The Minister for Lands and Property, also called the Secretary for Lands was responsible for one of the key issues for 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 ...

, being the contest between

squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

and selectors to dispossess the

Aboriginal people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

of their land.

Role and responsibilities

The land issue dominated the politics of the late 1850s, and in October 1859, towards the end of the second Cowper ministry, the Secretary for Public Works was split off from the

Secretary for Lands and Works The Secretary for Environment and Ecology () of the Hong Kong Government is responsible for environment protection policy in Hong Kong. The position was created most recently in 2007 as the Secretary for the Environment to replace portions of the ...

. This enabled

John Robertson John, Jon, or Jonathan Robertson may refer to: Politicians United Kingdom politicians *J. M. Robertson (John Mackinnon Robertson, 1856–1933), British journalist and Liberal MP for Tyneside 1906–1918 *John Robertson (Bothwell MP) (1867–1926), ...

to concentrate on what became known as the

Robertson Land Acts The Crown Lands Acts 1861 (NSW) (or Robertson Land Acts) were introduced by the New South Wales Premier, John Robertson, in 1861 to reform land holdings in New South Wales and in particular to break the squattocracy's domination of land tenure. ...

. The Cowper ministry fell at the end of October 1859, replaced by the short lived Forster ministry. Robertson formed his first ministry in March 1860. While the four previous

Premiers Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

held the office of Colonial Secretary, Robertson chose to be Secretary for Lands. The main work of the department at this time was processing the selection claims, including the various commissioners for Crown Lands and the necessary survey work under the Surveyor General. The minister had numerous other responsibilities, including immigration until 1869, mining until 1874 and forestry until 1908. In the

Holman Nationalist ministry Holman may refer to: People * Holman (surname), including people with the name * Holman (given name), a list of people with the name Places United States * Holman, Missouri, a former town * Holman, Texas, a settlement * Holman, Washington, a st ...

from November 1916 William Ashford held the portfolios of Secretary for Lands and Minister for Forests and it became increasingly common for the minister to hold the portfolio along with other portfolios. In 1981 the Department of lands was temporarily amalgamated with the Department of Local Government, with the minister

Lin Gordon Alan Robert Lindsay Gordon (19 January 1917 – 16 June 2011) was an Australian politician. He was the Labor member for Murrumbidgee in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1970 to 1984. He was Minister for Conservation and Water Reso ...

holding both portfolios, until the departments were separated again in February 1984. The portfolio of Minister for Lands was abolished in April 1984 and replaced by the Minister for Natural Resources whose responsibilities included waterways, reserves and parks, forestry. The portfolio was briefly re-established in 1986, 1990 and 2004.

Role and responsibilities

List of ministers

Lands

Property

Notes

References