Playmander
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The Playmander was a form of electoral malapportionment in the Australian state of South Australia. The name derives from Premier Sir Thomas Playford, whose Liberal and Country League (LCL) party was able to stay in power for three decades even while losing several elections in terms of vote numbers. The Playmander was not devised by Playford, and was not a Gerrymander, but the name stuck and it was strongly associated with his long stay in power. The electoral malappointment stemmed from the 1856 South Australian constitution, which stipulated that there were to be 46 members of the South Australian House of Assembly and two rural electorates for every urban electorate. This rural overweighting was put in place to ensure the growth and development of a struggling early country South Australia, relatively unsettled in comparison to the area around the capital, Adelaide. Country areas typically voted for the Liberal Federation or the Country Party, while Adelaide overwhelmingly voted for the Labor Party. This imbalance was mitigated, however, by the multi-member system in place. Labor 'islands' (usually industrial or mining towns) in large rural electorates would still receive representation through this system.
With the merger of the Liberal Federation and the Country Party in 1932 to form the Liberal and Country League, the Country Party demanded key concessions as part of the deal, particularly to the electoral system. The system of rural overweighting was to stay in place, the number of representatives was to be reduced to 39 and the multi-member electorates were to be abandoned for single-member ones. The changes would effectively lock the Labor Party out of power.
There was much uproar when they were brought in; Labor Member T.P. Howard declared that "the working class will not lay down like tame dogs under a system that will not give them proper representation". The electoral system contributed to Playford achieving a world-record for a democratically elected leader; he spent 27 years as Premier of South Australia. During this period, as a result of population changes, the rural overweighting strengthened Playford's hold on power. By 1965, two-thirds of the population resided in the Adelaide Metropolitan area, yet those living outside it elected two-thirds of the House of Assembly members. Rural areas, excepting industrial towns such as Whyalla, were likely to support the League. The Adelaide metropolitan area was overwhelmingly Labor, with the League only managing to gain seats in the wealthy 'eastern crescent' and around Holdfast Bay.
The system was eventually branded the 'Playmander' (a pun on the term Gerrymander) by political scientists, the Adelaide press and the articulate young Labor member, Don Dunstan. Dunstan, more than anyone else, was the driving force behind Labor both 'beating' the Playmander and changes being made to the electoral system. The latter, however, would not be implemented by Dunstan. The Playmander was eventually beaten in 1965 through the abandonment of a statewide campaign, and instead through direct targeting of the League's marginal seats. The Labor Party gained power under Frank Walsh, and in 1967, under Dunstan. However, they were defeated in the 1968 election.
After gaining power on 46.8% of the vote, Liberal Premier Steele Hall instituted electoral reform that saw the establishment of 47 single-member electorates in 1968. There continued to be a slight overweighting but 28 seats were to be contested in Adelaide, making a win for the League a near-impossibility. When an election was called in 1970, the Labor Party gained power with 53.3% of the vote.
After losing the vote at 49.2% in the 1975 election but remaining Premier, Dunstan instituted 'one vote one value' electoral reform in 1975. The reform solidified Labor's position, as the 'one vote one value' system did not take into account sizeable electoral majorities; much of the Liberal vote was held in ultra-safe rural seats where it was rendered useless. The Labor Party would hold power between 1970 and 1993, excepting a Liberal stint between 1979 and 1982. After John Bannon won the 1989 election even after losing the two-party-preferred vote at 48%, a referendum was passed which added a 'fairness clause' to electoral legislation, stipulating that boundaries must reflect results and as far as possible ensure that a party that wins more than 50% of the two-party-preferred vote will gain office, and that these boundaries would be re-drawn after each election.[1]
[edit] References
- Blewett, Neal (1971). Playford to Dunstan: The Politics of Transition. Griffin Press Limited. ISBN 0-7015-1299-7.
- Dunstan, Don (1981). Felicia: The Political Memoirs of Don Dunstan. Griffin Press Limited. ISBN 0-333-33815-4.
- Crocker, Walter (1983). Sir Thomas Playford: A Portrait. Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0-522-84250-X.
- Cockburn, Stewart (1991). Playford: Benevolent Despot. Griffin Press Limited. ISBN 0-9594164-4-7.
- Jaensch, Dean. (2006) When the state voting system defies all logic, The Advertiser, p18, 26 April 2006.
