Premiers of Queensland Since 1859

This is a complete list of Queensland Premiers since 1859.

Taking office on December 15, 2023, Steven Miles is the 40th Premier of Queensland.

The longest-serving premier is Sir Johannes Bjelke-Peterson, who held continuous office for 19 years, 3 months and 23 days, from 1968 until 1987.

Two premiers, Arthur Macalister and Sir Thomas McIlwraith, served three separate terms each

The colony’s first Premier, Robert Herbert, served two terms, as did Sir Samuel Griffith, Robert Philp and William Kidston.

Since 1911, when William Kidston left office, no premier has served non-consecutive terms.

Note: ALP Premiers are shaded yellow in the table below.

Premiers of Queensland Since 1898
No.	Name	Party	Commenced	Left	Time In Office
1.	Robert Herbert	Squatter Conservative	10 Dec 1859	1 Feb 1866	6 years, 1 month, 22 days
2.	Arthur Macalister	Independent	1 Feb 1866	20 Jul 1866	5 months, 19 days
–	Robert Herbert	Squatter Conservative	20 Jul 1866	7 Aug 1866	18 days
–	Arthur Macalister	Independent	7 Aug 1866	15 Aug 1867	1 year 8 days
3.	Robert Mackenzie	Squatter Conservative	15 Aug 1867	25 Nov 1868	1 year, 3 months, 10 days
4.	Charles Lilley	Independent	25 Nov 1868	2 May 1860	1 year, 5 months, 7 days
5.	Arthur Hunter Palmer	Squatter Conservative	3 May 1870	7 Jan 1874	3 years, 8 months, 4 days
–	Arthur Macalister CMG	Independent	8 Jan 1874	5 Jun 1876	2 years, 4 months, 28 days
6.	George Thorn	Independent	5 Jun 1876	8 Mar 1877	9 months, 3 days
7.	John Douglas CMG	Independent	8 Mar 1877	21 Jan 1879	1 year, 10 months, 13 days
8.	Sir Thomas McIlwraith KCMG	Conservative	21 Jan 1879	13 Nov 1883	4 years, 9 months, 23 days
9.	Sir Samuel Griffith KCMG, QC	Liberal	13 Nov 1883	13 Jun 1888	4 years, 7 months
–	Sir Thomas McIlwraith KCMG	Conservative	13 Jun 1888	30 Nov 1888	5 months, 17 days
10.	Boyd Dunlop Morehead	Conservative	30 Nov 1888	12 Aug 1890	1 year, 8 months, 13 days
–	Sir Samuel Griffith KCMG, QC	Liberal	12 Aug 1890	27 Mar 1893	2 years, 7 months, 15 days
–	Sir Thomas McIlwraith KCMG	Conservative	27 Mar 1893	27 Oct 1893	7 months
11.	Sir Hugh Nelson	Ministerial	27 Oct 1893	13 Apr 1898	4 years, 5 months, 17 days
12.	Thomas Joseph Byrnes	Ministerial	13 Apr 1898	27 Sep 1898 (died)	5 months, 14 days
13.	James Robert Dickson	Ministerial	01 Oct 1898	01 Dec 1899	2 months
14.	Anderson Dawson *	Labour	01 Dec 1899	07 Dec 1899	7 days
15.	Robert Philp	Ministerial	07 Dec 1899	17 Sep 1903	3 years, 9 months, 10 days
16.	Arthur Morgan	Liberal	17 Sep 1903	19 Jan 1906	2 years, 4 months, 2 days
17.	William Kidston	Labor/Kidsonite	19 Jan 1906	19 Nov 1907	1 year, 10 months
–	Robert Philp	Conservative	19 Nov 1907	18 Feb 1908	3 months TOTAL: 4 years, 10 days
–	William Kidston	Kidston/Liberal	18 Feb 1908	07 Feb 1911	2 years, 11 months, 20 days TOTAL: 4 years, 9 months, 20 days
18.	Digby Frank Denham	Liberal	07 Feb 1911	01 Jun 1915	4 years, 3 months, 25 days
19.	Thomas Joseph Ryan	ALP	01 Jun 1915	22 Oct 1919	4 years, 4 months, 21 days
20.	Edward Granville Theodore	ALP	22 Oct 1919	26 Feb 1925	5 years, 4 months, 4 days
21.	William Neal Gillies	ALP	26 Feb 1925	22 Oct 1925	7 months, 26 days
22.	William McCormack	ALP	22 Oct 1925	21 May 1929	3 years, 6 months, 29 days
23.	Arthur Edward Moore	Country/Nationalist	21 May 1929	17 Jun 1932	3 years, 27 days
24.	William Forgan Smith	ALP	17 Jun 1932	16 Sep 1942	10 years, 3 months
25.	Frank Arthur Cooper	ALP	16 Sep 1942	07 Mar 1946	3 years, 5 months, 19 days
26.	Edward Michael Hanlon	ALP	07 Mar 1946	15 Jan 1952 (died)	5 years, 10 months, 8 days
27.	Vincent Clair Gair	ALP	17 Jan 1952	12 Aug 1957	5 years, 6 months, 26 days
28.	George Francis Nicklin	Country/Liberal	12 Aug 1957	17 Jan 1968	10 years, 5 months, 5 days
29.	Jack Charles Pizzey	Country/Liberal	17 Jan 1968	31 Jul 1968	6 months, 14 days
30.	Gordon William Chalk	Liberal/Country	01 Aug 1968	08 Aug 1968	7 days
31.	Johannes Bjelke-Petersen	Country/Liberal	08 Aug 1968	18 Aug 1983	15 years, 10 days.
–	Johannes Bjelke-Petersen	National	19 Aug 1983	01 Dec 1987	4 years, 3 months, 13 days TOTAL: 19 years, 3 months, 23 days
32.	Michael John Ahern	National	01 Dec 1987	25 Sep 1989	1 year, 9 months, 24 days
33.	Theo Russell Cooper	National	25 Sep 1989	07 Dec 1989	2 months, 12 days
34.	Wayne Keith Goss	ALP	07 Dec 1989	19 Feb 1996	6 years, 2 months, 12 days
35.	Robert Edward Borbidge	National/Liberal	19 Feb 1996	26 Jun 1998	2 years, 4 months, 7 days
36.	Peter Douglas Beattie	ALP	26 Jun 1998	13 Sep 2007	9 years, 2 months, 18 days
37.	Anna Maria Bligh	ALP	13 Sep 2007	26 Mar 2012	4 years, 6 months, 13 days
38.	Campbell Newman	Liberal National	26 Mar 2012	14 Feb 2015	2 years, 10 months, 19 days
39.	Annastacia Palaszczuk	ALP	14 Feb 2015	15 Dec 2023	8 years, 10 months, 1 day
40.	Steven Miles	ALP	15 Dec 2023	–

* world’s first Labor Government.