Court Ministry

The Court Ministry was the 27th Ministry of the Government of Western Australia, led by Liberal Premier Sir Charles Court and deputy Des O'Neil (Ray O'Connor replaced O'Neil following his retirement in 1980). It commenced on 5 June 1975, following the Court–McPharlin Ministry, 15 months after the Coalition's electoral defeat of the Tonkin Labor government. It was followed by the O'Connor Ministry upon Court's retirement as Premier on 25 January 1982.

On 20 May 1975, the National Country Party (NCP), led by Ray McPharlin, withdrew from the Coalition. At the time, three Ministers had been members of the NCP. In the ensuing negotiations which included visits from Federal Country Party leader Doug Anthony and Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Dick Old replaced McPharlin as state party leader. The Coalition recommenced on 31 May. Court felt that Old had insufficient experience to become Deputy Premier, so while the Government was based on a Liberal-NCP coalition until its defeat by Labor in 1983, both the Premier and Deputy positions were held by members of the parliamentary Liberal Party.

The Ministry was reconstituted three times - first on 10 March 1977, following the 1977 election; on 25 August 1978 after a portfolio reshuffle; and finally on 5 March 1980 following the 1980 election.

The 1977 election, which expanded the Legislative Assembly from 51 to 55 members, saw the Liberal Party gain four seats and come within one seat of being able to govern in their own right. The NCP made the abolition of probate on estates passing to a spouse a condition of forming a coalition with the Liberals. This change in government policy was announced by the Premier after the election. However, due to a reduction in the numbers of NCP members in the Parliament, the NCP's allocation of Ministerial positions in the 13-member Ministry, went from 3 to 2, with the loss of Norm Baxter. Neil McNeill retired from the Ministry, allowing Ian Medcalf to be appointed Attorney-General.

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