Leader of the Opposition (South Australia)

Last updated

Leader of the Opposition
Speirs.jpg
Incumbent
David Speirs
since 19 April 2022
Term length While leader of the largest political party not in government
Inaugural holder John Colton
Formation1884

The Leader of the Opposition in South Australia is the leader of the largest minority political party or coalition of parties, known as the Opposition, in the House of Assembly of the Parliament of South Australia. By convention, the leader of the opposition is a member of the House of Assembly. The leader acts as the public face of the opposition, and acts as a chief critic of the government and ultimately attempt to portray the opposition as a feasible alternate government. They are also given certain additional rights under parliamentary standing orders, such as extended time limits for speeches. Should the opposition win an election, the Leader of the Opposition will be nominated to become the Premier of South Australia.

Contents

Before the 1890s when there was no formal party system in South Australia, MPs tended to have historical liberal or conservative beliefs. The liberals dominated government from the 1893 election to 1905 election with Labor support, with the conservatives mostly in opposition. Labor took government with the support of eight dissident liberals in 1905 when Labor won the most seats for the first time. The rise of Labor saw non-Labor politics start to merge into various party incarnations. The two independent conservative parties, the Australasian National League (formerly National Defence League) and the Farmers and Producers Political Union merged with the Liberal and Democratic Union to become the Liberal Union in 1910. Labor formed South Australia's first majority government after winning the 1910 state election, triggering the merger. The 1910 election came two weeks after federal Labor formed Australia's first elected majority government at the 1910 federal election.

In an historical record, Steven Marshall was the fifth consecutive Liberal opposition leader during their 2002 to 2018 opposition period. In comparison, every former Labor opposition leader for over half a century would also proceed to serve as Premier.

List of leaders of the opposition in South Australia

The following is a list of leaders of the opposition in South Australia, from 1884 to present. According to the official parliament record, prior to the year 1884 "no definite evidence of the official holder of the office could be found".

NoLeaderPartyTook OfficeLeft Office
1 John Colton 18841884
2 John Cox Bray 18841884
3 John Downer 18851885
4 Jenkin Coles 18861886
5 Thomas Playford II 18871887
-John Downer (2nd time)18871889
6 John Cockburn 188927 June 1889
-Thomas Playford II (2nd time)18899 April 1890
7 Frederick Holder liberalism 189012 June 1892
-John Downer (3rd time) conservatism 1892 [1] 1895
8 William Copley conservatismMay 1896 [2] May 1897
-John Downer (4th time)conservatismMay 1897 [3] 27 June 1899 [4]
9 Vaiben Louis Solomon conservatism27 June 19891 December 1899
-Frederick Holder (2nd time)liberalism1 December 18998 December 1899
-Vaiben Louis Solomon (2nd time)conservatism8 December 1899May 1901 [5]
10 Robert Homburg conservatismMay 19013 May 1902
11 John Darling Jr. conservatism3 May 190215 July 1904
12 Thomas Price United Labor 15 July 190426 July 1905
13 Richard Butler conservatism26 July 19055 June 1909
14 John Verran United Labor5 June 19093 June 1910
15 Archibald Peake Liberal Union 3 June 191017 February 1912
-John Verran (2nd time)United Labor17 February 191226 July 1913
16 Crawford Vaughan United Labor26 July 19133 April 1915
-Archibald Peake (2nd time)Liberal Union3 April 191514 July 1917
-Crawford Vaughan (2nd time) National Labor 14 July 19171917
17 Andrew Kirkpatrick Labor (SA) 191715 February 1918 [6]
18 John Gunn Labor18 April 1918 [7] 16 April 1924
19 Henry Barwell Liberal Union16 April 192417 December 1925
20 Richard L. Butler Liberal Federation 17 December 19258 April 1927
21 Lionel Hill Labor8 April 192717 April 1930
-Richard L. Butler (2nd time)Liberal Federation/LCL 17 April 193018 April 1933
22 Andrew Lacey Labor22 April 19331 April 1938
23 Robert Richards Labor1 April 193827 October 1949
24 Mick O'Halloran Labor27 October 194922 September 1960
25 Frank Walsh Labor5 October 196010 March 1965
26Sir Thomas Playford IV LCL10 March 196513 July 1966
27 Steele Hall LCL13 July 196616 April 1968
28 Don Dunstan Labor16 April 19682 June 1970
-Steele HallLCL2 June 197015 March 1972
29 Bruce Eastick LCL/Liberal (SA) 16 March 197224 July 1975
30 David Tonkin Liberal24 July 197518 September 1979
31 Des Corcoran Labor18 September 19792 October 1979
32 John Bannon Labor2 October 197910 November 1982
33 John Olsen Liberal10 November 198212 January 1990
34 Dale Baker Liberal12 January 199011 May 1992
35 Dean Brown Liberal11 May 199214 December 1993
36 Lynn Arnold Labor14 December 199320 September 1994
37 Mike Rann Labor20 September 19945 March 2002
38 Rob Kerin Liberal5 March 200230 March 2006
39 Iain Evans Liberal30 March 200612 April 2007
40 Martin Hamilton-Smith Liberal12 April 20078 July 2009
41 Isobel Redmond Liberal8 July 200931 January 2013
42 Steven Marshall Liberal4 February 201319 March 2018
43 Peter Malinauskas Labor9 April 201821 March 2022
-Steven Marshall (caretaker) [8] Liberal21 March 202219 April 2022
44 David Speirs Liberal19 April 2022

See also

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References

  1. "THE PARLIAMENT". South Australian Register. 13 October 1892. p. 1.
  2. "THE WEEK". Chronicle. 30 May 1896. p. 9.
  3. "THE ELECTIONS". Southern Cross. 28 May 1897. p. 6.
  4. "PARLIAMENT BEGINS". Southern Cross. 30 June 1899. p. 9.
  5. The Evening Journal (4 May 1901). "OUR ILLUSTRATIONS". The Evening Journal.
  6. "MR. KIRKPATRICK RESIGNS". The Mail. 15 February 1918.
  7. "JOHN GUNN, DRIVER". The Mail. 18 May 1918.
  8. Parliament of South Australia (2024). "Member Profile: Hon Steven Marshall". Parliament of South Australia. Retrieved 6 February 2024.