Editing Governor of New South Wales (section)

== Appointment ==
[[File:John Northcott AWM 107728.jpg|thumb|upright|Sir [[John Northcott]], the first Australian-born governor (1946–57).]]

The office of governor is prescribed by the [[Constitution Act 1902|New South Wales Constitution]]. The [[Australian monarch|Monarch]], on the advice and recommendation of the [[Premier of New South Wales]], appoints the governor with a commission issued under the [[Royal sign-manual]] and [[Great Seal of Australia#New South Wales|Public Seal of the State]], who is from then until being sworn in by the premier and chief justice referred to as the ''governor-designate''.

Besides the administration of the oaths of office, there is no set formula for the swearing-in of a governor-designate. The constitution act stipulates: "Before assuming office, a person appointed to be Governor shall take the Oath or Affirmation of Allegiance and the Oath or Affirmation of Office in the presence of the Chief Justice or another Judge of the Supreme Court."<ref name="Con" /> The sovereign will also hold an [[Audience (meeting)|audience]] with the appointee and will at that time induct the governor-designate as a [[Order of Australia|Companion of the Order of Australia]] (AC).

The incumbent will generally serve for at least five years, though this is only a developed convention, and the governor still technically acts [[at His Majesty's pleasure]] (or the ''Royal Pleasure''). The premier may therefore recommend to the King that the viceroy remain in his service for a longer period of time, sometimes upwards of more than seven years. A governor may also resign{{NoteTag|[[David Martin (Governor)|Sir David Martin]] resigned the viceregal post on 7 August 1990 due to health concerns. He died three days later.|name=Martin}} and three have died in office.{{NoteTag|The following governors died in office: Sir [[Robert Duff (politician, born 1835)|Robert Duff]] on 15 March 1895; Sir [[Walter Edward Davidson|Walter Davidson]] on 15 September 1923; and Sir [[David Anderson (Australian governor)|David Anderson]] on 30 October 1936.|name=died}} In such a circumstance, or if the governor leaves the country for longer than one month, the [[lieutenant governor of New South Wales|Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales]], concurrently held by the [[chief justice of New South Wales|Chief Justice of New South Wales]] since 1872, serves as [[Administrator of the Government]] and exercises all powers of the governor.{{NoteTag|When Sir David Anderson died in office on 30 October 1936, the lieutenant governor, Sir [[Philip Whistler Street|Philip Street]], served as Administrator until [[John Loder, 2nd Baron Wakehurst|Lord Wakehurst]] was sworn in on 8 April 1937.|name=Street}} Furthermore, if the lieutenant governor becomes incapacitated while serving in the office of governor or is also absent from the state, the next most senior judge of the Supreme Court is sworn in as the administrator.{{NoteTag|Sir [[Leslie Herron]], the lieutenant governor, died suddenly in May 1973 while the governor, Sir Roden Cutler, was overseas. Sir [[John Kerr (Governor-General)|John Kerr]] became the administrator until Cutler was able to return.|name=Kerr}}

=== Selection ===
Between 1788 and 1957, all governors were born outside New South Wales and were often members of the [[peerage]]. Historian [[A. J. P. Taylor]] once noted that "going out and governing New South Wales became the British aristocracy's 'abiding consolation'".<ref>{{cite book |author=Taylor, A. J. P. |author-link=A.J.P. Taylor |chapter=English History, 1914–1945 |year=1965 |pages=172–3  |editor=Cannadine, David |title=Aspects of Aristocracy |publisher=Yale University Press |publication-date=1994 }}</ref> However, the position eventually became filled by Australians, with the first Australian-born governor, Sir [[John Northcott]] on 1 August 1946, being the first Australian-born governor of any state. However, as Northcott was born in Victoria, it was not until Sir [[Eric Woodward]]'s appointment by Queen Elizabeth II in 1957 that the position was filled by a New South Welshman. This practice continued until 1996, when Queen Elizabeth II commissioned as her representative [[Gordon Samuels]], a London-born immigrant to Australia.

Early governors were frequently former politicians, many being members of the [[House of Lords]] by virtue of their peerage; however they were required by the tenets of [[constitutional monarchy]] to be [[non-partisan]] while in office. The first governors were all military officers and the majority of governors since have come from a military background, numbering 19.{{When|date=February 2024|reason=19 as of when?}} Samuels was the first governor in New South Wales history without a political or common public service background—a former justice of the [[Supreme Court of New South Wales]]. The first woman to hold this position is also the first Lebanese-Australian governor, [[Marie Bashir|Dame Marie Bashir]].