Portal:South Australia/Selected article
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Adelaide is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of South Australia, and is the fifth largest city in Australia, with a population of over 1.1 million. It is a coastal city beside the Southern Ocean, and is situated on the Adelaide Plains, north of the Fleurieu Peninsula, between the Gulf St. Vincent and the low-lying Mount Lofty Ranges. It is a roughly linear city: it is 20 km from the coast to the foothills, but it stretches 90 km from Gawler at its northern extent to Aldinga in the south. Named in honour of Queen Adelaide, the consort of King William IV, the city was founded in 1836 as the planned capital for the only freely-settled British province in Australia. Colonel William Light, one of Adelaide's founding fathers, designed the city and chose its location close to the River Torrens. Inspired by William Penn and the garden city movement, Light's design set out Adelaide in a grid layout, interspaced by wide boulevards and large public squares, and entirely surrounded by parkland. Early Adelaide was shaped by religious freedom and a commitment to political progressivism and civil liberties, which led to world-first reforms. Adelaidean society remained largely puritan up until the 1970s, when a set of social reforms under the premiership of Don Dunstan resulted in a cultural revival. Today Adelaide is known for its many festivals as well as for its wine, arts and sports revelry.
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Waterfall Gully is a small suburb in the South Australian city of Adelaide. It is located in the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges around five kilometres east of Adelaide's central business district (CBD). For the most part, the suburb encompasses one long gully with First Creek at its centre and Waterfall Gully Road adjacent to the creek. At one end of the gully is the waterfall for which the suburb was named. Part of the Burnside Council, it is bounded to the north by the suburb of Burnside, to the north-east by Greenhill, to the south-east by Cleland Conservation Park, to the south-west by Leawood Gardens and to the north-west by Mount Osmond. Waterfall Gully is rich in history and has been a popular attraction since Adelaide's early colonists discovered the area in the nineteenth century. Home to a number of residents and increasingly frequented by tourists, Waterfall Gully has undergone extensive developments in recent years.
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The history of Burnside, a local government area in the metropolitan area of Adelaide, spans three centuries. Burnside was inhabited by the Kaurna Indigenous people prior to European settlement, living around the creeks of the River Torrens during the winter and in the Adelaide Hills during the summer. The area was first settled in 1839 by Peter Anderson, a Scots migrant, who named it Burnside after his property's location adjacent to Second Creek (in Scots, 'Burn' means creek or stream). The village of Burnside was established shortly after, and the Burnside Council District was gazetted in 1856, separating itself from the larger East Torrens Council. The mainstays of the early Burnside economy were viticulture, mining and olive groves; Glen Osmond boasted substantial mineral deposits, and vineyards were established at Magill. The present council chambers were built in 1926 in Tusmore; the council became a municipality in 1935. With strong growth and development throughout the region, Burnside was then proclaimed a city in 1943. The 1960s brought to Burnside a community library and a swimming centre; both were further expanded and upgraded between 1997 and 2001. Today, Burnside is one of Adelaide's most sought-after regions in which to live.
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The O-Bahn Busway is the world's longest, fastest and most heavily patronised guided busway. The O-Bahn (from Latin omnibus meaning "for all people" and German bahn meaning "train") design was originally conceived by Daimler-Benz to make use of former tram tunnels in the German city of Essen. While this plan did not come to fruitition, the system was applied in the South Australian capital city of Adelaide to deliver services to its rapidly expanding north-eastern suburbs, replacing an earlier plan to create a tramline extension. The design is unique among public transport systems; typical busways make use of dedicated bus lanes or separate carriageways, while the O-Bahn runs on specially built tracks, combining elements of both bus and rail systems. The track is at a length of 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) and contains one station and two interchanges; Klemzig Station in Payneham, Paradise Interchange in Campbelltown and Tea Tree Plaza Interchange in Tea Tree Gully.
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Don Dunstan (21 September 1926 – 6 February 1999) was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of South Australia between 1 June 1967 and 17 April 1968, and subsequently between 2 June 1970 and 15 February 1979. A reformist, Dunstan brought profound change to South Australian society: his progressive reign saw Aboriginal land rights recognised, homosexuality decriminalised, the first female judge appointed and anti-discrimination legislation introduced. He is recognised for his role in reinvigorating the social, artistic and cultural life of South Australia during his nine years in office, remembered as the Dunstan Decade. Entering politics as the Member for Norwood in 1953, he became infamous in Parliament for his vigorous debating skills and for his unique flair.
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Legislative elections for the 51st Parliament of South Australia were held in the state of South Australia on 18 March 2006, and were conducted by the independent State Electoral Office. The centre-left Australian Labor Party, in government since 2002 under Premier Mike Rann, gained a 7.7 percent statewide swing, resulting in the first Labor majority government since the 1985 election, with 28 of the 47 House of Assembly (lower house) seats. The centre-right Liberal Party of Australia, led by Rob Kerin, achieved their worst lower house result in any South Australian election, with 31.9% of seats. In addition to the major party results, all three sitting independents and a sitting Nationals SA member retained their lower house seats. In the Legislative Council (upper house), both major parties each finished with a total of eight seats, with Labor winning four and the Liberals winning three. No Pokies independent Nick Xenophon polled an unprecedented (for an independent or minor party) 20.5 percent, resulting in both Xenophon and his running mate, Ann Bressington being elected. Family First had a second member elected, the Democrats vote collapsed leaving one remaining member, and the SA Greens won a seat for the first time.
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Sir Thomas Playford (July 5, 1896 – 16 June 1981) was a prominent South Australian politician and farmer. He served continuously as Premier of South Australia from 5 November 1938 to 10 March 1965, the longest term of any democratically elected leader in the history of the Commonwealth of Nations. His tenure as premier was marked by a period of population and economic growth unmatched by any other Australian state. Born into an old political family, he grew up on the family farm in Norton Summit before enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force in World War I, fighting in Gallipoli and Western Europe. In office, Playford used his negotiating skills to encourage industry to relocate to South Australia during World War II, and built upon this in the post-war boom years. Playford took a unique, strong and direct approach to the premiership and personally oversaw his industrial initiatives. His string of election wins were assisted by a system of electoral malapportionment that bore his name, the 'Playmander'. However, Playford and his party failed to adapt to changing social mores and eventually lost office in the 1965 election.
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