South Australian state election, 1985

South Australian state election, 1985

7 December 1985

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 John Olsen Party Labor Liberal Leader since 18 September 1979 10 November 1982 Leader's seat Ross Smith Custance Last election 24 seats 21 seats Seats won 27 seats 16 seats Seat change 3 5 Percentage 53.2% 46.8% Swing 2.3 2.3

Premier before election John Bannon Labor Elected Premier John Bannon Labor

State elections were held in South Australia on 7 December 1985. All 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Premier of South Australia John Bannon defeated the Liberal Party of Australia led by Leader of the Opposition John Olsen.

House of Assembly (IRV) — Turnout 93.46% (CV) — Informal 3.47%

	Party	Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Australian Labor Party	393,652	48.19	+1.91	27	+3
	Liberal Party of Australia	344,337	42.15	-0.52	16	-5
	Australian Democrats	34,732	4.25	-2.87	0	0
	Independent Labor	18,641	2.28	*	2	+2
	Nationals SA	14,056	1.72	-0.60	1	0
	Independent Liberal	5,224	0.64	*	1	+1
	Independent	5,368	0.66	-0.94	0	-1
	Other	878	0.11		0	0
	Total	816,888			47
	Australian Labor Party	WIN	53.20	+2.30	29	+4
	Liberal Party of Australia		46.80	-2.30	18	-4

Independents: Martyn Evans, Norm Peterson, Stan Evans

Background

Parliamentary elections for both houses of the Parliament of South Australia were held in South Australia on 7 December 1985, which saw John Bannon and the Australian Labor Party win a second successive term, against the Liberal Party of Australia opposition led by John Olsen.

Bannon's consensual approach to government differed markedly from the Dunstan era. While then there had been a stream of social reform under Dunstan, Bannon's priorities were oriented in economics. He established the Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine, the submarine project, the defence industry, the Hyatt and Adelaide Casino complex, conversion of part of the Adelaide railway station into the Adelaide Convention Centre, sold land reserved for freeways under the MATS plan, and staged the Formula One Grand Prix. Poker machines (pokies) were introduced in South Australia, a decision Bannon would come to regret decades later. Other measures were introduced such as action to prevent destruction of vegetation and urban renewal programmes to invigorate some of the declining inner suburbs in Adelaide.

Labor won the election with an increased majority. The Liberal Party retained John Olsen as leader, partly because his main rival Dean Brown lost his seat to Independent Liberal Stan Evans.

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

LABOR SEATS (27)
Marginal
Adelaide	Michael Duigan	ALP	0.6%
Fisher	Philip Tyler	ALP	1.1%
Newland	Di Gayler	ALP	1.5%
Bright	Derek Robertson	ALP	1.6%
Hayward	June Appleby	ALP	2.8%
Unley	Kym Mayes	ALP	5.0%
Todd	John Klunder	ALP	5.9%
Fairly safe
Norwood	Greg Crafter	ALP	6.3%
Henley Beach	Don Ferguson	ALP	7.3%
Florey	Susan Lenehan	ALP	8.2%
Safe
Walsh	John Trainer	ALP	10.7%
Hartley	Terry Groom	ALP	12.5%
Albert Park	Kevin Hamilton	ALP	12.9%
Mitchell	Ron Payne	ALP	13.5%
Baudin	Don Hopgood	ALP	13.7%
Gilles	Jack Slater	ALP	14.2%
Peake	Keith Plunkett	ALP	15.7%
Mawson	Susan Lenehan	ALP	16.1%
Whyalla	Frank Blevins	ALP	17.0%
Briggs	Mike Rann	ALP	17.4%
Spence	Roy Abbott	ALP	18.4%
Ross Smith	John Bannon	ALP	18.7%
Playford	Terry McRae	ALP	19.4%
Stuart	Gavin Keneally	ALP	22.0%
Napier	Terry Hemmings	ALP	23.5%
Ramsay	Lynn Arnold	ALP	24.2%
Price	Murray De Laine	ALP	24.3%

LIBERAL SEATS (16)
Marginal
Hanson	Heini Becker	LIB	0.9%
Morphett	John Oswald	LIB	4.7%
Fairly safe
Mitcham	Stephen Baker	LIB	8.3%
Coles	Jennifer Adamson	LIB	8.4%
Heysen	David Wotton	LIB	8.8%
Light	Bruce Eastick	LIB	9.3%
Mount Gambier	Harold Allison	LIB	9.9%
Safe
Kavel	Stephen Baker	LIB	11.0%
Goyder	John Meier	LIB	12.4%
Alexandra	Ted Chapman	LIB	15.2%
Eyre	Graham Gunn	LIB	15.8%
Chaffey	Peter Arnold	LIB	16.3%
Custance	John Olsen	LIB	16.3%
Bragg	Graham Ingerson	LIB	17.5%
Victoria	Dale Baker	LIB	18.3%
Murray-Mallee	Peter Lewis	LIB	18.6%
CROSSBENCH SEATS (4)
Davenport	Stan Evans	IND	2.8% v LIB
Elizabeth	Martyn Evans	IND	4.0% v ALP
Semaphore	Norm Peterson	IND	7.3% v ALP
Flinders	Peter Blacker	NAT	8.3% v LIB

Legislative Council Results

1985 Legislative Council Result (STV GV)
Party			Seats
	Australian Labor Party	48.0%	5
	Liberal Party of Australia	39.3%	5
	Australian Democrats	5.5%	1
	Nationals SA	1.6%
1985-1989 Legislative Council
Party			Seats
	Australian Labor Party		10
	Liberal Party of Australia		10
	Australian Democrats		2

See also

• Results of the South Australian state election, 1985 (House of Assembly)
• Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1985-1989
• Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1985-1989

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

External links

• South Australian Elections 1989: Parliament of Australia Research Library paper, including maps effective from 1983