1975 South Australian state election

none February 2020 July 2011 1975 South Australian state election South Australia parliamentary no 1973 South Australian state election 1973 1977 South Australian state election 1977 All 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly 24 seats were needed for a majority 11 (of the 21) seats of the South Australian Legislative Council 12 July 1975 175x175px Don Dunstan 1 June 1967 Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch) Norwood 26 seats 23 seats 3 46.32% 5.20 175x175px Bruce Eastick 15 March 1972 Liberal Party of Australia (South Australian Division) Light 20 seats 20 seats 0 31.53% 8.26 Liberal Movement LM Robin Millhouse 2 April 1973 Liberal Movement (Australia) Mitcham Did not exist 2 seats 2 18.27% New party Premier Resulting Premier Don Dunstan Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch) Don Dunstan Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch) TPP 49.20% 50.80% TPP swing 5.30 5.30 721,770 (93.56%)( 0.64 pp) 771,414 321,481 Primary 218,820 126,820 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. It was the first time that a Labor government in South Australia had been re-elected for a third term, and would be the first seven-year-incumbent Labor government. The election was also the first in South Australia where both major parties contested all lower house seats. The election saw a drop in major party primary votes. This was due to the emergence of the socially progressive Liberal Movement (LM) led by Robin Millhouse, which achieved 18.3 percent of the primary vote and 2 seats. The election of half of the South Australian Legislative Council was conducted using list proportional representation. Labor won 6 seats, the Liberal Party won 3, and the Liberal Movement won 2. Background Emergence of Liberal Movement The Liberal Movement broke away from the Liberal and Country League (LCL), which disbanded in 1973. The LCL was the predecessor to the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia. Stemming from discontent within the ranks of the LCL, the Liberal Movement was formed by former premier Steele Hall as an internal group in 1972 in response to a lack of social and acceptance of electoral reform within the LCL. A year later, when tensions heightened between the LCL's conservative wing and the LM, the LM was established as a party on its own as a progressive liberal party. When still part of the league, it had eleven representatives; on its own, it initially had three. The 1975 election was fought with the Liberal Party, the Liberal Movement, and the Country Party all competing for votes against Labor, in the background of the Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam scandals, with this election taking place six months before the governor general dismissed the Whitlam government resulting in his defeat at the December 1975 federal election. Upper house reforms Historically, the Legislative Council (the upper house) had been dominated by an LCL majority for decades due to the Playmander electoral malapportionment as well as the limit on upper house voting rights to the wealthier classes with suffrage dependent on certain property and wage requirements. However they were highly independent and often obstructive to both major parties. Originally the Legislative Council had fixed staggered terms and elections were held separately from lower house elections, which would later be changed by the introduction of joint elections in the 1980s. The 1975 election saw the introduction of universal suffrage for the Legislative Council and the introduction of a statewide single electorate which filled the seats using a new electoral system - a form of list proportional representation (modified largest remainder system based on the Droop quota).Farrell and McAllister, The Australian Electoral System, p. 50 The number elected at each election was increased from 10 to 11, meaning the house increased from 20 to 21 members, and would become a 22-member house from 1979 onwards. Results The Liberals received a 50.8 percent two-party vote to Labor on 49.2 percent. The Liberals, Liberal Movement, and Country Party held a combined 23 seats, as did Labor. The balance of power was held by independent MP Ted Connelly, the mayor of Port Pirie. Connelly sided with Dunstan and accepted his offer of Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly. The LM won two seats (both sitting members: Robin Millhouse and David Boundy). When the LM joined the Liberal Party in 1976, Boundy joined the Liberals while Millhouse created the New LM; after which the numbers were Labor 23, Liberal 21, Country Party 1, New LM 1, and 1 independent supporting Labor (Connelly). The 1975 election saw permanent large two-party swings away from Labor in a few rural seats − 13.5 percent in Chaffey, 15.5 percent in Mount Gambier and 16.4 percent in Millicent. In the election of half of the Legislative Council, Labor won 6 seats, the Liberal Party won 3, and the Liberal Movement won 2; giving total numbers of Labor 10, Liberal 9, and Liberal Movement 2; giving the Liberal Movement the balance of power. The Liberal Movement members rejoined the Liberal Party in 1976, giving the Liberals a majority in the upper house. Aftermath Following the close result of the election where Labor formed minority government, initial one vote one value electoral reform was enacted by Dunstan which would later be amended by future Labor premier John Bannon, after winning the 1989 election on 48.1 percent of the two-party vote. However, these winning minorities were closer than those of the Playmander period and did not occur as a result of malapportionment or weighting. Indeed, some metropolitan seats saw more than three times the number of voters than in some rural seats, something that would be rectified by the one vote one value electoral reform. It became the first and only state from 1989 to legislate the Electoral Commission of South Australia should redraw boundaries after each election with the objective that the party which receives over 50 percent of the statewide two-party vote at the forthcoming election should win the two-party vote in a majority of seats. One element of the Playmander still exists to this day − the change from multi-member to single-member seats. Key dates Issue of writ: 24 June 1975 Close of nominations: 2 July 1975 Polling day: 12 July 1975 Return of writ: On or before 12 August 1975 Results House of Assembly thumb|400px|right|Arrangement of the House of Assembly after the 1975 state election. South Australian state election, 12 July 1975Details of SA 1975 Election http://elections.uwa.edu.au/elecdetail.lasso?keyvalue=835 Australian Politics and Elections Database House of Assembly South Australian state election 1973 1977 771,414 721,770 93.56% −0.64% 27,785 3.85% −0.23% yes Labor SA 321,481 46.32% −5.20% 23 −3 Liberal SA 218,820 31.53% −8.26% 20 ±0 Liberal Movement 126,820 18.27% * 2 +2 Nationals SA National Country 19,208 2.77% −1.18% 1 ±0 Independent 6,281 0.91% −3.41% 1 +1 Other 1,375 0.20% * 0 ±0 693,985 47 Labor SA 49.20% −5.30% Liberal SA 50.80% +5.30% |} Legislative Council thumb|400px|right|Arrangement of the Legislative Council after the 1975 state election. South Australian state election, 12 July, 1975History of South Australian elections 1857-2006, volume 2 Legislative Council http://www.ecsa.sa.gov.au/publications?view=document&id=483 ECSA 22 May 2016 8 March 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160308203512/http://www.ecsa.sa.gov.au/publications?view=document&id=483 dead Legislative Council South Australian state election 1973 1979 yes 771,414 719,753 93.3 –0.6 32,690 4.5 –4.8 Labor SA 324,744 47.3 –5.3 6 10 Liberal SA 191,341 27.8 –18.4 3 9 Liberal Movement 129,110 18.8 +18.8 2 2 Nationals SA National Country 14,640 2.1 +2.1 0 0 Family Movement 9,966 1.5 +1.5 0 0 Free Enterprise Group 8,141 1.2 +1.2 0 0 Socialist 4,273 0.6 +0.6 0 0 Australia 3,822 0.6 –0.2 0 0 Other 1,026 0.1 * 0 0 687,063 11 21 |} Post-election pendulum Government seats (24)Marginal GillesJack SlaterALP2.8% BrightonHugh HudsonALP3.8% Henley BeachGlen BroomhillALP4.0% ColesDes CorcoranALP4.2% UnleyGil LangleyALP5.0% MawsonDon HopgoodALP5.6% v LMFairly safe MitchellRon PayneALP6.3% PeakeDon SimmonsALP6.3% NorwoodDon DunstanALP6.9% Tea Tree GullyMolly ByrneALP7.3% Ascot ParkGeoff VirgoALP9.9%Safe AdelaideJack WrightALP12.2% PlayfordTerry McRaeALP12.3% v LM PriceGeorge WhittenALP12.3% FloreyCharles WellsALP13.3% Albert ParkCharles HarrisonALP13.4% PirieTed ConnellyIND13.9% v ALP SalisburyReg GrothALP13.9% Ross SmithJack JenningsALP16.6% WhyallaMax BrownALP18.3% ElizabethPeter DuncanALP19.6% StuartGavin KeneallyALP19.9% SemaphoreJack OlsonALP21.3%SpenceRoy AbbottALP22.3% Opposition seats (23)MarginalMount GambierHarold AllisonLIB1.5%HansonHeini BeckerLIB5.7%Fairly safeTorrensJohn CoumbeLIB6.1%GlenelgJohn MathwinLIB7.9%MillicentMurray VandepeerLIB9.9%SafeRocky RiverHoward VenningLIB10.9% v NATMurrayIvon WardleLIB12.0% LightBruce EastickLIB12.9% GoyderDavid BoundyLM13.6% v LIBFromeErnest AllenLIB14.6% HeysenDavid WottonLIB14.8% v LM FisherStan EvansLIB16.4%GougerKeith RussackLIB16.4%ChaffeyPeter ArnoldLIB17.1%MitchamRobin MillhouseLM17.8% v ALPBraggDavid TonkinLIB20.1%FlindersPeter BlackerNCP21.7% v ALPDavenportDean BrownLIB22.3%AlexandraTed ChapmanLIB26.8%KavelRoger GoldsworthyLIB28.7%EyreGraham GunnLIB29.3%VictoriaAllan RoddaLIB29.4%MalleeBill NankivellLIB31.5% See also Results of the South Australian state election, 1975 (House of Assembly) Results of the 1975 South Australian state election (Legislative Council) Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1975-1977 Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1975-1979 References History of South Australian elections 1857-2006, volume 1: ECSA Historical lower house results Historical upper house results State and federal election results https://web.archive.org/web/20150118085343/http://elections.uwa.edu.au/ 18 January 2015 in Australia since 1890 Specific Category:Elections in South Australia Category:1975 elections in Australia Category:1970s in South Australia Category:July 1975 in Australia