State elections were held in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

on 15 September 1979. All 47 seats in the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the South Australian Legislative Council, Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament House in the st ...

were up for election. The incumbent

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

led by Premier of South Australia

Des Corcoran James Desmond Corcoran AO (8 November 1928 – 3 January 2004) was an Australian politician, representing the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party. He was the 37th Premier of South Australia, serving between 15 February 1979 ...

was defeated by the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

led by Leader of the Opposition David Tonkin. The Liberals originally won 25 seats, but a court decision overturned their win in Norwood. Labor won the Norwood by-election, which meant the Liberals held 24 seats, with Labor on 20 seats, and 1 each to the

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Austral ...

, National Country Party, and an Independent Labor.

Background

Premier

Don Dunstan Donald Allan Dunstan (21 September 1926 – 6 February 1999) was an Australian politician who served as the 35th premier of South Australia from 1967 to 1968, and again from 1970 to 1979. He was a member of the House of Assembly (MHA) for th ...

abruptly resigned as premier on 15 February 1979, due to ill health, and was succeeded by Deputy Premier

. Dunstan also resigned from parliament, and his seat was retained for Labor by Greg Crafter at the by-election in March 1979. Spurred by positive opinion polls, and seeking to escape the shadow of Dunstan by gaining a mandate of his own, Corcoran called a snap election, without informing the party apparatus. The election campaign was plagued by problems, which allowed an opening for the Liberals under Tonkin. It did not help matters that The Advertiser was biased toward the Liberal campaign.

Summary of results

Labor suffered a large swing, losing seven seats (six to the Liberals, one to Independent Labor

Norm Peterson Hilary Norman Peterson is a regular fictional character on the American television show ''Cheers''. The character was portrayed by actor George Wendt and is named Hilary after his paternal grandfather. Norm appeared in all 275 episodes of '' ...

). The Liberals also won 55 percent of the two-party vote to Labor's 45 percent. In most of Australia, this would have been enough for a landslide Liberal victory. However, the Liberals only won 13 seats in Adelaide, netting them a total of 25 seats, a bare majority of two. Narrow as it was, it was the first time the main non-Labor party in South Australia had won the most seats while also winning a majority of the vote since the

Liberal and Country League Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and ...

won 50.3 percent of the two-party vote in 1959. The Liberal majority was pared back even further after the Court of Disputed Returns struck down the result in Norwood. The court found that a Liberal Party advertisement in an Italian language newspaper, which described Liberal candidate Frank Webster as "your representative" ("''il vostro deputato''"), gave the false impression that Webster was the sitting member. Labor regained Norwood at the

1980 Norwood state by-election The Norwood state by-election, 1980 was a by-election held on 16 February 1980 for the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Norwood. The seat had been held by former Premier and Labor MHA Don Dunstan from the 1953 state election, until his ...

, reducing the Liberals to 24 seats, just enough to govern. In the

South Australian Legislative Council The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the South Australian House of Assembly, ...

, the Liberals won 6 seats, Labor won 4, and

won 1; giving numbers of 11 Liberal, 10 Labor and 1 Democrat, leaving the Liberal government one seat short of a majority.

Aftermath

Corcoran was bitter in defeat, believing sections of the ALP had undermined him during the campaign. He resigned as leader soon after the election, and retired from politics in 1982. In 1982, when legislation to enable the

Roxby Downs Roxby Downs may refer to. * Roxby Downs, South Australia, a town and a locality * Roxby Council, formerly Municipal Council of Roxby Downs, a local government area See also *Roxby Downs Station Roxby Downs Station was a pastoral lease in centra ...

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

mine was opposed by both Labor and the Democrats, Norm Foster resigned from the Labor Party to support the legislation, and sat as an independent in the Legislative Council.

Key dates

* House of Assembly dissolved: 22 August 1979, 2:00pm * Issue of writ: 27 August 1979 * Close of nominations: 5 September 1979 * Polling day: 15 September 1979 * Return of writ: On or before 5 October 1979

Results

House of Assembly

These numbers include the result of the

Seats changing hands

* Members in ''italics'' did not recontest their seats. * Keith Russack was elected in 1977 as an Independent, but joined the Liberal party soon after.

Legislative Council

Post-election pendulum

These numbers include the result of the

. Subsequently, the

1982 Mitcham by-election A by-election was held for the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Mitcham on 8 May 1982. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of former state Democrats MHA Robin Millhouse. The Liberal Party was expected to win the seat, but ...

and 1982 Florey by-election were held. The Democrats retained Mitcham by 45 votes, while Labor increased their margin in Florey.

References

History of South Australian elections 1857-2006, volume 1: ECSAState and federal election results
in Australia since 1890 ;Specific {{South Australian elections Elections in South Australia 1979 elections in Australia 1970s in South Australia September 1979 events in Australia