1872–1873 Waterhouse Ministry

The Waterhouse Ministry was a responsible government which held power in New Zealand from October 1872 to March 1873, led by the Hon.[2] George Waterhouse had previously been Premier of South Australia, and had represented the Fox-Vogel Ministry in the upper house of the New Zealand General Assembly for three weeks in 1871.Julius Vogel won a vote of no confidence against Premier Edward Stafford in October 1872 but the Governor did not call him to form a new government,[3] instead asking William Fox, who in turn advised him to send for Waterhouse due to his status as an ex-Premier and current pastoralist.[4] Waterhouse saw himself as a politically neutral arbiter figure and did not take either a portfolio or a salary, in practice leaving the leadership of the government to Vogel.[8] John Hall, who was also intending to resign from Cabinet for health reasons, prevailed upon Waterhouse to remain in office to keep the Ministry going.