The Price-Peake Government is the name given to the coalition government in South Australia between 1905 and 1909 when Labor leader Tom Price led the government as Premier of South Australia with the support of the Liberal and Democratic Union (LDU) leader Archibald Peake as Treasurer of South Australia and Attorney-General of South Australia. Despite neither leader having Ministerial experience, the government they led was popular and successful. [1]
After the 1905 election when Labor increased their representation from five to fifteen MPs in the 42-member lower house, Labor leader Thomas Price formed a minority government with the support of eight liberals led by Archibald Peake, forcing conservative Premier Richard Butler to resign, with a policy of development and progress, expansion of business and honest government: "they would not be frightened by the nonsense that had been talked about socialism". Peake sought the alliance stating "the only difference between us is a difference of degree and of speed".
Price retained the premiership at the 1906 double dissolution election with an additional five Labor seats in the House of Assembly, just two short of a parliamentary majority in their own right. Price had obtained the double dissolution on the issue of reform to the Legislative Council. The council still refused to accept reform, and Price controversially accepted their compromise proposal. Price and Peake had enjoyed such good relations that the coalition held together until Price's death in May 1909.
Labor demanded that their new leader John Verran be made Premier. Peake, who had meantime forged a loose alliance between his LDU and the two independent conservative parties, the Australasian National League (formerly National Defence League) and the Farmers and Producers Political Union, refused and was able to form a minority government which lasted for a year.
Labor came to power with the state's first majority government following the 1910 election. Following this, the LDU merged with the two independent conservative parties to form the Liberal Union with Peake as leader. The parties readily approved the merger, however, the LDU which salvaged the fewest of their principles from the merger were more hesitant. Peake persuaded a party conference that 'the day of the middle party is passed', and approved the merger by just one vote. The Liberal Union was affiliated with the federal Commonwealth Liberal Party. Verran's government became unpopular as a result of its inability to deal with a rash of industrial disputes, and Peake came to power following 1912 election.
The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is appointed by the governor of South Australia, and by modern convention holds office by virtue of his or her ability to command the support of a majority of members of the lower house of Parliament, the House of Assembly.
The Protectionist Party or Liberal Protectionist Party was an Australian political party, formally organised from 1887 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. The party advocated protective tariffs, arguing it would allow Australian industry to grow and provide employment. It had its greatest strength in Victoria and in the rural areas of New South Wales. Its most prominent leaders were Sir Edmund Barton and Alfred Deakin, who were the first and second prime ministers of Australia.
The Liberal–National Coalition, commonly known simply as the Coalition or the LNP, is an alliance of centre-right political parties that forms one of the two major groupings in Australian federal politics. The two partners in the Coalition are the Liberal Party of Australia and the National Party of Australia. Its main opponent is the Australian Labor Party (ALP); the two forces are often regarded as operating in a two-party system. The Coalition was last in government from the 2013 federal election until the 2022 Australian federal election. The group is led by Peter Dutton, who succeeded Scott Morrison after the 2022 Australian federal election.
SA Unions is the peak body for trade unions in South Australia. It coordinates political, social, economic, and industrial campaigns between its affiliate members and implements the policies of the Australian Council of Trade Unions in South Australia.
Crawford Vaughan was an Australian politician, and the Premier of South Australia from 1915 to 1917. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1905 to 1918, representing Torrens (1905–1915) and Sturt (1915–1918). Elected for the United Labor Party, he served as Treasurer in the Verran government, succeeded Verran as Labor leader in 1913, and was elected Premier after the Labor victory at the 1915 state election.
Archibald Henry Peake was an Australian politician. He was Premier of South Australia on three occasions: from 1909 to 1910 for the Liberal and Democratic Union, and from 1912 to 1915 and 1917 to 1920 for its successor, the Liberal Union. He had also been Treasurer and Attorney-General in the Price-Peake coalition government from 1905 to 1909.
John Verran was an Australian politician and trade unionist. He served as premier of South Australia from 1910 to 1912, the second member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to hold the position.
Thomas Price, commonly referred to as Tom Price, served as the South Australian United Labor Party's first Premier of South Australia. He formed a minority government at the 1905 election and was re-elected with increased representation at the 1906 election, serving in the premiership until his death in 1909. It was the world's first stable Labor government. Shortly afterwards, John Verran led Labor to form the state's first of many majority governments at the 1910 election.
The Liberal and Democratic Union (LDU) was a South Australian political party formed by early liberals, as opposed to the conservatives. It was formed in 1906 when liberal party structures were becoming more solid. Its leader, Archibald Peake, stressed that the LDU represented 'something not so sharply set as Labourism, not so dull in its edge as conservatism'. But with Labor taking over the middle ground, Kingstonian liberals like Peake had to choose.
The Liberal Union was a political party in South Australia resulting from a merger between the Liberal and Democratic Union (LDU) and the two independent conservative parties, the Australasian National League and the Farmers and Producers Political Union (FPPU) as a response to Labor successes culminating in South Australia's first majority government at the 1910 election.
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.
Elections were held in the colony of South Australia from 15 April to 6 May 1893. All 54 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election.
State elections were held in South Australia on 27 May 1905. All 42 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent conservative government led by Premier of South Australia Richard Butler in an informal coalition with the liberals was defeated by the United Labor Party (ULP) led by Leader of the Opposition Thomas Price. Each of the 13 districts elected multiple members, with voters casting multiple votes.
State elections were held in South Australia on 3 November 1906, apart from the Northern Territory, which voted on 10 November. This was a double dissolution election, and in the South Australian House of Assembly, all 42 seats were up for election. The incumbent United Labor Party (ULP) government led by Premier of South Australia Thomas Price with coalition partner the Liberal and Democratic Union (LDU) led by Archibald Peake, defeated the conservative opposition led by Leader of the Opposition Richard Butler. Each of the 13 districts elected multiple members, with voters casting multiple votes.
State elections were held in South Australia on 2 April 1910. All 42 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent Liberal and Democratic Union (LDU) government led by Premier of South Australia Archibald Peake was defeated by the United Labor Party (ULP) led by John Verran. Each of the 13 districts elected multiple members, with voters casting multiple votes. The Peake LDU minority government had replaced the Price ULP/LDU coalition government in June 1909. The 1910 election was the first to result in a South Australian majority government. This came two weeks after the election of a first majority in either house in the Parliament of Australia at the 1910 federal election, also for Labor. Though a South Australian majority was won, the ULP did not take office until after the new lower house first met.
State elections were held in South Australia on 10 February 1912. All 40 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent United Labor Party government led by Premier of South Australia John Verran was defeated by the opposition Liberal Union led by Leader of the Opposition Archibald Peake. Each of the 13 districts elected multiple members, with voters casting multiple votes.
State elections were held in South Australia on 6 April 1918. All 46 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Union government led by Premier of South Australia Archibald Peake defeated the opposition Australian Labor Party led by Leader of the Opposition Andrew Kirkpatrick. Each district elected multiple members, with voters casting multiple votes.
The history of the Australian Labor Party has its origins in the Labour parties founded in the 1890s in the Australian colonies prior to federation. Labor tradition ascribes the founding of Queensland Labour to a meeting of striking pastoral workers under a ghost gum tree in Barcaldine, Queensland in 1891. The Balmain, New South Wales branch of the party claims to be the oldest in Australia. Labour as a parliamentary party dates from 1891 in New South Wales and South Australia, 1893 in Queensland, and later in the other colonies.
This is a list of members of the South Australian Legislative Council from 1910 to 1912
The Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch), commonly known as South Australian Labor, is the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, originally formed in 1891 as the United Labor Party of South Australia. It is one of two major parties in the bicameral Parliament of South Australia, the other being the Liberal Party of Australia (SA Division).