| Post: | Secretary for Mines |
| Body: | New South Wales |
| Insignia: | Coat of Arms of New South Wales.svg |
| Insigniasize: | 120px |
| Appointer: | Governor of New South Wales |
| Formation: | 9 May 1874 |
| First: | James Farnell |
| Last: | Don Harwin |
| Abolished: | 2 April 2019 |
| Succession: | Minister for Energy and Environment |
The Secretary for Mines was a ministry first established in 1874 in the first ministry of Henry Parkes. It went through various title changes, becoming the Minister for Mines in 1959 then variations on Minister for Mineral Resources .
In 1872-3 there was a rush of application for mineral leases covering 750000acres, which were required to be dealt with by the Secretary for Lands. The ministry was created from the responsibilities of the Secretary for Lands and the first minister, James Farnell, was also the Secretary for Lands. The initial tasks for the minister were establishing the Board of Mines, a school of mines and mineralogical museum. The minister was responsible for the department of mines, which included mining wardens, registrars, bailiffs and surveyors. The department also included agricultural regulation, including sheep and cattle inspectors and the registration of brands.[1]
The agricultural responsibilities were recognised from 1890 when the title was changed to Secretary for Mines and Agriculture, until 1907 when a separate Minister for Agriculture was created. In 1959 the ministry was renamed Minister for Mines.[2]
The resources portfolio was occasionally combined with the energy portfolio between 1984 and 2017.
| Title | Minister | Party | Term start | Term end | Time in office | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secretary for Lands and Secretary for Mines | No party | 9 May 1874 | 26 July 1874 | ||||
| Secretary for Mines | 27 July 1874 | 8 February 1875 | |||||
| 9 February 1875 | 5 February 1877 | ||||||
| 6 February 1877 | 16 August 1877 | ||||||
| 17 August 1877 | 19 November 1877 | ||||||
| 20 November 1877 | 17 December 1877 | ||||||
| 18 December 1877 | 20 December 1878 | ||||||
| 21 December 1878 | 11 October 1881 | ||||||
| 12 October 1881 | 4 January 1883 | ||||||
| 5 January 1883 | 6 October 1885 | ||||||
| 7 October 1885 | 17 October 1885 | ||||||
| 13 November 1885 | 21 December 1885 | ||||||
| 22 December 1885 | 25 February 1886 | ||||||
| 26 February 1886 | 23 December 1886 | ||||||
| 24 December 1886 | 19 January 1887 | ||||||
| 20 January 1887 | 16 January 1889 | ||||||
| 17 January 1889 | 7 March 1889 | ||||||
| 8 March 1889 | 27 February 1890 | ||||||
| Secretary for Mines and Agriculture | 28 February 1890 | 22 October 1891 | [3] | ||||
| 23 October 1891 | 2 August 1894 | ||||||
| 3 August 1894 | 15 August 1898 | ||||||
| 27 August 1898 | 13 September 1899 | ||||||
| 15 September 1899 | 8 April 1901 | ||||||
| 10 April 1901 | 29 August 1904 | ||||||
| 29 August 1904 | 1 October 1907 | ||||||
| 2 October 1907 | 21 January 1908 | ||||||
| Secretary for Mines | 22 January 1908 | 20 October 1910 | |||||
| 21 October 1910 | 29 January 1914 | ||||||
| 29 January 1914 | 15 March 1915 | ||||||
| 15 March 1915 | 31 October 1916 | ||||||
| 31 October 1916 | 15 November 1916 | ||||||
| 15 November 1916 | 12 April 1920 | ||||||
| 12 April 1920 | 20 December 1921 | ||||||
| 20 December 1921 | 20 December 1921 | 7 hours | |||||
| 20 December 1921 | 13 April 1922 | ||||||
| 13 April 1922 | 17 June 1925 | ||||||
| 17 June 1925 | 18 October 1927 | ||||||
| 18 October 1927 | 15 April 1929 | ||||||
| 16 April 1929 | 3 November 1930 | ||||||
| 4 November 1930 | 15 October 1931 | ||||||
| 15 October 1931 | 13 May 1932 | ||||||
| 16 May 1932 | 17 June 1932 | ||||||
| 18 June 1932 | 16 May 1941 | ||||||
| 16 May 1941 | 8 September 1949 | ||||||
| 8 September 1949 | 21 September 1949 | ||||||
| 21 September 1949 | 30 June 1950 | ||||||
| 30 June 1950 | 23 February 1953 | ||||||
| 23 February 1953 | 16 September 1953 | ||||||
| 16 September 1953 | 30 June 1954 | ||||||
| 1 July 1954 | 15 March 1956 | ||||||
| 15 March 1956 | 14 November 1957 | ||||||
| 14 November 1957 | 1 April 1959 | ||||||
| Minister for Mines | 1 April 1959 | 13 May 1965 | |||||
| 13 May 1965 | 27 June 1967 | ||||||
| 27 June 1967 | 3 January 1975 | ||||||
| 3 January 1975 | 14 May 1976 | ||||||
| 14 May 1976 | 19 October 1978 | ||||||
| Minister for Mineral Resources and Development | 19 October 1978 | 29 February 1980 | |||||
| Minister for Mineral Resources | 29 February 1980 | 2 October 1981 | |||||
| 2 October 1981 | 1 February 1983 | ||||||
| 1 February 1983 | 10 February 1984 | ||||||
| 10 February 1984 | 5 April 1984 | ||||||
| Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy | 5 April 1984 | 6 February 1986 | |||||
| Minister for Mineral Resources | 4 July 1986 | 26 November 1987 | |||||
| 26 November 1987 | 21 March 1988 | ||||||
| Minister for Mineral Resources | 21 March 1988 | 19 October 1988 | |||||
| 19 October 1988 | 6 June 1991 | ||||||
| Minister of Natural Resources | 6 June 1991 | 26 May 1993 | |||||
| Minister for Mines | 26 May 1993 | 4 April 1995 | |||||
| Minister for Mineral Resources | 4 April 1995 | 8 April 1999 | |||||
| 8 April 1999 | 2 April 2003 | ||||||
| 2 April 2003 | 3 August 2005 | ||||||
| 3 August 2005 | 4 December 2009 | align=right rowspan=2 | |||||
| 4 December 2009 | 4 June 2010 | ||||||
| 4 June 2010 | 1 September 2010 | ||||||
| 6 September 2010 | 28 March 2011 | ||||||
| Minister for Resources and Energy | 3 April 2011 | 4 December 2013 | |||||
| 4 December 2013 | 2 April 2015 | ||||||
| 2 April 2015 | 30 January 2017 | ||||||
| Minister for Resources | 30 January 2017 | ||||||