The Secretary for Lands and Works was one of the first ministries in the colonial administration of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

following the establishment of

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive br ...

in 1856.

Role and responsibilities

Under the principles of responsible government, the minister was accountable to parliament not only for the decisions personally made by the minister but was also accountable for the performance of the department. While the first minister Bob Nichols was appointed on 6 June 1856, the department of Lands and Public Works was not formally established until 26 August 1856. The department had three main functions: # The administration of lands, including the Surveyor General, Chief Commissioner for Crown Lands, Commissioners for reporting Claims to Grants of Land, Commissioners of Crown Lands for the Gold Districts, Botanical Gardens and Domains, Inspectors of Diseased Sheep, Coal Fields and Coal Mines, Church and School Estates. # The administration of public works which was responsible for railways, roads and electric telegraph; harbours and river navigation, the Civil Engineer (Dry Docks, Cockatoo Island) and the Colonial Architect and #A Board of Works which oversaw how Treasury funds were spent on public works. The diversity of the ministers responsibilities included the government flock of

Alpaca The alpaca (''Lama pacos'') is a species of South American camelid mammal. Traditionally, alpacas were kept in herds that grazed on the level heights of the Andes of Southern Peru, Western Bolivia, Ecuador, and Northern Chile. More recentl ...

s and

Llama The llama (; or ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a List of meat animals, meat and pack animal by Inca empire, Andean cultures since the pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with ...

s. In 1859 the ministry was split into the Secretary for Lands and the Secretary for Public Works.

List of secretaries

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Secretary for Lands and Works Defunct government positions of New South Wales