Chief Justice Quinlan appointed deputy governor across West…

Chief Justice Peter Damien Quinlan will exercise every power and function of the Governor of Western Australia for 20 days over Christmas and New Year, under a vice-regal commission published in the Government Gazette of 13 November 2026. The Governor appointed the state’s most senior judge to be deputy of the Governor for the period 12 to 31 December 2026, both dates inclusive. The instrument is the Deputy of the Governor Notice (No. 8) 2026, carried in Gazette No. 145 under the Premier and Cabinet heading and numbered PR401.

Authority drawn from the 1986 Letters Patent

The appointment rests on the Letters Patent relating to the office of Governor of the State of Western Australia dated 14 February 1986. Clause XVI of those Letters Patent is the power under which the Governor may name a deputy; the notice itself states it is given under clause XXI. The Governor of Western Australia is Chris Dawson, who signs commissions in the gazette in that capacity.

Under the notice, the deputy is appointed “in that capacity to perform and exercise all of the powers and functions of the Governor”. The commission is not limited to particular statutory functions — it transfers the full vice-regal authority for the stated window. The notice is signed for the Department of the Premier and Cabinet by its Director General, and carries no separate Executive Council endorsement.

The 20-day window

Start of commission: 12 December 2026.
End of commission: 31 December 2026, both dates inclusive.
Period covered: 20 consecutive days, spanning Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve.
Scope: all powers and functions of the Governor of Western Australia.

A repeated arrangement in 2026

This is the eighth deputy of the Governor notice of the year, and the second time Chief Justice Quinlan has taken the role in 2026. The published sequence shows a pattern of short, dated commissions shared between the Chief Justice and a senior judge of the Supreme Court:

Deputy of the Governor Notice (No. 5) 2026, gazetted 4 September 2026: the Honourable Justice Bruno Fiannaca, 22 to 23 October 2026.
Deputy of the Governor Notice (No. 6) 2026, gazetted 4 September 2026: Chief Justice Peter Damien Quinlan, 25 to 29 October 2026.
Deputy of the Governor Notice (No. 7) 2026, gazetted 30 October 2026: the Honourable Justice Bruno Fiannaca, 11 to 18 November 2026.
Deputy of the Governor Notice (No. 8) 2026, gazetted 13 November 2026: Chief Justice Peter Damien Quinlan, 12 to 31 December 2026.

The December commission is markedly longer than its predecessors this year, which ran between two and nine days.

What the deputy does in practice

Gazetted instruments show the deputy acting with full authority, not as a caretaker. On 27 October 2026 the deputy of the Governor, acting under section 12(a) of the Interpretation Act 1984, committed the administration of the Retail Barring Orders Act 2026 to the Attorney General — one of the days Chief Justice Quinlan held the commission. Earlier, the Acting Attorney General Designation Order (No 3) 2026 was made by the deputy of the Governor in Executive Council, designating Matthew Swinbourn MLC for the purposes of section 154(3) and (4) of the Supreme Court Act 1935 between 4 and 7 November 2026.

A routine notice with real consequences

The practical effect is that executive and formal acts requiring the Governor — assents, Executive Council orders, appointments, designations and proclamations — can continue uninterrupted while Chris Dawson is absent over the holiday period. Because the commission runs to the last day of the year, acts done on 31 December carry the same force as those done in the Governor’s own name. The notice sits in Gazette No. 145 alongside routine departmental material, a reminder that the transfer of the state’s highest ceremonial and legal authority happens by a short, formulaic public instrument.

Source: Western Australian Government Gazette, No. 145, 13 November 2026, Premier and Cabinet, p. 2646 (official reference: PR401).