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 his or her 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.

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 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, often 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.

Statistics

The median age of a premier on the first day of their first term is roughly 44 years, and 285 days which falls between Francis Dutton and Lionel Hill. The youngest person to assume the office was James Boucaut at 34 years and 150 days. The oldest person to assume office was Frank Walsh at 67 years and 247 days.

The oldest living former premier is Steele Hall, born 30 November 1928 (age ). The youngest living former premier is Steven Marshall, born 21 January 1968, (age ). The youngest living premier is the incumbent Peter Malinauskas, born 14 August 1980, (age ).

The longest-lived premier is Steele Hall who is currently aged . Henry Strangways was the second longest-lived premier, aged 87 years and 88 days. Hall surpassed Strangways' lifespan on 26 February 2016. The second oldest living premier, Dean Brown will tie Strangways' lifespan on 2 July 2030. The shortest-lived premier was John Cox Bray who died at the age of 52 years and 13 days on 13 June 1894.

Steele Hall has the distinction of having the longest retirement of any former premier, currently at since leaving office on 2 June 1970. He surpassed the previous record, held by Henry Strangways (49 years, 256 days) on 13 February 2020. The premier with the shortest retirement is Frank Walsh, who died on 18 May 1968, 352 days after leaving office on 1 June 1967.

Living former premiers

There are eight living former premiers, the oldest being Steele Hall (1968–70, born 1928). The most recent premier to die was John Bannon (premier 1982–1992) on 13 December 2015.

Oldest living premiers of South Australia

Not all premiers live to become the oldest of their time. Of the 38 deceased premiers, 17 eventually became the oldest of their time, while 21 did not (including both premiers who died in office, and 19 others). Steele Hall has held this distinction since Des Corcoran's death on 3 January 2004, a record period of so far. Hall surpassed the previous record held by B. T. Finniss on 1 October 2022. Robert Richards became the oldest living premier when Richard Layton Butler died in 1966, but he survived Butler by only 1 year and 93 days.

On one occasion the oldest living premier lost this distinction not by his death, but due to the appointment of a premier who was older. B. T. Finniss lost this distinction when Richard Hanson was appointed, but when Hanson died in 1876, Finniss regained it again until his own death in 1893 for a total period of 18 years and 271 days.

Henry Strangways was the oldest to acquire this distinction at the age of 83 years and 89 days. Thomas Playford II, who was aged 77 years and 144 days when he died, on 19 April 1915 was the oldest premier to die without ever acquiring this distinction. John Bannon who died on 13 December 2015 aged 72 years and 220 days is the most recent premier to die without ever acquiring this distinction.

Updated daily according to UTC.

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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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)"
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from:1864 till:1866 color:NON $right text:" 1868–1870_Henry_Strangways"
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from:1872 till:1873 color:NON $right text:" 1876–1877_John_Colton"
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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