State Government of Tasmania beginning 19 December 1947 - period in office of Premier Brooker, William Edward (Ted) ending on 24 February 1948
Period in office of premier (see Glossary entry for 'period in office' and related terms)
Parliamentary support during period
Coalition partner 1
Number of ministers at beginning of period (this may vary during the period)
Assembly elections contested as premier or after which became premier (see Glossary entry for 'after election')
This premier did not win office as the result of an election, and was not (or has not been) in office long enough to contest an election as premier ; see 'Period in office' table above.
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Notes
Change of party leader (Cosgrove): Beginning of Brooker's period in office: 'In December 1947 a Royal Commission led to criminal charges for bribery and conspiracy being laid against Cosgrove. On 15 December caucus elected Brooker leader pending a decision on the charges, and on 18th Cosgrove resigned and Brooker was commissioned', Hughes and Graham, p. 264, (see 'Sources', below); see also Townsley, pp 34-36 (see 'References', below). Brooker became Premier of a Labor Party majority government which lasted for two months.
Change of party leader (Brooker): 'Following Cosgrove's acquittal on 22 February 1948, Brooker resigned. Caucus elected Cosgrove leader on 25 February, and he chose a new ministry', Hughes and Graham, p. 264 (see 'Sources', below). Cosgrove was recommissioned as Premier of an Australian Labor Party majority government on 25 February.
References: For background on the period of postwar politics in Tasmania, see W A Townsley, Tasmania: Microcosm of the Federation or Vassal State, 1945-1983, pp 25-41, (Hobart: St David's Park Publishing, 1994), and note Terry Newman, Tasmanian Premiers 1856-1988: A Biographical Handbook, (Hobart: Tasmanian Parliamentary Library, [1988]).
For a survey of Brooker's career, see R P Davis, 'Brooker, William Edward (1891 - 1948)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, p. 265, (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1993), on line at: http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130300b.htm?hilite=Brooker
Sources
'Ministries: Names of the Members of Successive Ministries which have held Office in Tasmania since the inauguration of Responsible Government, together with the Dates of Appointment and Retirement', Journal of House of Assembly, Second Session of the Forty-Fifth Parliament of Tasmania, Anno LIII and LV Eliz II; Session 2 of the 45th Parliament, Volume 251, 2004-2006, (Hobart: Government Printer, Tasmania); Colin A Hughes and B D Graham, A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1890-1964, (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1968, SBN 708102700), and the website of the Parliament of Tasmania, http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/