South Australian state election, 1982

South Australian state election, 1982

6 November 1982 (1982-11-06)

All 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly 24 seats were needed for a majority 11 (of the 22) seats in the South Australian Legislative Council   First party Second party   Leader John Bannon David Tonkin Party Labor Liberal Leader since 18 September 1979 1975 Leader's seat Ross Smith Bragg Last election 19 seats 25 seats Seats won 24 seats 21 seats Seat change 5 4 Percentage 50.9% 49.1% Swing 5.9 5.9

Premier before election David Tonkin Liberal Elected Premier John Bannon Labor

State elections were held in South Australia on 6 November 1982. All 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Premier of South Australia David Tonkin was defeated by the Australian Labor Party led by Leader of the Opposition John Bannon.

Independent: Norm Peterson

Background

Parliamentary elections for both houses of the Parliament of South Australia were held in South Australia in 1982, which saw John Bannon and the Australian Labor Party defeat the incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by David Tonkin, after one term in power.

As Premier, Tonkin combined fiscal conservatism with socially progressive reforms. In the former, Tonkin made significant cuts to the public service, earning him the enmity of the unions, while an example of the latter was the passage of the land rights bill and the return to the Pitjantjatjara people of 10 per cent of South Australia's area.

Prior to the election, Tonkin removed Robin Millhouse (a former Liberal member who had defected to the Liberal Movement and then the Australian Democrats, and whose popularity enabled him to hold his seat of Waite) with an offer of a vacant seat in the Supreme Court . However the subsequent by-election saw the seat retained by Democrats candidate Heather Southcott, although the Liberals claimed the seat at the 1982 general election.

One potential election factor was the copper and uranium mine at Olympic Dam, near Roxby Downs. Enabling legislation had been passed earlier in 1982, despite the opposition of the Labor Party. In what was a controverisal move in Labor circles, Bannon defused this as an election issue by promising that development would go ahead under a Labor government (a commitment which was honoured), despite having previously opposed it.

The Liberals also had to contend with the early 1980s recession.

After the election loss, Tonkin resigned as Liberal leader and was succeeded by John Olsen, who won a leadership ballot against Dean Brown. A heart complaint caused Tonkin to leave parliament soon after at which a 1983 Bragg by-election was triggered, the Liberals easily retained the seat.

A 1984 Elizabeth by-election saw Independent Labor candidate Martyn Evans win the seat.

In the South Australian Legislative Council, the sole balance of power was held unbroken by the Australian Democrats from their inception in mid-1970s, until the late 1990s. Though the Democrats would exceed 16 percent of the vote at the 1997 election, during the following term the Democrats would lose the sole balance of power for the first time, sharing the balance of power with independent members, slowly losing numbers and influence, until they were eventually without parliamentary representation as of the 2010 election.

Post-election Pendulum

Legislative Council Results

See also

• Results of the South Australian state election, 1982 (House of Assembly)
• Results of the South Australian state election, 1982 (Legislative Council)
• Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1982-1985
• Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1982-1985

References

• History of South Australian elections 1857-2006, volume 1: ECSA
• Historical lower house results
• Historical upper house results
• State and federal election results in Australia since 1890

Elections and referendums in South Australia
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Referendums	1896 1898 1899 1911 1915 1965 1970 1982 1991