1975 South Australian state election

State elections were held in South Australia on 12 July 1975. All 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Premier of South Australia Don Dunstan won a third term in government, defeating the Liberal Party of Australia led by Leader of the Opposition Bruce Eastick.

1975 South Australian state election

← 1973 12 July 1975 1977 →
All 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly 24 seats were needed for a majority 11 (of the 21) seats of the South Australian Legislative Council
First party Second party Third party   Leader Don Dunstan Bruce Eastick Robin Millhouse Party Labor Liberal Liberal Movement Leader since 1 June 1967 15 March 1972 2 April 1973 Leader's seat Norwood Light Mitcham Last election 26 seats 20 seats 0 seats Seats won 23 seats 20 seats 2 seats Seat change 3 0 2 Percentage 46.32% 31.53% 18.27% Swing 5.2 8.26 N/A
Premier before election Don Dunstan Labor Resulting Premier Don Dunstan Labor

Background

The drop in major party primary votes was due to the socially progressive Liberal Movement (LM) led by Robin Millhouse who achieved 18.3 percent of the primary vote and 2 seats. The party was a breakaway faction of the Liberal and Country League (LCL) which disbanded in 1973, the party which was the predecessor to the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia. Stemming from discontent within the ranks of the LCL, it was first formed by former premier Steele Hall as an internal group in 1972 in response to a lack of social and acceptance of electoral reform within the LCL. A year later, when tensions heightened between the LCL's conservative wing and the LM, it was established on its own as a progressive liberal party. When still part of the league, it had eleven representatives; on its own, it initially had three.

The election was fought with the Liberal Party, the Liberal Movement, and the Country Party all competing for votes against Labor, in the background of the Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam scandals, with this election taking place six months before the governor general dismissed the Whitlam government resulting in his defeat at the December 1975 federal election.

Summary of results

The Liberals received a 50.8 percent two-party vote to Labor on 49.2 percent. The Liberals, Liberal Movement, and Country Party held a combined 23 seats, as did Labor. The balance of power was held by independent MP Ted Connelly, the mayor of Port Pirie. Connelly sided with Dunstan and accepted his offer of Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly.

The LM won two seats (both sitting members: Robin Millhouse and David Boundy). When the LM joined the Liberal Party in 1976, Boundy joined the Liberals while Millhouse created the New LM; after which the numbers were Labor 23, Liberal 21, Country Party 1, New LM 1, and 1 independent supporting Labor (Connelly).

The 1975 election saw permanent large two-party swings away from Labor in a few rural seats − 13.5 percent in Chaffey, 15.5 percent in Mount Gambier and 16.4 percent in Millicent.

It was the first time that a Labor government in South Australia had been re-elected for a third term, and would be the first seven-year-incumbent Labor government.

The election was also the first in South Australia where both major parties contested all lower house seats.

Upper house reforms

Historically, the Legislative Council (the upper house) had been dominated by an LCL majority for decades due to the Playmander electoral malapportionment as well as the limit on upper house voting rights to the wealthier classes with suffrage dependent on certain property and wage requirements. However they were highly independent and often obstructive to both major parties. Originally the Legislative Council had fixed staggered terms and elections were held separately from lower house elections, which would later be changed by the introduction of joint elections in the 1980s.

The 1975 election saw the introduction of universal suffrage for the Legislative Council and the introduction of a statewide single electorate. It also increased the number elected at each election from 10 to 11, meaning the house increased from 20 to 21 members, and would become a 22-member house from 1979 onwards.

Labor won 6 seats, the Liberal Party won 3, and the Liberal Movement won 2; giving total numbers of Labor 10, Liberal 9, and Liberal Movement 2; giving the Liberal Movement the balance of power. The Liberal Movement members rejoined the Liberal Party in 1976, giving the Liberals a majority in the upper house.

Aftermath

Following the close result of the election where Labor formed minority government, initial one vote one value electoral reform was enacted by Dunstan which would later be amended by future Labor premier John Bannon, after winning the 1989 election on 48.1 percent of the two-party vote. However, these winning minorities were closer than those of the Playmander period and did not occur as a result of malapportionment or weighting. Indeed, some metropolitan seats saw more than three times the number of voters than in some rural seats, something that would be rectified by the one vote one value electoral reform. It became the first and only state from 1989 to legislate the Electoral Commission of South Australia should redraw boundaries after each election with the objective that the party which receives over 50 percent of the statewide two-party vote at the forthcoming election should win the two-party vote in a majority of seats. One element of the Playmander still exists to this day − the change from multi-member to single-member seats.

Key dates

• Issue of writ: 24 June 1975
• Close of nominations: 2 July 1975
• Polling day: 12 July 1975
• Return of writ: On or before 12 August 1975

Results

House of Assembly

South Australian state election, 12 July 1975[1] House of Assembly << 1973–1977 >>
Enrolled voters		771,414
Votes cast		721,770		Turnout	93.56%	−0.64%
Informal votes		27,785		Informal	3.85%	−0.23%
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	321,481	46.32%	−5.20%	23	−3
	Liberal	218,820	31.53%	−8.26%	20	±0
	Liberal Movement	126,820	18.27%	*	2	+2
	National Country	19,208	2.77%	−1.18%	1	±0
	Independent	6,281	0.91%	−3.41%	1	+1
	Other	1,375	0.20%	*	0	±0
Total		693,985			47
Two-party-preferred
	Labor		49.20%	−5.30%
	Liberal		50.80%	+5.30%

Legislative Council

South Australian state election, 12 July, 1975[2] Legislative Council << 1973–1979 >>
Enrolled voters		771,414
Votes cast		719,753		Turnout	93.3	–0.6
Informal votes		32,690		Informal	4.5	–4.8
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Seats held
	Labor	324,744	47.3	–5.3	6	10
	Liberal	191,341	27.8	–18.4	3	9
	Liberal Movement	129,110	18.8	+18.8	2	2
	National Country	14,640	2.1	+2.1	0	0
	Family Movement	9,966	1.5	+1.5	0	0
	Free Enterprise Group	8,141	1.2	+1.2	0	0
	Socialist	4,273	0.6	+0.6	0	0
	Australia	3,822	0.6	–0.2	0	0
	Other	1,026	0.1	*	0	0
Total		687,063			11	21

Post-election pendulum

Government seats (24)
Marginal
Gilles	Jack Slater	ALP	2.8%
Brighton	Hugh Hudson	ALP	3.8%
Henley Beach	Glen Broomhill	ALP	4.0%
Coles	Des Corcoran	ALP	4.2%
Unley	Gil Langley	ALP	5.0%
Mawson	Don Hopgood	ALP	5.6% v LM
Fairly safe
Mitchell	Ron Payne	ALP	6.3%
Peake	Don Simmons	ALP	6.3%
Norwood	Don Dunstan	ALP	6.9%
Tea Tree Gully	Molly Byrne	ALP	7.3%
Ascot Park	Geoff Virgo	ALP	9.9%
Safe
Adelaide	Jack Wright	ALP	12.2%
Playford	Terry McRae	ALP	12.3% v LM
Price	George Whitten	ALP	12.3%
Florey	Charles Wells	ALP	13.3%
Albert Park	Charles Harrison	ALP	13.4%
Pirie	Ted Connelly	IND	13.9% v ALP
Salisbury	Reg Groth	ALP	13.9%
Ross Smith	Jack Jennings	ALP	16.6%
Whyalla	Max Brown	ALP	18.3%
Elizabeth	Peter Duncan	ALP	19.6%
Stuart	Gavin Keneally	ALP	19.9%
Semaphore	Jack Olson	ALP	21.3%
Spence	Roy Abbott	ALP	22.3%

Opposition seats (23)
Marginal
Mount Gambier	Harold Allison	LIB	1.5%
Hanson	Heini Becker	LIB	5.7%
Fairly safe
Torrens	John Coumbe	LIB	6.1%
Glenelg	John Mathwin	LIB	7.9%
Millicent	Murray Vandepeer	LIB	9.9%
Safe
Rocky River	Howard Venning	LIB	10.9% v NAT
Murray	Ivon Wardle	LIB	12.0%
Light	Bruce Eastick	LIB	12.9%
Goyder	David Boundy	LM	13.6% v LIB
Frome	Ernest Allen	LIB	14.6%
Heysen	David Wotton	LIB	14.8% v LM
Fisher	Stan Evans	LIB	16.4%
Gouger	Keith Russack	LIB	16.4%
Chaffey	Peter Arnold	LIB	17.1%
Mitcham	Robin Millhouse	LM	17.8% v ALP
Bragg	David Tonkin	LIB	20.1%
Flinders	Peter Blacker	NCP	21.7% v ALP
Davenport	Dean Brown	LIB	22.3%
Alexandra	Ted Chapman	LIB	26.8%
Kavel	Roger Goldsworthy	LIB	28.7%
Eyre	Graham Gunn	LIB	29.3%
Victoria	Allan Rodda	LIB	29.4%
Mallee	Bill Nankivell	LIB	31.5%

See also

• Results of the South Australian state election, 1975 (House of Assembly)
• Results of the 1975 South Australian state election (Legislative Council)
• Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1975-1977
• Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1975-1979

References

• History of South Australian elections 1857-2006, volume 1: ECSA
• Historical lower house results
• Historical upper house results
• State and federal election results Archived 18 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine in Australia since 1890

Specific

1. "Details of SA 1975 Election". Australian Politics and Elections Database.
2. "History of South Australian elections 1857-2006, volume 2 Legislative Council". ECSA. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2016.