Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch)
Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch) | |
---|---|
Leader | Jay Weatherill |
Deputy Leader | John Rau |
President | Katrine Hildyard |
Secretary | Reggie Martin [1] |
Founded | 1891 |
Headquarters | 141 Gilles Street, Adelaide |
Youth wing | South Australian Young Labor |
National affiliation | Australian Labor Party |
SA House of Assembly |
23 / 47 |
SA Legislative Council |
8 / 22 |
Australian House of Representatives (SA seats) |
6 / 11 |
Australian Senate (SA seats) |
3 / 12 |
Website | |
sa | |
The Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch), commonly known as SA Labor, is the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, originally formed in 1891 as the United Labor Party of South Australia. It is one of two major parties in the bicameral Parliament of South Australia, the other being the Liberal Party of Australia (South Australian Division).
Since the 1970 election, marking the beginning of democratic proportional representation (one vote, one value) and ending decades of pro-rural electoral malapportionment known as the Playmander, Labor have won 11 of the 14 elections. Labor has been in government since the 2002 election. Premier of South Australia Jay Weatherill has led the Labor government since a 2011 leadership change from Mike Rann. During 2013 it became the longest-serving state Labor government in South Australian history, and in addition went on to win a fourth four-year term at the 2014 election and will attempt to win 20 consecutive years in office and a fifth four-year term at the 2018 election.
Labor's most notable historic Premiers of South Australia include Thomas Price in the 1900s, Don Dunstan in the 1970s, John Bannon in the 1980s and Mike Rann in the 2000s.
Formation
A United Trades and Labor Council meeting with the purpose of creating an elections committee was convened on 12 December 1890, and held on 7 January 1891. The elections committee was formed, officially named the United Labor Party of South Australia (unlike state Labor, prior to 1912 their federal counterparts included the 'u' in their spelling of Labour) with John McPherson the founding secretary. Four months later, Labor enjoyed immediate success, electing David Charleston, Robert Guthrie and Andrew Kirkpatrick to the South Australian Legislative Council. A week later, Richard Hooper won the 1891 Wallaroo by-election as an Independent Labor member in the South Australian House of Assembly. McPherson won the 1892 East Adelaide by-election on 23 January, becoming the first official Labor leader and member of the House of Assembly.
Prior to party creation, South Australian politics had lacked parties or solid groupings, although loose liberal and conservative blocs had begun to develop by the end of the 1880s. The 1893 election was the first general election Labor would stand at, resulting in liberal and conservative leaning MPs beginning to divide, additionally with unidentified groupings and independents, as well as the subsequent formation of the staunchly anti-Labor National Defence League. The voluntary turnout rate increased from 53 to 68 percent, with Labor on 19 percent of the vote, and 10 Labor candidates including McPherson and Hooper were elected to the 54-member House of Assembly which gave Labor the balance of power. The Kingston liberal government was formed with the support of Labor, ousting the Downer conservative government. Kingston served as Premier for a then-record of six and a half years, usually implementing legislation with Labor support.
Thomas Price formed the state's first Labor minority government and the world's first stable Labor Party government at the 1905 election with the support of several non-Labor MPs to form the Price-Peake administration, which was re-elected at the 1906 double dissolution election, with Labor falling just two seats short of a majority. So successful, John Verran led Labor to form the state's first of many majority governments at the 1910 election, just two weeks after the 1910 federal election where their federal counterparts formed Australia's first elected majority in either house in the Parliament of Australia, the world's first Labor Party majority government at a national level, and after the 1904 Chris Watson minority government the world's second Labor Party government at a national level.[2][3][4]
Known as the United Labor Party of South Australia until 1917, the Australian Labor Party at both a state/colony and federal level pre-dates, among others, both the British Labour Party and the New Zealand Labour Party in party formation, government, and policy implementation.[5]
Premiers
Parliamentary Party Leader | |
---|---|
Inaugural holder | John McPherson |
Thirteen of the nineteen parliamentary Labor leaders have served as Premier of South Australia: Thomas Price (1905β1909), John Verran (1910β1912), Crawford Vaughan (1915β1917), John Gunn (1924β1926), Lionel Hill (1926β1927 and 1930β1931; expelled from party but continued as Premier until 1933), Frank Walsh (1965β1967), Don Dunstan (1967β1968 and 1970β1979), Des Corcoran (1979), John Bannon (1982β1992), Lynn Arnold (1992β1993), Mike Rann (2002β2011) and Jay Weatherill (2011βpresent). Robert Richards was Premier in 1933 while leading the rebel Parliamentary Labor Party of MPs who had been expelled in the 1931 Labor split; he would later be readmitted and lead the party in opposition. Bannon is Labor's longest-serving Premier of South Australia, ahead of Rann and Dunstan by a matter of weeks. Every Labor leader for more than half a century has served as Premier.
Deputy Premiers
Since the position's formal introduction in 1968, seven parliamentary Labor deputy leaders have served as Deputy Premier of South Australia: Des Corcoran (1968 and 1970β1979), Hugh Hudson (1979), Jack Wright (1982β1985), Don Hopgood (1985β1992), Frank Blevins (1992β1993), Kevin Foley (2002β2011) and John Rau (2011βpresent). Foley is the state's longest-serving Deputy Premier.
List of parliamentary leaders
- John McPherson (1892β1897)
- Lee Batchelor (1897β1899)
- Thomas Price (1899β1909)
- John Verran (1909β1913)
- Crawford Vaughan (1913β1917)
- Andrew Kirkpatrick (1917β1918)
- John Gunn (1918β1926)
- Lionel Hill (1926β1931)
- Edgar Dawes (1931β1933)
- Andrew Lacey (1933β1938)
- Robert Richards (1938β1949)
- Mick O'Halloran (1949β1960)
- Frank Walsh (1960β1967)
- Don Dunstan (1967β1979)
- Des Corcoran (1979)
- John Bannon (1979β1992)
- Lynn Arnold (1992β1994)
- Mike Rann (1994β2011)
- Jay Weatherill (2011βpresent)
Current federal parliamentarians
Lower
- Kate Ellis β Adelaide MP since 2004
- Mark Butler β Port Adelaide MP since 2007
- Nick Champion β Wakefield MP since 2007
- Amanda Rishworth β Kingston MP since 2007
- Tony Zappia β Makin MP since 2007
- Steve Georganas β Hindmarsh MP since 2016
Upper
- Penny Wong β Senator since 2002
- Alex Gallacher β Senator since 2011
- Don Farrell β Senator since 2016
Historic party officials
State election results
Election | Seats won | Β± | Total votes | % | Position | Leader |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1893 | 10 / 54 |
10 | 16,458 | 18.8% | Third party | John McPherson |
1896 | 12 / 54 |
2 | 39,107 | 24.3% | Third party | John McPherson |
1899 | 11 / 54 |
1 | 40,756 | 25.4% | Third party | Lee Batchelor |
1902 | 5 / 42 |
6 | 48,515 | 19.9% | Opposition | Thomas Price |
1905 | 15 / 42 |
10 | 148,550 | 41.3% | Minority government | Thomas Price |
1906 | 20 / 42 |
5 | 143,577 | 44.8% | Minority government | Thomas Price |
1910 | 22 / 42 |
2 | 197,935 | 49.1% | Majority government | John Verran |
1912 | 16 / 40 |
6 | 253,163 | 46.7% | Opposition | John Verran |
1915 | 26 / 46 |
10 | 153,034 | 45.9% | Majority government | Crawford Vaughan |
1918 | 17 / 46 |
9 | 145,093 | 44.7% | Opposition | Andrew Kirkpatrick |
1921 | 16 / 46 |
1 | 179,308 | 44.6% | Opposition | John Gunn |
1924 | 27 / 46 |
11 | 192,256 | 48.4% | Majority government | John Gunn |
1927 | 16 / 46 |
11 | 243,450 | 47.9% | Opposition | Lionel Hill |
1930 | 30 / 46 |
14 | 102,194 | 48.6% | Majority government | Lionel Hill |
1933 | 6 / 46 |
24 | 48,273 | 27.8% | Opposition | Edgar Dawes |
1938 | 9 / 39 |
3 | 57,124 | 26.1% | Opposition | Andrew Lacey |
1941 | 11 / 39 |
2 | 56,062 | 33.3% | Opposition | Robert Richards |
1944 | 16 / 39 |
5 | 105,298 | 42.5% | Opposition | Robert Richards |
1947 | 13 / 39 |
3 | 133,959 | 48.6% | Opposition | Robert Richards |
1950 | 12 / 39 |
1 | 134,952 | 48.1% | Opposition | Mick O'Halloran |
1953 | 14 / 39 |
2 | 166,517 | 50.9% | Opposition | Mick O'Halloran |
1956 | 15 / 39 |
1 | 129,853 | 47.4% | Opposition | Mick O'Halloran |
1959 | 17 / 39 |
2 | 191,933 | 49.3% | Opposition | Mick O'Halloran |
1962 | 19 / 39 |
2 | 219,790 | 53.9% | Opposition | Frank Walsh |
1965 | 21 / 39 |
2 | 274,432 | 55.0% | Majority government | Frank Walsh |
1968 | 19 / 39 |
2 | 292,445 | 51.9% | Opposition | Don Dunstan |
1970 | 27 / 47 |
8 | 305,478 | 51.6% | Majority government | Don Dunstan |
1973 | 26 / 47 |
1 | 324,135 | 51.5% | Majority government | Don Dunstan |
1975 | 23 / 47 |
3 | 321,481 | 46.3% | Majority government | Don Dunstan |
1977 | 27 / 47 |
4 | 383,831 | 51.6% | Majority government | Don Dunstan |
1979 | 20 / 47 |
7 | 300,277 | 40.8% | Opposition | Des Corcoran |
1982 | 24 / 47 |
5 | 353,999 | 46.3% | Majority government | John Bannon |
1985 | 27 / 47 |
3 | 393,652 | 48.2% | Majority government | John Bannon |
1989 | 22 / 47 |
5 | 346,268 | 40.1% | Minority government | John Bannon |
1993 | 10 / 47 |
12 | 277,038 | 30.4% | Opposition | Lynn Arnold |
1997 | 21 / 47 |
11 | 312,929 | 35.2% | Opposition | Mike Rann |
2002 | 23 / 47 |
2 | 344,559 | 36.4% | Minority government | Mike Rann |
2006 | 28 / 47 |
5 | 424,715 | 45.2% | Majority government | Mike Rann |
2010 | 26 / 47 |
2 | 367,480 | 37.5% | Majority government | Mike Rann |
2014 | 23 / 47 |
3 | 364,420 | 35.8% | Minority government | Jay Weatherill |
Note: Following the 2014 election, the Labor minority government won the 2014 Fisher by-election which took them to 24 of 47 seats and therefore majority government. Prior to the 2018 election, a Labor MP became an independent, reducing them back to a minority 23 seats.
See also
- Cabinet of South Australia
- Weatherill Ministry
- Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 2014β2018
- Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 2014β2018
- Liberal Party of Australia (South Australian Division)
- Playmander, the 1936β1968 electoral malapportionment
- Rann Government
- South Australian state election, 2014
- South Australian state election, 2018
- List of elections in South Australia
References
- β Owen, Michael (17 July 2015). "Laborβs South Australian candidates line up for preselection". The Australian. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
- β History of South Australian elections 1857-2006, volume 1 - ECSA
- β Sound of Trumpets: History of the Labour Movement in South Australia - By Jim Moss
- β Why did a 'labour movement' emerge in South Australia in the 1880s? - By Nicholas Klar
- β "Australian Labor Party". AustralianPolitics.com. 6 October 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2014.