Governor of Western Australia

The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch, King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:

presiding over the Executive Council
proroguing and dissolving the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council
issuing writs for elections
appointing Ministers, Judges, Magistrates and Justices of the Peace

Furthermore, all bills passed by the Parliament of Western Australia require the governor's signature before they become acts and pass into law. However, since convention almost always requires the governor to act on the advice of the premier and the cabinet, such approval is almost always a formality.
Until the appointment of Sir James Mitchell in 1948, all governors of Western Australia had been British officials. After Mitchell's appointment, a further three Britons served as governor: Mitchell's two immediate successors, and then, from 1980 to 1983, Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Trowbridge who was the last non-Australian governor of any Australian state.
Although not a responsibility of the office of Governor of Western Australia, governors of Western Australia are - like all Governors of the Australian states - normally given a dormant commission to administer the government of the Commonwealth of Australia in the absence from Australia, or the death, incapacity or removal from office of the Governor-General by the Sovereign.

Styles

The governor of Western Australia is styled "His Excellency" during his term in office. In August 2014, three of the four living past governors – John Sanderson, Ken Michael and Malcolm McCusker – were given the style "The Honourable", on the recommendation of the premier. The other living former governor, Michael Jeffery, already held the style in virtue of his later service as governor-general of Australia.

Governor's standard

The governor's standard of Western Australia is the same design as the British blue ensign with the union flag at the upper left quarter. On the right side, the state badge of Western Australia, comprising a black swan in a yellow disc, is surmounted by the St. Edward's crown.
If the standard is flying at Government House, on a vehicle or at an event, this indicates that the governor is present.

List of governors and lieutenant-governors

List of governors

Stirling was only commissioned as the governor of Western Australia on 4 March 1831, rectifying the absence of a legal instrument providing the authority detailed in Stirling's instructions of 30 December 1828. Stirling had said of his own position:

I believe I am the first Governor who ever formed a settlement without Commission, Laws, Instructions and Salary.

No.	Portrait	Governor	From	To
1	80px	Captain Sir James Stirling	6 February 1832	2 January 1839
2	80px	John Hutt	3 January 1839	26 January 1846
3	80px	Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Clarke	27 January 1846	11 February 1847
-	80px	Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Irwin	12 February 1847	11 August 1848
4	80px	Captain Charles Fitzgerald	12 August 1848	22 July 1855
5	80px	Sir Arthur Kennedy	23 July 1855	27 February 1862
6	80px	John Hampton	28 February 1862	1 November 1868
7	80px	Sir Benjamin Pine	2 November 1868	29 September 1869
8	80px	Sir Frederick Weld	30 September 1869	10 January 1875
9	80px	Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson	11 January 1875	11 November 1877
10	80px	Major General Sir Harry Ord	12 November 1877	9 April 1880
-	80px	Sir William Robinson '	10 April 1880	1 June 1883
11	80px	Sir Frederick Broome	2 June 1883	19 October 1890
-	80px	Sir William Robinson '	20 October 1890	22 December 1895
12	80px	Lieutenant Colonel Sir Gerard Smith	23 December 1895	30 April 1901
13	80px	Sir Arthur Lawley	1 May 1901	23 March 1903
14	80px	Admiral Sir Frederick Bedford	24 March 1903	30 May 1909
15	80px	Sir Gerald Strickland	31 May 1909	16 March 1913
16	80px	Major General Sir Harry Barron	17 March 1913	8 April 1917
17	80px	Sir William Ellison-Macartney	9 April 1917	8 April 1920
18	80px	Sir Francis Newdegate	9 April 1920	27 October 1924
19	80px	Colonel Sir William Campion	28 October 1924	8 June 1931
		N/A	1931	1948
20	80px	Sir James Mitchell	5 October 1948	30 June 1951
21		General Sir Charles Gairdner	6 November 1951	25 October 1963
22		Major General Sir Douglas Kendrew	25 October 1963	6 January 1974
23	80px	Air Commodore Sir Hughie Edwards	7 January 1974	2 April 1975
24		Air Chief Marshal Sir Wallace Kyle	24 November 1975	24 November 1980
25	80px	Rear Admiral Sir Richard Trowbridge	25 November 1980	24 November 1983
26		Gordon Reid	2 July 1984	30 September 1989
27		Sir Francis Burt	20 March 1990	31 October 1993
28	80px	Major General Michael Jeffery	1 November 1993	17 August 2000
29		Lieutenant General John Sanderson	18 August 2000	31 October 2005
30	80px	Ken Michael	18 January 2006	2 May 2011
31	80px	Malcolm McCusker	1 July 2011	30 June 2014
32	80px	Kerry Sanderson	20 October 2014	1 May 2018
33	80px	Kim Beazley	1 May 2018	30 June 2022
34	80px	Chris Dawson	15 July 2022	Current

List of lieutenant-governors

The lieutenant-governor serves as deputy to the governor, fulfilling the governor's functions in the governor's absence.