1944 South Australian state election

none April 2022 1944 South Australian state election South Australia parliamentary no 1941 South Australian state election 1941 1947 South Australian state election 1947 All 39 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly 20 seats were needed for a majority yes 1944 04 29 150x150px Thomas Playford 5 November 1938 Liberal and Country League Gumeracha 46.7% 20 seats 20 seats 0 150x150px Robert Richards 1 April 1938 Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch) Wallaroo 53.3% 11 seats 16 seats 5 Premier Thomas Playford Liberal and Country League Thomas Playford Liberal and Country League 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. Background Labor won an additional five seats totaling 16 seats − the highest number of seats won by Labor from the 1933 election through to the 1959 election, an effort not even outdone at the 1953 election where Labor won 53 percent of the statewide two-party vote but the LCL retained government. The election was the first where the two-party vote had been retrospectively calculated. Unusually a wartime opposition won a clear majority of the two-party vote. Turnout crashed to 50 percent at the 1941 election, triggering the government to institute compulsory voting from this election. The Communist Party of Australia in South Australia recorded their highest vote at this election − 19.4 percent (2,500 votes) for candidate Alf Watt in the seat of Adelaide. The party contested one other seat at the election, Prospect, on 15.7 percent. The party only contested a select few seats at each election, the first at the 1930 election and the last at the 1977 election. Results thumb|400px|right|Arrangement of the House of Assembly after the 1944 state election. South Australian state election, 29 April 1944Summary of 1944 Election http://elections.uwa.edu.au/elecdetail.lasso?keyvalue=824 University of Western Australia 7 July 2015 House of Assembly South Australian state election 1941 1947 289,032 255,883 88.53% +37.84% 8,229 3.22% +1.26% yes LCL 113,536 45.84% +8.29% 20 ± 0 Labor SA 105,298 42.52% +9.27% 16 + 5 Communist 5,136 2.07% * 0 ± 0 Independent 16,439 6.64% –17.97% 3 – 2 Independent Labor SA 5,587 2.26% –0.76% 0 – 2 Independent Liberal Independent Liberal 1,658 0.67% –0.91% 0 – 1 247,654 39 LCL 46.70% * Labor SA 53.30% * |} The primary vote figures were from contested seats, while the state-wide two-party-preferred vote figures were estimated from all seats. See also Results of the South Australian state election, 1944 (House of Assembly) Candidates of the 1944 South Australian state election Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1944-1947 Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1944–1947 Playmander References History of South Australian elections 1857-2006, volume 1: ECSA State and federal election results https://web.archive.org/web/20150118085343/http://elections.uwa.edu.au/ 18 January 2015 in Australia since 1890 The ‘Playmander’, Its origins, operation and effect on South Australia Category:Elections in South Australia Category:1944 elections in Australia Category:1940s in South Australia Category:April 1944 in Australia