1956 South Australian state election

1956 South Australian state election
← 1953 3 March 1956 (1956-03-03) 1959 →
All 39 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly
20 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Thomas Playford Mick O'Halloran
Party Liberal and Country League Labor
Leader since 5 November 1938 10 October 1949
Leader's seat Gumeracha Frome
Last election 21 seats 14 seats
Seats won 21 seats 15 seats
Seat change Steady0 Increase1
Percentage 51.3% 48.7%
Swing Increase4.3 Decrease4.3
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 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.[1][2]

A redistribution occurred in 1955 based upon the results of the census held in June 1954.[3][4]

Background

Labor won one seat, rural Murray from the LCL. The LCL won two seats, rural Wallaroo from Labor and rural Chaffey from an independent. An independent won one seat, rural Burra from the LCL.[1][2]

Results

South Australian state election, 3 March 1956[5]
House of Assembly
<< 1953–1959 >>

Enrolled voters 299,048
Votes cast 280,811 Turnout 93.90% –1.11%
Informal votes 6,702 Informal 2.39% –0.54%
Summary of votes by party
Party Primary votes % Swing Seats Change
  Labor 129,853 47.37% –3.60% 15 ± 0
  Liberal and Country 100,569 36.69% +0.24% 21 + 1
  Labor (A-C) 20,384 7.44% * 0 ± 0
  Communist 3,185 1.16% –0.32% 0 ± 0
  Independent 20,118 7.34% –3.76% 3 – 1
Total 274,109     39  
Two-party-preferred
  Liberal and Country 51.30% +4.30%
  Labor 48.70% –4.30%
  • The primary vote figures were from contested seats, while the state-wide two-party-preferred vote figures were estimated from all seats.

Post-election pendulum

LCL seats (21)
Marginal
Wallaroo Leslie Heath LCL 2.0%
Chaffey Harold King LCL 5.2% v IND
Fairly safe
Glenelg Baden Pattinson LCL 8.0%
Torrens John Coumbe LCL 8.2%
Safe
Unley Colin Dunnage LCL 10.2%
Victoria Leslie Harding LCL 11.7%
Onkaparinga Howard Shannon LCL 20.1% v IND
Gouger Rufus Goldney LCL 20.5% v IND
Angas Berthold Teusner LCL 27.6% v IND
Gumeracha Thomas Playford LCL 38.6% v COM
Eyre George Bockelberg LCL undistributed
Albert Malcolm McIntosh LCL unopposed
Alexandra David Brookman LCL unopposed
Barossa Condor Laucke LCL unopposed
Burnside Geoffrey Clarke LCL unopposed
Flinders Glen Pearson LCL unopposed
Light George Hambour LCL unopposed
Mitcham Robin Millhouse LCL unopposed
Rocky River James Heaslip LCL unopposed
Stirling William Jenkins LCL unopposed
Yorke Peninsula Cecil Hincks LCL unopposed
Labor seats (15)
Marginal
Murray Gabe Bywaters ALP 1.4%
West Torrens Fred Walsh ALP 1.4%
Millicent Jim Corcoran ALP 2.3%
Frome Mick O'Halloran ALP 4.3%
Fairly safe
Norwood Don Dunstan ALP 7.2%
Safe
Enfield Joe Jennings ALP 17.9%
Edwardstown Frank Walsh ALP 24.3% v DLP
Adelaide Sam Lawn ALP 31.7% v DLP
Port Adelaide James Stephens ALP 32.1% v DLP
Gawler John Clark ALP unopposed
Hindmarsh Cyril Hutchens ALP unopposed
Port Pirie Charles Davis ALP unopposed
Semaphore Harold Tapping ALP unopposed
Stuart Lindsay Riches ALP unopposed
Whyalla Ron Loveday ALP unopposed
Crossbench seats (3)
Burra Percy Quirke IND 1.2% v LCL
Mount Gambier John Fletcher IND 6.1% v ALP
Ridley Tom Stott IND 11.0% v LCL

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Jaensch, Dean (March 2007). "The 1956 General Election - Formed the 35th Parliament". History of South Australian elections 1857-2006: House of Assembly, Volume 1. State Electoral Office South Australia. pp. 274–276. ISBN 9780975048634. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via Electoral Commission of South Australia.
  2. ^ a b 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. ^ "To Take Place Next Year: Redistribution of Federal Boundaries". The Morning Bulletin. 8 October 1954. Retrieved 14 January 2016 – via Trove.
  4. ^ "Redistribution soon in Victoria". The Argus. 5 November 1954. Retrieved 14 January 2016 – via Trove.
  5. ^ "Summary of 1956 Election". University of Western Australia. Retrieved 7 July 2015.