1970 South Australian state election

none April 2022 1970 South Australian state election South Australia parliamentary no 1968 South Australian state election 1968 1973 South Australian state election 1973 All 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly 24 seats were needed for a majority yes 1970 05 30 150x150px Don Dunstan 1 June 1967 Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch) Norwood 53.3% 0.1 19 seats 27 seats 8 150x150px Steele Hall 13 July 1966 Liberal and Country League Gouger 46.7% 0.1 20 seats 20 seats 0 Premier Steele Hall Liberal and Country League Don Dunstan Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch) 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. Background The LCL had formed the government of South Australia for 35 of the previous 38 years due to a malapportionment favouring country areas over the Adelaide area. Deliberately inequitable electoral boundaries resulted in a country vote being worth twice a vote in Adelaide, even though Adelaide accounted for two-thirds of the state's population. This system, popularly known as the "Playmander", allowed Thomas Playford to remain Premier of South Australia for 26 years. In the latter part of Playford's tenure, the LCL could only hope to win a few seats in Adelaide. However, the LCL's grip on the country areas was such that it was able to retain power when it lost by substantial margins in terms of raw votes. thumb|left|100px|A map of South Australian electorates from 1955 to 1969, during the height of the Playmander. Labor finally overcame the Playmander at the 1965 election under Frank Walsh, but the malapportionment was strong enough that Labor only won 21 seats—just enough for a majority—despite taking 54.3 percent of the two-party vote. At the 1968 election, Labor, now led by Don Dunstan won 53.2 percent of the two-party vote. However, Labor lost two seats to the LCL under Playford's successor, Hall. With the LCL one seat short of a majority, the balance of power rested with long-serving independent Tom Stott, a good friend of former Premier Playford and no friend of Labor. As expected, Stott announced his support for the LCL, thus making Hall the new Premier. If just 21 LCL votes were Labor votes in the seat of Murray, Labor would have formed majority government. Hall was embarrassed that his party was in a position to win power despite finishing seven points behind Labor on the two-party vote. Concerned by the level of publicity and public protest about the issue, Hall was committed to the principle of a fairer electoral system. He enacted a system that expanded the House of Assembly to 47 seats—28 of which were located in Adelaide, an increase of 15 metropolitan seats, more than double. The reforms fell short of "one vote one value," as Labor had demanded, since country areas were still somewhat over-represented, with the most populous metropolitan seats still containing double the number of voters than the least populous rural seats. However, while there was still rural overweighting, Adelaide now elected a majority of the legislature, making it a near-certainty that Labor would win the next election. Conventional wisdom was that Hall was effectively handing the premiership to Dunstan at the next election. A 1968 Millicent by-election was triggered by the Court of Disputed Returns where Labor had won the seat by a single vote at the 1968 election. Labor increased their margin. Notably, turnout increased at the by-election. In early 1970, Hall and Stott fell out over the location of a dam. Stott wanted the dam built in his electorate while Hall thought it more use to locate it elsewhere. Constituent anger forced Stott to vote against the Hall government, leading to an early election and the expected loss to Labor. Stott did not contest the 1970 election. Hall remained Leader of the Opposition for two years before resigning from the LCL, claiming that the Party had 'lost its idealism [and] forgotten...its purpose for existence'. He founded the Liberal Movement, a progressive Liberal party that included about 200 former LCL members. Hall won a Federal Senate seat for the Liberal Movement in 1974 (and was re-elected in 1975), serving in the Senate for three years before resigning his position. His replacement as the Liberal Movement Senator for South Australia was Janine Haines, who would subsequently become the initial Australian Democrats Senator. A 1971 Adelaide by-election was triggered as a result of the death of the incumbent MP. Labor easily retained the seat. Key dates Date Event 2 April 1970 Premier Steele Hall declared his government would resign unless Parliament passed legislation ratifying the building of the Dartmouth Dam in Victoria.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110318896 Speaker's vote defeats SA Government The Canberra Times Canberra 1 May 1970 10 October 2020 1 National Library of Australia 30 April 1970 The Hall government lost two votes on amendments to the Dartmouth bill in the House of Assembly. 1 May 1970 The House of Assembly was dissolved. Dissolution of the House of Assembly (C.S.O. 246/1970) 19 1643 1 May 1970 http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/other/sa_gazette/1970/19.pdf 10 October 2020 5 May 1970 Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election."State of South Australia: The Electoral Act 1929-1969." The Advertiser 6 May 1970 35 14 May 1970 Close of nominations. 30 May 1970 Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. 2 June 1970 The Hall Ministry resigned and the Second Dunstan Ministry was sworn in. Gazette Extraordinary (C.S.O. 100/1968) 25 2015–2016 3 June 1970 http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/other/sa_gazette/1970/25.pdf 10 October 2020 26 June 1970 Return of the writs. 14 July 1970 Parliament resumed for business. Summoning the First Session of the Fortieth Parliament (C.S.O. 331/1970) 28 2116 18 June 1970 http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/other/sa_gazette/1970/28/2116.pdf 10 October 2020 Results thumb|400px|right|Arrangement of the House of Assembly after the 1970 state election. South Australian state election, 30 May 1970Details of SA 1970 Election http://elections.uwa.edu.au/elecdetail.lasso?keyvalue=833 Australian Politics and Elections Database House of Assembly South Australian state election 1968 1973 635,533 603,952 95.03% +0.55% 12,421 2.06% –0.25% yes Labor SA 305,478 51.64% –0.33% 27 + 8 LCL 258,856 43.76% –0.06% 20 + 1 Nationals SA 11,227 1.90% * 0 ± 0 Independent 8,842 1.50% +0.47% 0 – 1 dlp 4,211 0.71% –0.93% 0 ± 0 Social Credit 2,401 0.41% –0.44% 0 ± 0 Communist 743 0.13% –0.16% 0 ± 0 591,531 47 Labor SA 53.30% +0.10% LCL 46.70% –0.10% |} Post-election pendulum Labor seats (27)Marginal ChaffeyReg CurrenALP0.2% MillicentDes CorcoranALP4.0% BrightonHugh HudsonALP4.5% ColesLen KingALP4.9% GillesJack SlaterALP5.4% UnleyGil LangleyALP5.4%Fairly safe MawsonDon HopgoodALP6.3% NorwoodDon DunstanALP7.2% Henley BeachGlen BroomhillALP7.9% MitchellRon PayneALP9.3% PeakeDon SimmonsALP9.3% Tea Tree GullyMolly ByrneALP9.4%Safe Mount GambierAllan BurdonALP10.4% PlayfordTerry McRaeALP10.8% WhyallaMax BrownALP12.5% v IND Ascot ParkGeoff VirgoALP13.2% ElizabethJohn ClarkALP16.4% AdelaideSam LawnALP17.3% Albert ParkCharles HarrisonALP18.0% FloreyCharles WellsALP18.2% PriceJohn RyanALP18.8% SalisburyReg GrothALP19.3%Ross SmithJack JenningsALP21.3%PirieDave McKeeALP24.6%SemaphoreReg HurstALP24.6%SpenceErnie CrimesALP25.7%StuartGavin KeneallyALP26.0% LCL seats (20)MarginalHansonHeini BeckerLCL0.4%MurrayIvon WardleLCL2.2%FromeErnest AllenLCL4.2%LightBruce EastickLCL4.6%Fairly safeGlenelgJohn MathwinLCL6.5%TorrensJohn CoumbeLCL6.6%GougerSteele HallLCL8.7%SafeFisherStan EvansLCL11.8%MitchamRobin MillhouseLCL15.0%FlindersJohn CarnieLCL15.1%KavelRoger GoldsworthyLCL15.4% v NATEyreGraham GunnLCL15.7%BraggDavid TonkinLCL16.9%HeysenWilliam McAnaneyLCL17.6%DavenportJoyce SteeleLCL18.0%GoyderJames FergusonLCL19.7%Rocky RiverHoward VenningLCL20.3%AlexandraDavid BrookmanLCL21.0%VictoriaAllan RoddaLCL22.1%MalleeBill NankivellLCL24.2% Legislative Council results There was no upper house vote at this election, so the numbers in the Council remained as before. 1968-1973 Legislative Council Party Seats  Liberal and Country League 16  Australian Labor Party 4 See also Results of the South Australian state election, 1970 (House of Assembly) Candidates of the 1970 South Australian state election Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1970-1973 Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1970-1973 References History of South Australian elections 1857-2006, volume 1: ECSA Historical lower house results Historical upper house results Specific Category:Elections in South Australia Category:1970 elections in Australia Category:1970s in South Australia Category:May 1970 in Australia