1953 South Australian state election

* * *

| <- 1950 | 7 March 1953 (1953-03-07) | 1956 ->

|
|

* * *

All 39 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly
20 seats were needed for a majority
|  | First party  | Second party

|
|

|  |
Leader  | Thomas Playford | Mick O'Halloran
Party  | Liberal and Country League | Labor
Leader since  | 5 November 1938  | 10 October 1949
Leader's seat  | Gumeracha | Frome
Last election  | 23 seats  | 12 seats
Seats won  | 21 seats  | 14 seats
Seat change  | 2  | 2
Percentage  | 47.0%  | 53.0%
Swing  | 4.3  | 4.3

* * *

| Premier before election

Thomas Playford
Liberal and Country League

| Elected Premier

Thomas Playford
Liberal and Country League

|

State elections were held in South Australia on 7 March 1953. 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]

## Background

[edit]

Labor won three seats, metropolitan Norwood and Prospect and rural Victoria from the LCL.[3] The LCL won one seat, rural Murray from Labor.[4] Neither major party contested the independent-held seat of Ridley.[1][2]

The Labor opposition won 53 percent of the statewide two-party vote, but the LCL retained government with the assistance of the Playmander − an electoral malapportionment that also saw a clear majority of the statewide two-party vote won by Labor while failing to form government in 1944, 1962 and 1968.[1][2]

## Results

[edit]

South Australian state election, 7 March 1953[5]
House of Assembly
<< 1950–1956 >>

Enrolled voters  | 354,273  |  |
Votes cast  | 336,592  |  | Turnout | 95.01%  | +1.86%
Informal votes  | 9,871  |  | Informal  | 2.93%  | –0.40%
Summary of votes by party
Party  | Primary votes  | %  | Swing  | Seats  | Change
| Labor | 166,517  | 50.97%  | +2.88%  | 14  | \+ 2
| Liberal and Country | 119,106  | 36.45%  | –4.05%  | 21 | – 2
| Communist | 4,827  | 1.48%  | +0.14%  | 0  | ± 0
| Independent | 36,271  | 11.10%  | +1.03%  | 4  | ± 0
Total  | 326,721  |  |  | 39  |
Two-party-preferred
| Liberal and Country |  | 47.00%  | –4.30%  |  |
| Labor |  | 53.00%  | +4.30%  |  |

* The primary vote figures were from contested seats, while the state-wide two-party-preferred vote figures were estimated from all seats.

## Post-election pendulum

[edit]

LCL seats (21)

Marginal
Unley | Colin Dunnage | LCL  | 0.3%
Murray | Hector White | LCL  | 0.5%
Glenelg | Baden Pattinson | LCL  | 0.7%
Torrens | John Travers | LCL  | 1.3%
Fairly safe
Gouger | Rufus Goldney | LCL  | 6.1%
Onkaparinga | Howard Shannon | LCL  | 7.0%
Flinders | Glen Pearson | LCL  | 8.4%
Burra | George Hawker | LCL  | 9.4%
Light | Herbert Michael | LCL  | 9.5%
Safe
Newcastle | George Jenkins | LCL  | 13.7%
Burnside | Geoffrey Clarke | LCL  | 16.1%
Eyre | Arthur Christian | LCL  | 17.8% v IND
Angas | Berthold Teusner | LCL  | 18.1% v IND
Gumeracha | Thomas Playford | LCL  | 40.4% v COM
Albert | Malcolm McIntosh | LCL  | undistributed
Stirling | William Jenkins | LCL  | undistributed
Alexandra | David Brookman | LCL  | unopposed
Mitcham | Henry Dunks | LCL  | unopposed
Rocky River | James Heaslip | LCL  | unopposed
Yorke Peninsula | Cecil Hincks | LCL  | unopposed
Young | Robert Nicholls | LCL  | unopposed
Labor seats (15)

Marginal
Victoria | Jim Corcoran | ALP  | 0.8%
Prospect | Joe Jennings | ALP  | 3.4%
Fairly safe
Norwood | Don Dunstan | ALP  | 6.3%
Safe
Stanley | Percy Quirke | ALP  | 11.9%
Goodwood | Frank Walsh | ALP  | 13.1%
Gawler | John Clark | ALP  | 27.1% v IND
Semaphore | Harold Tapping | ALP  | 37.6% v IND
Adelaide | Sam Lawn | ALP  | 39.5% v COM
Stuart | Lindsay Riches | ALP  | 39.8% v COM
Port Adelaide | James Stephens | ALP  | 41.9% v COM
Port Pirie | Charles Davis | ALP  | undistributed
Frome | Mick O'Halloran | ALP  | unopposed
Hindmarsh | Cyril Hutchens | ALP  | unopposed
Thebarton | Fred Walsh | ALP  | unopposed
Wallaroo | Hughie McAlees | ALP  | unopposed
Crossbench seats (3)
Mount Gambier | John Fletcher | IND  | 4.3% v ALP
Chaffey | William MacGillivray | IND  | 19.1% v LCL
Ridley | Tom Stott | IND  | 27.8% v IND

## See also

[edit]

* Results of the South Australian state election, 1953 (House of Assembly)
* Candidates of the 1953 South Australian state election
* Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1953-1956
* Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1953-1956
* Playmander

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Jaensch, Dean (March 2007). "The 1953 General Election - Formed the 34th Parliament". History of South Australian elections 1857-2006: House of Assembly, Volume 1. State Electoral Office South Australia. pp. 270–273. ISBN 9780975048634. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2015 - via Electoral Commission of South Australia.
2. ^ a b c Tilby Stock, Jenny (1996). "The 'Playmander', Its origins, operation and effect on South Australia". In O'Neil, Bernard; Raftery, Judith; Round, Kerrie (eds.). 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).
3. ^ "Fate of Govern. in Doubt in Swing to Labor: LCL Appears Certain to Lose at least Three Seats". The Mail. 7 March 1953. Retrieved 13 January 2016 - via Trove.
4. ^ "Absolute Majority for Government: L.C.L. Candidate Wins Murray Seat". The Advertiser. 14 March 1953. Retrieved 13 January 2016 - via Trove.
5. ^ "Summary of 1953 Election". University of Western Australia. Retrieved 7 July 2015.

## External links

[edit]

* Two-party preferred figures since 1950, ABC News Online

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