Court Magistrates Court Other courts and tribunals Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Governor_of_Western_Australia&oldid=866019974 '' Categories : Governors of Western Australia Lists of viceroys in Australia Parliament of Western Australia Western Australia - related lists Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Use Australian English from February 2014 All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English Use dmy dates from February 2014 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français 日本 語 Русский 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 27 October 2018, at 19 : 02 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who was the first governor of western australia
Answer: Captain Sir James Stirling RN