South Australian state election, 1959
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State elections were held in South Australia on 7 March 1959. All 39 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent Liberal and Country League led by Premier of South Australia Thomas Playford IV defeated the Australian Labor Party led by Leader of the Opposition Mick O'Halloran.[1][2]
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| Australian Labor Party | 191,933 | 49.35 | +1.98 | 17 | +2 | |
| Liberal and Country League | 143,710 | 36.95 | +0.26 | 20 | -1 | |
| Democratic Labor Party | 21,984 | 5.65 | * | 0 | 0 | |
| Communist Party of Australia | 5,505 | 1.42 | +0.26 | 0 | 0 | |
| Independent | 25,806 | 6.63 | -0.71 | 2 | -1 | |
| Total | 388,938 | 39 | ||||
| Liberal and Country League | WIN | 50.30 | -1.00 | 20 | -1 | |
| Australian Labor Party | 49.70 | +1.00 | 17 | +2 |
- The LCL did not contest eight seats, Labor did not contest ten seats. The primary vote was counted on seats contested, while the two-party vote was estimated for all seats.
Background
Labor won two seats at this election, rural Mount Gambier from an Independent and rural Wallaroo from the LCL. Both of these seats had been previously won in by-elections in 1957 and 1958, and Labor retained them.[1][2]
Post-election pendulum
| LCL SEATS (20) | |||
| Marginal | |||
| Fairly Safe | |||
| Unley | Colin Dunnage | LCL | 7.0% |
| Chaffey | Harold King | LCL | 8.2% |
| Torrens | John Coumbe | LCL | 9.6% |
| Safe | |||
| Flinders | Glen Pearson | LCL | 10.1% |
| Victoria | Leslie Harding | LCL | 11.4% |
| Glenelg | Baden Pattinson | LCL | 12.4% |
| Onkaparinga | Howard Shannon | LCL | 13.3% |
| Angas | Berthold Teusner | LCL | 14.7% |
| Mitcham | Robin Millhouse | LCL | 20.2% |
| Light | George Hambour | LCL | 21.8% |
| Gumeracha | Thomas Playford | LCL | 26.4% |
| Burnside | Joyce Steele | LCL | undistributed |
| Gouger | Steele Hall | LCL | undistributed |
| Albert | Bill Nankivell | LCL | unopposed |
| Alexandra | David Brookman | LCL | unopposed |
| Barossa | Condor Laucke | LCL | unopposed |
| Eyre | George Bockelberg | LCL | unopposed |
| Rocky River | James Heaslip | LCL | unopposed |
| Stirling | William Jenkins | LCL | unopposed |
| Yorke Peninsula | Cecil Hincks | LCL | unopposed |
| LABOR SEATS (17) | |||
| Marginal | |||
| West Torrens | Fred Walsh | ALP | 1.4% |
| Frome | Mick O'Halloran | ALP | 2.5% |
| Millicent | Jim Corcoran | ALP | 4.5% |
| Norwood | Don Dunstan | ALP | 5.0% |
| Fairly safe | |||
| Edwardstown | Frank Walsh | ALP | 7.8% |
| Mount Gambier | Ron Ralston | ALP | 8.3% |
| Wallaroo | Lloyd Hughes | ALP | 8.9% |
| Safe | |||
| Murray | Gabe Bywaters | ALP | 15.1% |
| Gawler | John Clark | ALP | 17.7% |
| Adelaide | Sam Lawn | ALP | 30.1% v DLP |
| Port Adelaide | John Ryan | ALP | 34.9% v DLP |
| Whyalla | Ron Loveday | ALP | 34.9% v IND |
| Stuart | Lindsay Riches | ALP | 38.4% v IND |
| Semaphore | Harold Tapping | ALP | 42.2% v COM |
| Enfield | Joe Jennings | ALP | undistributed |
| Port Pirie | Dave McKee | ALP | undistributed |
| Hindmarsh | Cyril Hutchens | ALP | unopposed |
| CROSSBENCH SEATS (2) | |||
| Burra | Percy Quirke | IND | 2.1% v LCL |
| Ridley | Tom Stott | IND | 6.7% v LCL |
See also
- Results of the South Australian state election, 1959 (House of Assembly)
- Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1959-1962
- Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1959-1962
- Playmander
Notes
- 1 2 Jaensch, Dean (March 2007). "The 1959 General Election - Formed the 36th Parliament". History of South Australian elections 1857-2006: House of Assembly, Volume 1. State Electoral Office South Australia. pp. 277–280. ISBN 9780975048634 – via Electoral Commission of South Australia.
- 1 2 Tilby Stock, Jenny (1996). "The 'Playmander', Its origins, operation and effect on South Australia". In O'Neil, Bernard; Raftery, Judith; Round, Kerrie. Playford's South Australia: essays on the history of South Australia, 1933-1968. Association of Professional Historians. pp. 73–90. ISBN 9780646290928 – via Professional Historians Association (South Australia).
- ↑ "Electoral system and voting for the South Australian House of Assembly from 1890: Election held on 7 March 1959". Australian Politics and Elections Database. University of Western Australia. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
Further reading
- Hetherington, Robert; Reid, Robert Lovell (1962). The South Australian Elections 1959. Adelaide: Rigby. ASIN B003Z02DY8.
External links
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