1953 South Australian state election

Last updated

1953 South Australian state election
Flag of South Australia.svg
  1950 7 March 1953 (1953-03-07) 1956  

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 election23 seats12 seats
Seats won21 seats14 seats
Seat changeDecrease2.svg2Increase2.svg2
Percentage47.0%53.0%
SwingDecrease2.svg4.3Increase2.svg4.3

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 1953. 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 three seats, metropolitan Norwood and Prospect and rural Victoria from the LCL. [3] The LCL won one seat, rural Murray from Labor. [4] Neither major party contested the independent-held seat of Ridley. [1] [2]

The Labor opposition won 53 percent of the statewide two-party vote, but the LCL retained government with the assistance of the Playmander − an electoral malapportionment that also saw a clear majority of the statewide two-party vote won by Labor while failing to form government in 1944, 1962 and 1968. [1] [2]

Results

South Australian state election, 7 March 1953 [5]
House of Assembly
<< 19501956 >>

Enrolled voters354,273
Votes cast336,592 Turnout 95.01%+1.86%
Informal votes9,871Informal2.93%–0.40%
Summary of votes by party
PartyPrimary votes %SwingSeatsChange
  Labor 166,51750.97%+2.88%14+ 2
  Liberal and Country 119,10636.45%–4.05%21– 2
  Communist 4,8271.48%+0.14%0± 0
  Independent 36,27111.10%+1.03%4± 0
Total326,721  39 
Two-party-preferred
  Liberal and Country 47.00%–4.30%
  Labor 53.00%+4.30%

Post-election pendulum

LCL seats (21)
Marginal
Unley Colin Dunnage LCL0.3%
Murray Hector White LCL0.5%
Glenelg Baden Pattinson LCL0.7%
Torrens John Travers LCL1.3%
Fairly safe
Gouger Rufus Goldney LCL6.1%
Onkaparinga Howard Shannon LCL7.0%
Flinders Glen Pearson LCL8.4%
Burra George Hawker LCL9.4%
Light Herbert Michael LCL9.5%
Safe
Newcastle George Jenkins LCL13.7%
Burnside Geoffrey Clarke LCL16.1%
Eyre Arthur Christian LCL17.8% v IND
Angas Berthold Teusner LCL18.1% v IND
Gumeracha Thomas Playford LCL40.4% v COM
Albert Malcolm McIntosh LCLundistributed
Stirling William Jenkins LCLundistributed
Alexandra David Brookman LCLunopposed
Mitcham Henry Dunks LCLunopposed
Rocky River James Heaslip LCLunopposed
Yorke Peninsula Cecil Hincks LCLunopposed
Young Robert Nicholls LCLunopposed
Labor seats (15)
Marginal
Victoria Jim Corcoran ALP0.8%
Prospect Joe Jennings ALP3.4%
Fairly safe
Norwood Don Dunstan ALP6.3%
Safe
Stanley Percy Quirke ALP11.9%
Goodwood Frank Walsh ALP13.1%
Gawler John Clark ALP27.1% v IND
Semaphore Harold Tapping ALP37.6% v IND
Adelaide Sam Lawn ALP39.5% v COM
Stuart Lindsay Riches ALP39.8% v COM
Port Adelaide James Stephens ALP41.9% v COM
Port Pirie Charles Davis ALPundistributed
Frome Mick O'Halloran ALPunopposed
Hindmarsh Cyril Hutchens ALPunopposed
Thebarton Fred Walsh ALPunopposed
Wallaroo Hughie McAlees ALPunopposed
Crossbench seats (3)
Mount Gambier John Fletcher IND4.3% v ALP
Chaffey William MacGillivray IND19.1% v LCL
Ridley Tom Stott IND27.8% v IND

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Jaensch, Dean (March 2007). "The 1953 General Election - Formed the 34th Parliament". History of South Australian elections 1857-2006: House of Assembly, Volume 1. State Electoral Office South Australia. pp. 270–273. ISBN   9780975048634. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2015 via Electoral Commission of South Australia.
  2. 1 2 3 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. "Fate of Govern. in Doubt in Swing to Labor: LCL Appears Certain to Lose at least Three Seats". The Mail . 7 March 1953. Retrieved 13 January 2016 via Trove.
  4. "Absolute Majority for Government: L.C.L. Candidate Wins Murray Seat". The Advertiser . 14 March 1953. Retrieved 13 January 2016 via Trove.
  5. "Summary of 1953 Election". University of Western Australia. Retrieved 7 July 2015.

Related Research Articles

Steele Hall Australian politician

Raymond Steele Hall is a former Australian politician who served as the 36th Premier of South Australia from 1968 to 1970. He also served in the federal Parliament as a senator for South Australia from 1974 to 1977 and federal member for the Division of Boothby from 1981 to 1996.

Frank Walsh Australian politician

Francis Henry Walsh was the 34th Premier of South Australia from 10 March 1965 to 1 June 1967, representing the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party.

Mick OHalloran Australian politician

Michael Raphael O'Halloran was an Australian politician, representing the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party. He served as Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of South Australia and also in the Australian Senate.

Electoral district of Frome

Frome is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. It is named after Edward Charles Frome, the third surveyor-general of South Australia. The electorate stretches north-eastwards from the Gawler River and Gulf St Vincent in the south, and includes many of the agricultural areas of the Clare and Gilbert Valleys. It covers a total of 12,921 km2 (4,989 sq mi) and takes in the towns of Auburn, Clare, Mintaro, Port Broughton, Saddleworth, Snowtown and Riverton. Prior to the 2020 redistribution, its main population centre was Port Pirie, since transferred to the Stuart.

Electoral district of Chaffey State electoral district of South Australia

Chaffey, created in 1936, is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. It covers the Riverland region of South Australia including the towns of Renmark, Berri, Barmera, Loxton and Waikerie. The seat is named after brothers George and William Chaffey who established the irrigation area along the Murray River from 1886.

The Playmander was a gerrymandering system, a pro-rural electoral malapportionment in the Australian state of South Australia, which was introduced by the incumbent Liberal and Country League (LCL) government in 1936, and remained in place for 32 years until 1968.

1975 South Australian state election

State elections were held in South Australia on 12 July 1975. All 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Premier of South Australia Don Dunstan won a third term in government, defeating the Liberal Party of Australia led by Leader of the Opposition Bruce Eastick.

1970 South Australian state election

State elections were held in South Australia on 30 May 1970. All 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent Liberal and Country League led by Premier of South Australia Steele Hall was defeated by the Australian Labor Party led by Leader of the Opposition Don Dunstan.

1968 South Australian state election

The 1968South AustralianState election was held in South Australia on 2 March 1968. All 39 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election; 38 of the 39 contests were won by candidates from Australia's two major political parties. The incumbent Australian Labor Party and the Liberal and Country League both won 19 seats. The sole independent candidate to win a race, Tom Stott of the Ridley electorate, joined with the LCL's 19 seats to form a coalition government that held a 20 to 19 majority, thus defeating the Dunstan Labor government.

1965 South Australian state election

State elections were held in South Australia on 6 March 1965. 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, in power since 1938, was defeated by the Australian Labor Party led by Leader of the Opposition Frank Walsh.

1962 South Australian state election

State elections were held in South Australia on 3 March 1962. 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 Frank Walsh.

1959 South Australian state election

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.

1956 South Australian state election

State elections were held in South Australia on 3 March 1956. 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.

1950 South Australian state election

State elections were held in South Australia on 4 March 1950. 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.

1941 South Australian state election

State elections were held in South Australia on 29 March 1941. All 39 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent Liberal and Country League government led by Premier of South Australia Thomas Playford IV defeated the opposition Australian Labor Party led by Leader of the Opposition Robert Richards.

1944 South Australian state election

State elections were held in South Australia on 29 April 1944. All 39 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent Liberal and Country League government led by Premier of South Australia Thomas Playford IV defeated the opposition Australian Labor Party led by Leader of the Opposition Robert Richards.

1947 South Australian state election

State elections were held in South Australia on 8 March 1947. All 39 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent Liberal and Country League government led by Premier of South Australia Thomas Playford IV defeated the opposition Australian Labor Party led by Leader of the Opposition Robert Richards.

2014 South Australian state election

The 2014 South Australian state election elected members to the 53rd Parliament of South Australia on 15 March 2014, to fill all 47 seats in the House of Assembly and 11 of 22 seats in the Legislative Council. The 12-year-incumbent Australian Labor Party (SA) government, led by Premier Jay Weatherill, won its fourth consecutive four-year term in government, a record 16 years of Labor government, defeating the opposition Liberal Party of Australia (SA), led by Opposition Leader Steven Marshall.

Murray is a defunct electoral district that elected members to the House of Assembly, the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. The electorate, incorporating part of the River Murray, was rural in nature, with Mannum the only large town within its boundaries. From its establishment to the 1938 state election, Murray was a three-member electorate, but was made a single-member electorate afterwards, as part of a system of electoral malapportionment known as the "Playmander". In both incarnations it elected candidates from both major parties as marginal and safe seat holders at various times. If just 21 LCL votes were Labor votes in Murray at the 1968 election, Labor would have formed majority government. Murray was one of two gains in 1968 that put the LCL in office. The electorate was abolished prior to the 1985 election, with its territory now forming part of the districts of Hammond, Kavel, and Schubert. In total, 24 people represented Murray between 1902 and 1985, with its most notable member being Thomas Playford IV, who later served as Premier of South Australia.

Liberal Party of Australia (South Australian Division) Political party in Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia , commonly known as the South Australian Liberals, is the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia. It was formed as the Liberal and Country League (LCL) in 1932 and became the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party when the Liberal Party was formed in 1945. It retained its Liberal and Country League name before changing to its current name in 1974. It is one of two major parties in the bicameral Parliament of South Australia, the other being the Australian Labor Party. The party has been led by Leader of the Opposition David Speirs since the 2022 state election after a one-term government.