Abstract
Ministerial responsibility is a corollary of the democratic process. An administrative
component of that democratic expression is the Treasury. Federal, state or national
treasuries have always played pivotal roles in the political, economic, social, technical
and cultural evolution of the political arenas within which they function.
This thesis presents, for the first time, an institutional history of the New South
Wales Treasury. It includes an analysis of its British antecedents, its establishment in
the penal colony of New South Wales, by way of the Commissariat and Colonial Funds,
and its subsequent development into one of the most influential State government
departments.
What is fundamental to the successful and efficient administration of a Treasury
in the twenty-first century was also true five thousand years ago. There is a universality
of constant principles applying to the administration of the public purse and those
principles have not altered over the millennia: security, accountability, transparency,
efficiency and control. A component of a modern Treasury is its advisory capacity in
financial matters.
This thesis, therefore, examines the application of those constants in the context of
New South Wales over the previous one hundred and fifty years, 1824 to 1976. The
New South Wales Treasury is examined specifically, as the vehicle for the adaptation
and application of those constant principles attaching to the financial administration of
the public purse.
An examination is also made of the growth of Treasury's internal structure,
leadership, modus operandi, its response to administrative reform and its role in the
public service. The inter-play between Treasury, Governors, Colonial Treasurers, and
the public service are all vial elements in this exposition of Treasury. This history,
therefore, analyses and dissects the influences that provided the impetus for a
government agency to develop successfully, from a modest office of three in 1824, into
the present day department of state.