1959 South Australian state election

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1959 South Australian state election
Flag of South Australia.svg
  1956 7 March 1959 (1959-03-07) 1962  

All 39 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly
20 seats were needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
  ThomasPlayford1963crop.jpg Senator Mick O'Halloran.jpg
Leader Thomas Playford Mick O'Halloran
Party Liberal and Country League Labor
Leader since5 November 193810 October 1949
Leader's seat Gumeracha Frome
Last election21 seats15 seats
Seats won20 seats17 seats
Seat changeDecrease2.svg1Increase2.svg2
Percentage50.3%49.7%
SwingDecrease2.svg1.0Increase2.svg1.0

Playmander Map.svg
A map of South Australian electorates from 1955 to 1969, during the height of the Playmander.

Premier before election

Thomas Playford
Liberal and Country League

Elected Premier

Thomas Playford
Liberal and Country League

State elections were held in South Australia on 7 March 1959. All 39 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent Liberal and Country League led by Premier of South Australia Thomas Playford IV defeated the Australian Labor Party led by Leader of the Opposition Mick O'Halloran. [1] [2]

Contents

Background

Labor won two seats at this election, rural Mount Gambier from an Independent and rural Wallaroo from the LCL. Both of these seats had been previously won in by-elections in 1957 and 1958, and Labor retained them. [1] [2]

Results

Arrangement of the House of Assembly after the 1959 state election. South Australia House of Assembly 1959.svg
Arrangement of the House of Assembly after the 1959 state election.

South Australian state election, 7 March 1959 [3]
House of Assembly
<< 19561962 >>

Enrolled voters497,456
Votes cast400,531 Turnout 93.95%+0.05%
Informal votes11,593Informal2.89%+0.50%
Summary of votes by party
PartyPrimary votes %SwingSeatsChange
  Labor 191,93349.35%+1.98%17+ 2
  Liberal and Country 143,71036.95%+0.26%20– 1
  Democratic Labor 21,9845.65%–1.79%0± 0
  Communist 5,5051.42%+0.26%0± 0
  Independent 25,8066.63%–0.71%2– 1
Total388,938  39 
Two-party-preferred
  Liberal and Country 50.30%–1.00%
  Labor 49.70%+1.00%

Post-election pendulum

LCL seats (20)
Marginal
Fairly safe
Unley Colin Dunnage LCL7.0%
Chaffey Harold King LCL8.2%
Torrens John Coumbe LCL9.6%
Safe
Flinders Glen Pearson LCL10.1%
Victoria Leslie Harding LCL11.4%
Glenelg Baden Pattinson LCL12.4%
Onkaparinga Howard Shannon LCL13.3%
Angas Berthold Teusner LCL14.7%
Mitcham Robin Millhouse LCL20.2%
Light George Hambour LCL21.8%
Gumeracha Thomas Playford LCL26.4%
Burnside Joyce Steele LCLundistributed
Gouger Steele Hall LCLundistributed
Albert Bill Nankivell LCLunopposed
Alexandra David Brookman LCLunopposed
Barossa Condor Laucke LCLunopposed
Eyre George Bockelberg LCLunopposed
Rocky River James Heaslip LCLunopposed
Stirling William Jenkins LCLunopposed
Yorke Peninsula Cecil Hincks LCLunopposed
Labor seats (17)
Marginal
West Torrens Fred Walsh ALP1.4%
Frome Mick O'Halloran ALP2.5%
Millicent Jim Corcoran ALP4.5%
Norwood Don Dunstan ALP5.0%
Fairly safe
Edwardstown Frank Walsh ALP7.8%
Mount Gambier Ron Ralston ALP8.3%
Wallaroo Lloyd Hughes ALP8.9%
Safe
Murray Gabe Bywaters ALP15.1%
Gawler John Clark ALP17.7%
Adelaide Sam Lawn ALP30.1% v DLP
Port Adelaide John Ryan ALP34.9% v DLP
Whyalla Ron Loveday ALP34.9% v IND
Stuart Lindsay Riches ALP38.4% v IND
Semaphore Harold Tapping ALP42.2% v COM
Enfield Joe Jennings ALPundistributed
Port Pirie Dave McKee ALPundistributed
Hindmarsh Cyril Hutchens ALPunopposed
Crossbench seats (2)
Burra Percy Quirke IND2.1% v LCL
Ridley Tom Stott IND6.7% v LCL

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Jaensch, Dean (March 2007). "The 1959 General Election - Formed the 36th Parliament". History of South Australian elections 1857-2006: House of Assembly, Volume 1. State Electoral Office South Australia. pp. 277–280. ISBN   9780975048634. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2015 via Electoral Commission of South Australia.
  2. 1 2 Tilby Stock, Jenny (1996). "The 'Playmander', Its origins, operation and effect on South Australia". In O'Neil, Bernard; Raftery, Judith; Round, Kerrie (eds.). Playford's South Australia: essays on the history of South Australia, 1933-1968. Association of Professional Historians. pp. 73–90. ISBN   9780646290928 via Professional Historians Association (South Australia).
  3. "Summary of 1959 Election". University of Western Australia. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  4. Two-party preferred figures since 1950, ABC News Online

Further reading