# Minister for Forests (New South Wales)

The Minister for Forests was a ministry in New South Wales responsible for the management of forests for the purpose of the timber industry and was established in 1916 and abolished in 2019. While it was a separate portfolio for much of this period, it was generally held in conjunction with another portfolio, typically Lands or Agriculture.

## History

Forests had been the responsibility of the Lands Department since 1897. In 1907 a Royal Commission was appointed to investigate the management and sustainability of forests for the purposes of the timber industry, comprising Alexander Kethel MLC, William Fehon/J A Curtis, and William Freeman. The Royal Commission found that at the rate of consumption, commercial hardwood would be exhausted in 36 years and softwood within 20 years. Their recommendations included that the administration and control of forests should be given to 3 independent commissioners instead of the Department of Lands. This recommendation was only partially implemented, with the Forestry Act 1909, creating a Forestry Department that reported to the Minister for Agriculture. The department was abolished in 1916 and replaced with the Forestry Commission which reported directly to the newly created Minister for Forests, who concurrently held the portfolio of Minister for Lands.
In 2011 the portfolio was absorbed into Lands and Water. Since 2013 forests in NSW are managed by the Forestry Corporation of NSW, a state owned corporation.

## List of ministers for forests

| Title | Minister | Party | Term start | Term end | Time in office |
| Secretary for Lands Minister for Forests | William Ashford | Nationalist | 15 November 1916 | 12 April 1920 | 3 years, 149 days |
| Secretary for Lands Minister for Forests | Peter Loughlin | Labor | 12 April 1920 | 20 December 1921 | 1 year, 252 days |
| Secretary for Lands Minister for Forests | Walter Wearne | Nationalist | 20 December 1921 | 20 December 1921 | 7 hours |
| Secretary for Lands Minister for Forests | Peter Loughlin | Labor | 20 December 1921 | 13 April 1922 | 114 days |
| Secretary for Lands Minister for Forests | Walter Wearne | Nationalist | 13 April 1922 | 17 June 1925 | 3 years, 65 days |
| Secretary for Lands Minister for Forests | Peter Loughlin | Labor | 17 June 1925 | 19 November 1926 | 1 year, 155 days |
| Secretary for Lands Minister for Forests | Jack Lang | Labor | 25 November 1926 | 26 May 1927 | 182 days |
| Secretary for Lands Minister for Forests | Ted Horsington | Labor | 26 May 1927 | 18 October 1927 | 145 days |
| Minister for Forests | Frank Chaffey | Nationalist | 18 October 1927 | 15 April 1929 | 1 year, 179 days |
| Minister for Forests | Reginald Weaver | Nationalist | 15 April 1929 | 3 November 1930 | 1 year, 202 days |
| Minister for Agriculture and Forests | Bill Dunn | Labor | 4 November 1930 | 15 October 1931 | 1 year, 191 days |
| Minister for Agriculture and Forests | Bill Dunn | Labor (NSW) | 15 October 1931 | 13 May 1932 | 1 year, 191 days |
| Minister for Agriculture Minister for Forests | Hugh Main | Country | 16 May 1932 | 17 June 1932 | 32 days |
| Minister for Forests | Roy Vincent | Country | 18 June 1932 | 16 May 1941 | 8 years, 332 days |
| Minister for Agriculture and Forests | Bill Dunn | Labor | 16 May 1941 | 8 June 1944 | 3 years, 23 days |
| Minister for Lands Minister for Forests | Milton Morris | Liberal | 3 January 1975 | 30 June 1975 | 178 days |
| Minister for Lands Minister for Forests | John Mason | Liberal | 30 June 1975 | 23 January 1976 | 207 days |
| Minister for Lands Minister for Forests | Col Fisher | Country | 23 January 1976 | 14 May 1976 | 112 days |
| Minister for Lands Minister for Forests Minister for Water Resources | Lin Gordon | Labor | 29 February 1980 | 2 October 1981 | 1 year, 216 days |
| Minister for Water Resources Minister for Forests | Paul Whelan | Labor | 1 February 1983 | 5 April 1984 | 1 year, 64 days |
| Minister for Forests | Jack Hallam | Labor | 5 November 1986 | 21 March 1988 | 1 year, 137 days |
| Minister for Lands and Forests | Garry West | National | 24 July 1990 | 6 June 1991 | 317 days |
| Minister for Forestry | Kim Yeadon | Labor | 1 December 1997 | 2 April 2003 | 5 years, 122 days |
| Minister Assisting the Minister for Natural Resources (Forests) | Michael Costa | Labor | 2 April 2003 | 1 July 2004 | 1 year, 90 days |
| Minister for Mineral and Forest Resources | Ian Macdonald | Labor | 4 December 2009 | 4 June 2010 | 182 days |
| Minister for Mineral and Forest Resources | Paul McLeay | Labor | 4 June 2010 | 1 September 2010 | 89 days |
| Minister for Mineral and Forest Resources | Steve Whan | Labor | 6 September 2010 | 28 March 2011 | 203 days |
| Minister for Lands and Forestry | Paul Toole | National | 30 January 2017 | 23 March 2019 | 2 years, 52 days |