Governors of New South Wales

Governor of New South Wales
Badge of the Governor of New South Wales
Incumbent David Hurley AC, DSC (Retd) since 2 October 2014
Office of the Governor Executive Council of New South Wales
Style	His Excellency
Residence	Government House, Sydney
Nominator	Premier of New South Wales
Appointer	Australian monarch
Term length	At Her Majesty's pleasure
Formation	7 February 1788
First holder	Arthur Phillip
Salary	$181 555 (AUD)
Website	Office of the Governor

The Governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the Governor-General of Australia at the national level, the Governors of the Australian states perform constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level. The Governor is appointed by the queen on the advice of the Premier of New South Wales, for an unfixed period of time—known as serving At Her Majesty's pleasure—though five years is the norm. The current Governor is retired General David Hurley, who succeeded Dame Marie Bashir on 2 October 2014.

The office has its origin in the 18th-century colonial governors of New South Wales upon its settlement in 1788, and is the oldest continuous institution in Australia. The present incarnation of the position emerged with the Federation of Australia and the New South Wales Constitution Act 1902, which defined the viceregal office as the Governor acting by and with the Advice of the Executive Council of New South Wales. However, the post still ultimately represented the government of the United Kingdom until, after continually decreasing involvement by the British government, the passage in 1942 of the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 (see Statute of Westminster) and the Australia Act 1986, after which the governor became the direct, personal representative of the uniquely Australian sovereign.