Premier of South Australia

The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is appointed by the governor of South Australia, and by modern convention holds office by virtue of their ability to command the support of a majority of members of the lower house of Parliament, the House of Assembly.

Peter Malinauskas is the current premier, having served since 21 March 2022.

History

The office of premier of South Australia was established upon the commencement of responsible government with the passage of the ''Constitution Act 1856''. The role was based upon that of the prime minister of the United Kingdom, with the premier requiring the support of a majority of the members of the lower house to remain head of government. For the early years of responsible government, the office was held in conjunction with that of Chief Secretary of South Australia, a role that had existed since colonsiation, but by the 1890's, this was no longer a convention.

No parties or solid groupings would be formed until after the 1890 election, which resulted in frequent changes of the premier of South Australia. If for any reason the incumbent premier lost sufficient support through a successful motion of no confidence at any time on the floor of the house, he would tender his resignation to the governor of South Australia, which would result in another member deemed to have the support of the House of Assembly being sworn in by the governor as the next premier.

Informal groupings began and increased government stability occurred from the 1887 election. The United Labor Party would be formed in 1891, while the National Defence League would be formed later in the same year.

Before the 1890s when there was no formal party system in South Australia, MPs tended to have historical liberal or conservative beliefs. The liberals dominated government from the 1893 election to 1905 election with the support of the South Australian United Labor Party, with the conservatives mostly in opposition. Labor took government with the support of eight dissident liberals in 1905 when Labor won the most seats for the first time. The rise of Labor saw non-Labor politics start to merge into various party incarnations.

The two independent conservative parties, the Australasian National League (formerly the National Defence League) and the Farmers and Producers Political Union merged with the Liberal and Democratic Union to become the Liberal Union in 1910. Labor formed South Australia's first majority government after winning the 1910 state election, triggering the merger. The 1910 election came two weeks after federal Labor formed Australia's first elected majority government at the 1910 federal election.

No "Country" or rural conservative parties emerged as serious long-term forces in South Australian state politics, the majority folding into the main non-Labor party.

List of premiers of South Australia

The first six governors of South Australia oversaw governance from proclamation in 1836 until self-government and an elected Parliament of South Australia was enacted in the year prior to the inaugural 1857 election.

Political parties

Timeline

In the following timeline, the legend includes the Liberal and Democratic Union, the Liberal Union and the Liberal Federation represented as "Liberal (pre-1979)". The Liberal Party is represented as "Liberal (post-1979)" only. The grey area represents the duration of Playmander electoral malapportionment, beginning in 1936, in effect until the 1970 election.


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id:ALP value:red legend:Labor
id:LPA value:darkblue legend:Liberal_(post_1979)
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width:33 shift:(-25,-5) align:right color:War fontsize:S textcolor:war

from:1936 till:1969 shift:(25,7) align:left

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from:1845 till:1846 color:NON $right text:" 1856–1857_Boyle_Finniss"
from:1846 till:1847 color:NON $left text:" John_Baker_1857"
from:1847 till:1848 color:NON $right text:" 1857_Robert_Torrens"
from:1848 till:1851 color:NON $left text:" Richard_Hanson_1857–1860"
from:1851 till:1852 color:NON $right text:" 1860–1861_Thomas Reynolds"
from:1852 till:1854 color:NON $left text:" George_Waterhouse_1861–1863"
from:1854 till:1855 color:NON $right text:" 1863_Francis_Dutton"
from:1855 till:1856 color:NON $left text:" Henry_Ayres_1863–1864"
from:1856 till:1857 color:NON $right text:" 1864–1865_Arthur_Blyth"
from:1857 till:1858 color:NON $left text:"(second time)_Francis_Dutton_1865"
from:1858 till:1859 color:NON $right text:"1865_Henry_Ayres_(second time)"
from:1859 till:1860 color:NON $left text:" John_Hart_1865–1866"
from:1860 till:1861 color:NON $right text:" James_Boucaut_1866–1867"
from:1861 till:1862 color:NON $left text:"(third time)_Henry_Ayers_1867–1868"
from:1862 till:1863 color:NON $right text:"1868_John_Hart_(second time)"
from:1863 till:1864 color:NON $left text:"(fourth time)_Henry_Ayers_1868"
from:1864 till:1866 color:NON $right text:" 1868–1870_Henry_Strangways"
from:1866 till:1867 color:NON $left text:"(third time)_John_Hart_1870–1871"
from:1867 till:1868 color:NON $right text:"1871–1872_Arthur_Blyth_(second time)"
from:1868 till:1869 color:NON $left text:"(fifth time)_Henry_Ayers_1872–1873"
from:1869 till:1871 color:NON $right text:"1873–1875_Arthur_Blyth_(third time)"
from:1871 till:1872 color:NON $left text:"(second time)_James_Boucaut_1875–1876"
from:1872 till:1873 color:NON $right text:" 1876–1877_John_Colton"
from:1873 till:1874 color:NON $left text:"(third time)_James_Boucaut_1877–1878"
from:1874 till:1877 color:NON $right text:" 1878–1881_William_Morgan"
from:1877 till:1880 color:NON $left text:" John_Cox_Bray_1881–1884"
from:1880 till:1881 color:NON $right text:"1884–1885_John_Colton_(second time)"
from:1881 till:1883 color:NON $left text:" John_Downer_1885–1887"
from:1883 till:1885 color:NON $right text:" 1887–1889_Thomas_Playford_II"
from:1885 till:1886 color:NON $left text:" John_Cockburn_1889–1890"
from:1886 till:1888 color:NON $right text:"1890–1892_Thomas_Playford_II_(second time)"
from:1888 till:1889 color:NON $left text:" Frederick Holder_1892"
from:1889 till:1890 color:CON $right text:"1892–1893_John_Downer_(second time)"
from:1890 till:1896 color:LIB $left text:" Charles_Kingston_1893–1899"
from:1896 till:1897 color:CON $right text:" 1899_Vaiben_Solomon"
from:1897 till:1899 color:LIB $left text:"(second_time)_Frederick_Holder_1899–1901"
from:1899 till:1903 color:LIB $right text:" 1901–1905_John_Jenkins"
from:1903 till:1904 color:CON $left text:" Richard_Butler_1905"
from:1904 till:1908 color:ALP $right text:" 1905–1909_Thomas_Price"
from:1908 till:1909 color:LIU $left text:" Archibald_Peake_1909–1910"
from:1909 till:1911 color:ALP $right text:" 1910–1912_John_Verran"
from:1911 till:1914 color:LIU $left text:"(second_time)_Archibald_Peake_1912–1915"
from:1914 till:1916 color:ALP $right text:" Crawford Vaughan, 1915–1917_Crawford_Vaughan"
from:1916 till:1919 color:LIU $left text:"(third_time)_Archibald_Peake_1917–1920"
from:1919 till:1923 color:LIU $right text:" Henry Barwell, 1920–1924_Henry_Barwell"
from:1923 till:1925 color:ALP $left text:" John_Gunn_1924–1926"
from:1925 till:1926 color:ALP $right text:" 1926–1927_Lionel_Hill"
from:1926 till:1929 color:LIU $left text:" Richard_L._Butler_1927–1930"
from:1929 till:1932 color:ALP $right text:"1930–1933_Lionel_Hill_(second_time)"
from:1932 till:1933 color:ALP $left text:" Robert_Richards_1933"
from:1933 till:1938 color:LCL $right text:"1933–1938_Richard_L._Butler_(second_time)"
from:1938 till:1964 color:LCL $left text:" Thomas Playford IV_1938–1965"
from:1964 till:1966 color:ALP $right text:" 1965–1967_Frank_Walsh"
from:1966 till:1967 color:ALP $left text:" Don Dunstan_1967–1968"
from:1967 till:1969 color:LCL $right text:" 1968–1970_Steele_Hall"
from:1969 till:1978 color:ALP $left text:"(second_time)_Don_Dunstan_1970–1979"
from:1978 till:1979 color:ALP $right text:" 1979_Des Corcoran"
from:1979 till:1982 color:LPA $left text:" David Tonkin_1979–1982"
from:1982 till:1992 color:ALP $right text:" 1982–1992_John_Bannon"
from:1992 till:1993 color:ALP $left text:" Lynn_Arnold_1992–1993"
from:1993 till:1996 color:LPA $right text:" 1993–1996_Dean_Brown"
from:1996 till:2001 color:LPA $left text:" John_Olsen_1996–2001"
from:2001 till:2002 color:LPA $right text:" 2001–2002_Rob_Kerin"
from:2002 till:2011 color:ALP $left text:" Mike_Rann_2002–2011"
from:2011 till:2018 color:ALP $right text:" 2011–2018_Jay_Weatherill"
from:2018 till:2022 color:LPA $left text:" Steven_Marshall_2018–2022"
from:2022 till:end color:ALP $right text:" 2022–present_Peter_Malinauskas"

See also

* List of premiers of South Australia by time in office
* Deputy Premier of South Australia
* Leader of the Opposition (South Australia)

References

Statistical Record of the Legislature 1836 – 2007

External links

Biographies of all premiers at the SA Parliament web site

UWA state and federal election results since 1890

{{DEFAULTSORT:Premier Of South Australia
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South Australia
Premiers
Ministers of the South Australian state government