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Liberal Party of Australia (South Australian Division)

The Liberal Party of Australia (South Australian Division), commonly known as the South Australian Liberals, is the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia. It was formed as the Liberal and Country League (LCL) in 1932 and became the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party when the Liberal Party was formed in 1945.[6] It retained its Liberal and Country League name before changing to its current name in 1974.[7] It is one of two major parties in the bicameral Parliament of South Australia, the other being the Australian Labor Party (SA Branch). The party has been led by Leader of the Opposition David Speirs since the 2022 state election after a one-term government.

Liberal Party of Australia
(South Australian Division)
LeaderDavid Speirs
Deputy LeaderJohn Gardner
PresidentRowan Mumford[1]
Founded1932 (as Liberal and Country League)
Preceded byLiberal Federation
Country Party (SA)
Headquarters104 Greenhill Road, Unley
Youth wingSouth Australian Young Liberal Movement
Women's wingLiberal Women's Council
LGBT wingLiberal Pride[2]
IdeologyConservatism
Liberalism (Australian)
Liberal conservatism
Factions
Christian Right[3]
Political positionCentre-right[4][5] to right-wing[3]
National affiliationLiberal Party of Australia
House of Assembly
16 / 47
Legislative Council
8 / 22
House of Representatives
3 / 10
(SA seats)
Senate
6 / 12
(SA seats)
Website
saliberal.org.au

During its 42-year existence as the Liberal and Country League, it spent 34 years in government, mainly due to an electoral malapportionment scheme known as the Playmander. The Playmander was named after LCL leader Sir Tom Playford, who was the Premier of South Australia for 27 years from 1938 until his election loss in 1965. The Playmander was dismantled through an electoral reform in 1968, with the first election under the new boundaries in 1970. Since the electoral reform, the party has won only 4 of the 17 state elections: 1979, 1993, 1997 and 2018.

History

Formation

 
Sir Richard Layton Butler, LCL Founder and Premier 1933–1938

The Liberal and Country League had its roots in the Emergency Committee of South Australia, which ran as the main non-Labor party in South Australia at the 1931 federal election landslide. In the House of Representatives, it took an additional two seats to hold six of the state's seven seats. In the bloc-voting winner-take-all Senate, it took the three seats up for election.

Encouraged by this success, the Liberal Federation (the SA branch of the United Australia Party) and the SA Country Party merged to form the LCL on 9 June 1932, with former Liberal Federation leader Richard Layton Butler as its first leader. Liberal Federation itself was preceded by Liberal Union (1910–1923) with the latter created from a tri-merger between the Liberal and Democratic Union (formed 1906), the Farmers and Producers Political Union (formed 1904) and the National Defence League (formed 1891).

In its first electoral test, the 1933 state election, the LCL took advantage of a three-way split in the state Labor government to win a smashing victory, taking 29 seats versus only 13 for the three Labor factions combined. Butler then became the Premier of South Australia.

Traditionally a socially conservative party, the LCL contained relatively distinct factions whose ideologies often conflicted:[citation needed]

The urban middle class continued to support the party although they had little say in its running. Indeed, it was not until the election of Robin Millhouse in 1955 that someone from this third faction was elected to parliament. Millhouse, often considered during his term as the most progressive member of the LCL, continually criticised the conservative wing of the party. He eventually resigned in 1973 and joined the splinter Liberal Movement party.[8]

Playmander period

Early years

 
Sir Tom Playford, LCL Leader 1938–1966, Premier 1938–1965

The Butler LCL introduced the electoral malapportionment scheme later known as the Playmander in 1936. The House of Assembly was also reduced from 46 members elected from multi-member districts to 39 members elected from single-member electorates. The electorates consisted of rural districts enjoying a 2-to-1 advantage in the state parliament, even though they contained less than half of the population. Two-thirds of seats were to be located in rural areas ("the country"). This arrangement was retained even as Adelaide, the state capital, grew to two-thirds of the state's population.

Even allowing for a smaller chamber, the LCL suffered heavy losses at the 1938 election, winning just 15 of 39 seats. However, Labor picked up only a small number of additional seats. In an unprecedented result, the crossbench swelled massively, with no less than 14 independents elected from a combined independent primary vote of 40 percent, higher than either major party (33 percent for the LCL, 26 percent for Labor). Butler and the LCL had to rely on the crossbench for confidence and supply to remain in government. Only months later, Butler resigned in favour of Tom Playford to make an unsuccessful attempt to enter federal politics. From the 1941 election onward, the Playford LCL would regain and keep a parliamentary majority, albeit narrowly. Additionally, turnout crashed to a record-low 50 percent in 1941, triggering the Playford LCL to introduce compulsory voting from the 1944 election.

In January 1945, the Liberal and Country League became the South Australian division of the newly formed Liberal Party of Australia.[6] However, the SA division continued to be known as the LCL.[9]

Effects on elections

Under the scheme, a vote in a low-population rural seat had anywhere from double to ten times the value of a vote in a high-population metropolitan seat. For example, at the 1968 election the rural seat of Frome had 4,500 formal votes, while the metropolitan seat of Enfield had 42,000 formal votes. The scheme allowed LCL to win sufficient parliamentary seats even when it lost the two-party vote to Labor opposition by comprehensive margins at several elections: 1944, 1953, 1962 and 1968. For instance, in the 1944 and 1953 elections, Labor took 53 percent of the two-party vote, which would have normally been enough to deliver a solid majority for the Labor leader–Robert Richards in 1944 and Mick O'Halloran in 1953. However, on both occasions, the LCL managed to just barely hold onto power. By the 1950s, a number of Labor figures had despaired of ever winning power. O'Halleran, for instance, felt he needed to maintain a cordial relationship with Playford in hopes of getting Labor-friendly legislation through the House of Assembly.

Playford had become synonymous with the LCL over his record 27-year tenure as Premier of South Australia. The LCL became so strongly identified with Playford that during election campaigns, it branded itself as "The Playford Liberal and Country League". Playford gave the impression that the LCL membership were there solely to raise money and run election campaigns; his grip on the party was such that he frequently ignored LCL convention decisions. This treatment of rank and file party members continued to cause resentment throughout the party. This split mirrored the dissatisfaction amongst the Establishment faction, which had been steadily losing its power within the party and was appalled at the "nouveau riche (new money) commoners", such as Millhouse, that had infiltrated the parliamentary wing of the LCL.

Fall from power

The LCL's grip on power began to slip in the 1950s; they would lose seats in every election from 1953 onward. Even at the height of Playford's popularity, the LCL was almost nonexistent in Adelaide, winning almost no seats in the capital outside the wealthy "eastern crescent" and the area around Glenelg and Holdfast Bay. Due to its paper-thin base in the capital, Playford's LCL often won just barely enough seats to govern alone; the party never held more than 23 seats at any time during Playford's tenure. Despite this, the LCL party machine had become moribund as leaders had become lulled into a false sense of security due to the extended run of election wins aided by the Playmander. The LCL was thus caught unawares when O'Halloran's successor as state Labor leader, Frank Walsh, eschewed a statewide campaign in favour of targeting marginal LCL seats.

Walsh's strategy almost paid off at the 1962 election. Labor won a decisive 54.3 percent of the two-party preferred vote to the LCL's 45.7 percent. In the rest of Australia, this would have been enough for a comprehensive Labor victory. However, due to the Playmander, Labor only picked up a two-seat swing, leaving it one short of a majority. The two independents threw their support to the LCL, allowing Playford to remain in office. This election showed how grossly distorted the Playmander had become; by this time, Adelaide accounted for two-thirds of the state's population, but elected only one-third of the legislature. A year later, the LCL received another jolt with the reformation of a separate Country Party. Although a shadow of its former self, the reformed Country Party served as a wakeup call to Playford that there were problems within the LCL.

Labor finally beat the Playmander against the odds at the 1965 election. Despite winning the same two-party vote as it had three years earlier, the Playmander was strong enough that Labor was only able to win government by two seats. Playford resigned as party leader in 1966 and was succeeded by Steele Hall.

Dismantling Playmander

 
Steele Hall, LCL Leader 1966–1972, Premier 1968–1970

At the 1968 election, Labor won a 53.2 percent two-party vote to the LCL's 46.8 percent, but suffered a two-seat swing, resulting in a hung parliament. The lone independent in the chamber, Tom Stott, threw his support to the LCL, allowing Hall to form a minority government. Hall was embarrassed that his party was in a position to win power despite having clearly lost the vote. Concerned by the level of publicity and public protest about the issue, Hall committed himself to reducing the rural weighting. Under his watch, the lower house was expanded 39 to 47 seats, 28 of which were located in Adelaide. It fell short of "one vote one value", as Labor had demanded, since rural areas were still over-represented.

Nonetheless, with Adelaide now electing a majority of the legislature, conventional wisdom held that Hall knew he was effectively handing the premiership to Labor leader Don Dunstan at the next election. That election took place in 1970 when Stott crossed the floor to vote against the LCL. As expected, the LCL was defeated. Hall remained as the Leader of the Opposition. One vote one value would later be introduced by Labor following the 1975 election.

The party's problems had already emerged in public spats, most notably the formation of the Liberal Movement, a socially progressive or "small-l liberal" wing of the LCL in 1972.[8] The divisions culminated in the Liberal Movement becoming a separate party in 1973, with Hall and fellow parliamentarians Martin Cameron and Robin Millhouse resigning from the LCL to join the newly formed party. Hall claimed that the Party had 'lost its idealism [and] forgotten...its purpose for existence'.

Bruce Eastick succeeded Hall as LCL leader after Hall's resignation from the party in 1973.

Liberal Party

Renaming to the Liberal Party

During Eastick's leadership, the Liberal and Country League met at the State Council meeting on 22 July 1974 to rename itself to "Liberal Party of Australia (South Australian Division)".[10][11] The renaming initiative was welcomed by federal Liberal leader and opposition leader Billy Snedden, who was present at the meeting. The party also revised its constitution, adopted a new platform, appointed new young party officials and organisers, modelling after the Victorian Liberals.[12]

In July 1975, David Tonkin challenged Eastick for party leadership, and became leader unopposed after Eastick stood aside.[13] This would be the last time that a Liberal leader was elected unopposed until 2013.

Hall's Liberal Movement dissolved in 1976 and three of its four state parliamentary members (Martin Cameron, John Carnie, David Boundy) rejoined the Liberal Party. Hall, who was elected to the Senate in 1974 and 1975 as a Liberal Movement member, also rejoined the Liberal Party and joined the federal Liberal Party room. The remaining Liberal Movement state parliamentary member was Millhouse, who refused to rejoin the Liberal Party, founding the New Liberal Movement instead. His new party merged with the Australia Party a year later in 1977 to become the Australian Democrats.

One vote one value was introduced by Labor following the 1975 election where the Liberal Party won a 50.8 percent two-party vote but fell one seat short of forming government. Labor would regain their vote and majority at the 1977 election, however Dunstan resigned in the months prior to the 1979 election where the Liberals won government for one term.

Tonkin Government (1979–1982)

At that election, David Tonkin, who succeeded Eastick as party leader in 1975, led the Liberals to victory against a weakened Labor Party. It was the first time in 20 years that the non-Labor side in South Australia had won the most seats while also winning a majority of the vote. However, despite winning 55 percent of the two-party vote, the largest two-party-preferred margin since the end of the Playmander at the time, the Liberals only won 25 of the 47 seats. This was because the "one vote one value" reforms left most of the Liberal vote locked in comfortably safe rural seats. Despite taking six seats off Labor, the Liberals only won 13 seats in Adelaide. As a result, despite winning a margin that would have been large enough for a strong majority government in the rest of Australia, the Liberals won only 25 seats, a bare majority of two.

Tonkin survived for only one term before the early 1980s recession resulted in him narrowly losing the 1982 election to Labor under John Bannon.

Opposition (1982–1993)

John Olsen succeeded Tonkin as leader in 1982, and led the Liberals to defeats at the 1985 and 1989. In the latter, the Liberals won a bare majority of the two-party vote. However, much of that majority was wasted on landslides in their rural heartland, allowing Labor to eke out a two-seat majority.

Olsen resigned to take up a Senate seat soon afterward, and was succeeded by Dale Baker. By 1992, however, Baker had been unable to gain much ground on Labor despite festering anger over its handling of the collapse of the State Bank of Australia. Baker resigned as leader and called for a spill of all leadership positions. Olsen resigned from the Senate soon afterward, and Baker intended to hand the leadership back to Olsen as soon as Olsen was safely back in the legislature. This gambit backfired, however, former Tonkin minister Dean Brown, returned to politics after a seven-year absence. Olsen, like Baker, was from the conservative wing of the party, while Brown was from the moderate wing. Brown narrowly defeated Olsen in the leadership vote.

Brown and Olsen Governments (1993–2002)

The Liberals went into the 1993 election as unbackable favourites. At that election, Brown won one of the most comprehensive state-level victories since Federation, taking 37 seats on 60.9 percent of the two-party vote and a swing of almost nine percent–in all three cases, the largest on record in South Australia. Along the way, the Liberals won all but nine seats in Adelaide, a city where they had been all but nonexistent even after adopting the Liberal banner.

These figures led to talk of a generation of Liberal government in South Australia, much as the 1970s had been considered a "Dunstan Decade." However, Brown was unable to rein in the factional battles in his large party room. By late 1996, the Liberals' poll numbers had tailed off markedly less than a year before a statutory general election. This led two of Brown's fellow moderates, Joan Hall and Graham Ingerson, to throw their support to Olsen, which was enough for Olsen to defeat Brown in a leadership spill.

At the 1997 state election, the Liberals withstood a swing slightly larger than the one that swept them to power four years earlier, this time 9.4 percent. However, they only lost 11 seats, allowing Olsen to cling to power with a minority government supported by conservative crossbenchers.

Olsen was forced to resign in 2001 after a finding that he had misled the House about the Motorola affair. He was succeeded by Deputy Premier Rob Kerin.

Opposition (2002–2018)

Kerin only held office for three months before leading the Liberals into a statutory general election in 2002. The Liberals lost two seats to Labor, but won a paper-thin majority of the two-party vote. The balance of power rested with four conservative crossbenchers. They unexpectedly announced their support for Labor, making Labor leader Mike Rann premier-designate by one seat. However, Kerin announced that he still had a mandate to govern based on winning the two-party vote. He insisted that he would not resign unless Rann demonstrated he had support on the House floor to govern. Three weeks of deadlock ended in March, when Kerin called a confidence motion in his own government. He lost, and stood down in favour of Rann.

Kerin resigned as leader following a landslide loss in 2006. Factional battles resulted in three leaders in less than three years–Iain Evans, Martin Hamilton-Smith and the party's first female leader, Isobel Redmond.

The last serving parliamentarian from the LCL era, Graham Gunn, retired in 2010; he had been elected in 1970, the next-to-last election that the party fought under the LCL banner.

On 4 February 2013, Steven Marshall was elected unopposed as Liberal leader. Vickie Chapman was elected as deputy leader after a contest with former party leader Iain Evans.[13][14]

Marshall Government (2018–2022)

Opposition (2022–present)

Following the election defeat at the 2022 state election, Marshall resigned as leader of the party. In April 2022, David Speirs was elected as party leader, securing 18 votes compared to Josh Teague's five and Nick McBride's one.[15] John Gardner was elected as deputy party leader.

Ideology divisions

In the 1990s and 2000s, ongoing division continued based on both ideologies and personalities, with sides forming between the moderate Chapman and conservative Evans family dynasties, complicated further by the moderate Brown and conservative Olsen rifts.[16][17][18][19][20]

Leader

Leader of the Liberal Party
 
Incumbent
David Speirs
since 19 April 2022
Term lengthNo fixed term
Inaugural holderRichard Layton Butler
Formation9 June 1932
DeputyJohn Gardner
Websitesaliberal.org.au/team/david-speirs

Since the 1970s, five parliamentary Liberal leaders have served as Premier of South Australia: David Tonkin (1979–1982), Dean Brown (1993–1996), John Olsen (1996–2001), Rob Kerin (2001–2002) and Steven Marshall (2018–2022). All leaders have served as Leader of the Opposition.

List of leaders

Party leader Assumed office Left office Premier Reason for departure
Richard Layton Butler 1932 1938 1932–1938 Resigned to contest the 1938 Wakefield federal by-election
Sir Tom Playford 1938 1966 1938–1965 Resigned after 1965 election loss
Steele Hall 1966 1972 1968–1970 Resigned
Bruce Eastick 1972 1975 Resigned following party room challenge from Tonkin, after 1975 election loss
David Tonkin 1975 1982 1979–1982 Resigned after 1982 election loss
John Olsen 1982 1990 Resigned after 1989 election loss
Dale Baker 1990 1992 Resigned, endorsed Olsen to succeed him
Dean Brown 1992 1996 1993–1996 Lost party room challenge to Olsen
John Olsen 1996 2001 1996–2001 Resigned as premier due to Motorola affair
Rob Kerin 2001 2006 2001–2002 Resigned after 2006 election loss
Iain Evans 2006 2007 Lost party room challenge to Hamilton-Smith
Martin Hamilton-Smith 2007 2009 Resigned following unsatisfying party room vote for his leadership.
Isobel Redmond 2009 2013 Resigned
Steven Marshall 2013 2022 2018–2022 Resigned after 2022 election loss
David Speirs 2022 present

Deputy leader

Since the 1970s, seven parliamentary Liberal deputy leaders have served as Deputy Premier of South Australia: Roger Goldsworthy (1979–1982), Stephen Baker (1993–1996), Graham Ingerson (1996–1998), Rob Kerin (1998–2001), Dean Brown (2001–2002), Vickie Chapman (2018–2021) and Dan van Holst Pellekaan (2021-2022).

Current federal parliamentarians

Representatives

Senators

State election results

The Playmander began in 1936 and ended after 1968. Compulsory voting was introduced since the 1944 election.

Election Seats won ± Total votes  % Position Leader
1933
29 / 46
60,159 34.6% Majority government Richard L. Butler
1938
15 / 39
 14 72,998 33.4% Minority government Richard L. Butler
1941
20 / 39
 5 63,317 37.6% Majority government Tom Playford
1944
20 / 39
 0 113,536 45.8% Majority government Tom Playford
1947
23 / 39
 3 111,216 40.4% Majority government Tom Playford
1950
23 / 39
 0 113,673 40.5% Majority government Tom Playford
1953
21 / 39
 2 119,106 36.5% Majority government Tom Playford
1956
21 / 39
 0 100,569 36.7% Majority government Tom Playford
1959
20 / 39
 1 143,710 37.0% Majority government Tom Playford
1962
18 / 39
 2 140,507 34.5% Minority government Tom Playford
1965
17 / 39
 1 179,183 35.9% Opposition Tom Playford
1968
19 / 39
 2 246,560 43.8% Minority government Steele Hall
1970
20 / 47
 1 258,856 43.8% Opposition Steele Hall
1973
20 / 47
 0 250,312 39.8% Opposition Bruce Eastick
1975
20 / 47
 0 218,820 31.5% Opposition Bruce Eastick
1977
17 / 47
 3 306,356 41.2% Opposition David Tonkin
1979
24 / 47
 7 352,343 47.9% Majority government David Tonkin
1982
21 / 47
 3 326,372 42.7% Opposition David Tonkin
1985
16 / 47
 5 344,337 42.2% Opposition John Olsen
1989
22 / 47
 6 381,834 44.2% Opposition John Olsen
1993
37 / 47
 15 481,623 52.8% Majority government Dean Brown
1997
23 / 47
 14 359,509 40.4% Minority government John Olsen
2002
20 / 47
 3 378,929 39.9% Opposition Rob Kerin
2006
15 / 47
 5 319,041 34.0% Opposition Rob Kerin
2010
18 / 47
 3 408,482 41.7% Opposition Isobel Redmond
2014
22 / 47
 4 455,797 44.8% Opposition Steven Marshall
2018
25 / 47
 3 398,182 38.0% Majority government Steven Marshall
2022
16 / 47
 9 389,059 35.7% Opposition Steven Marshall

See also

References

  1. ^ "SA Liberals opt for 'generational shift' rather than conservative takeover at annual general meeting". ABC News. 17 September 2022.
  2. ^ https://www.LiberalPride.net.au[bare URL]
  3. ^ a b "SA Liberals call in Jones and Deves". 13 September 2022.
  4. ^ "SA Liberals Conduct Purge of Pentecostals After the Infiltration of Party Ranks". 25 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Former environment minister David Speirs elected SA Liberal leader". ABC News. 19 April 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Liberal Party of Australia". The Kapunda Herald. 11 January 1945. p. 4. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  7. ^ Liberal Party of Australia, South Australian Division: SLSA.sa.gov.au
  8. ^ a b . SA Memory:Past, Present for the Future. 16 May 2007. Archived from the original on 12 November 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Liberal Party of Australia (N.S.W. Division) - Constitution". August 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  10. ^ "Liberal and Country League State Council Address - Billy Snedden". 22 July 1974. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  11. ^ Martin, Robert (2009). Responsible Government in South Australia, Volume 2. South Australia: Wakefield Press. p. 82. ISBN 9781862548442.
  12. ^ "Labor in SA appears 'edgy'". The Canberra Times. 15 August 1974. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  13. ^ a b "Alexander Downer endorses cleanskin Steven Marshall". The Australian. 2 February 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  14. ^ Wills, Novak, Crouch, Daniel, Lauren, Brad (4 February 2013). "Steven Marshall and Vickie Chapman to lead SA Liberal Party". The Advertiser.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ "SA Liberals elect former environment minister David Speirs as new party leader". ABC News. 19 April 2022.
  16. ^ "South Australia's 10 most poisonous political feuds". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  17. ^ "Can Liberals heal rifts?". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 24 March 2006. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  18. ^ "Senior SA Liberal Iain Evans quits frontbench, to leave politics within 12 months". The Advertiser. Adelaide. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  19. ^ "Departing SA Liberal Iain Evans takes final swipe at parliamentary colleagues". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  20. ^ John Spoehr (2009). State of South Australia: From Crisis to Prosperity?. Wakefield Press. ISBN 9781862548657. Retrieved 10 August 2016.

liberal, party, australia, south, australian, division, liberal, country, league, redirects, here, party, western, australia, also, named, liberal, country, league, between, 1949, 1968, liberal, party, australia, western, australian, division, independent, par. Liberal and Country League redirects here For the party in Western Australia also named Liberal and Country League between 1949 and 1968 see Liberal Party of Australia Western Australian Division For the independent party in Victoria between 1938 and 1943 see Liberal Country Party For the party in Victoria named Liberal and Country Party between 1949 and 1965 see Liberal Party of Australia Victorian Division The Liberal Party of Australia South Australian Division commonly known as the South Australian Liberals is the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia It was formed as the Liberal and Country League LCL in 1932 and became the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party when the Liberal Party was formed in 1945 6 It retained its Liberal and Country League name before changing to its current name in 1974 7 It is one of two major parties in the bicameral Parliament of South Australia the other being the Australian Labor Party SA Branch The party has been led by Leader of the Opposition David Speirs since the 2022 state election after a one term government Liberal Party of Australia South Australian Division LeaderDavid SpeirsDeputy LeaderJohn GardnerPresidentRowan Mumford 1 Founded1932 as Liberal and Country League Preceded byLiberal FederationCountry Party SA Headquarters104 Greenhill Road UnleyYouth wingSouth Australian Young Liberal MovementWomen s wingLiberal Women s CouncilLGBT wingLiberal Pride 2 IdeologyConservatismLiberalism Australian Liberal conservatismFactionsChristian Right 3 Political positionCentre right 4 5 to right wing 3 National affiliationLiberal Party of AustraliaHouse of Assembly16 47Legislative Council8 22House of Representatives3 10 SA seats Senate6 12 SA seats Websitesaliberal wbr org wbr auPolitics of AustraliaPolitical partiesElectionsSeats in local governmentAdelaide1 12Marion1 13Mount Barker1 11Onkaparinga2 13Port Pirie1 10Prospect1 9Tea Tree Gully6 14Unley3 13Victor Harbour1 10West Torrens1 15During its 42 year existence as the Liberal and Country League it spent 34 years in government mainly due to an electoral malapportionment scheme known as the Playmander The Playmander was named after LCL leader Sir Tom Playford who was the Premier of South Australia for 27 years from 1938 until his election loss in 1965 The Playmander was dismantled through an electoral reform in 1968 with the first election under the new boundaries in 1970 Since the electoral reform the party has won only 4 of the 17 state elections 1979 1993 1997 and 2018 Contents 1 History 1 1 Formation 1 2 Playmander period 1 2 1 Early years 1 2 2 Effects on elections 1 2 3 Fall from power 1 2 4 Dismantling Playmander 1 3 Liberal Party 1 3 1 Renaming to the Liberal Party 1 3 2 Tonkin Government 1979 1982 1 3 3 Opposition 1982 1993 1 3 4 Brown and Olsen Governments 1993 2002 1 3 5 Opposition 2002 2018 1 3 6 Marshall Government 2018 2022 1 3 7 Opposition 2022 present 1 4 Ideology divisions 2 Leader 2 1 List of leaders 2 2 Deputy leader 3 Current federal parliamentarians 3 1 Representatives 3 2 Senators 4 State election results 5 See also 6 ReferencesHistory EditFormation Edit Sir Richard Layton Butler LCL Founder and Premier 1933 1938 The Liberal and Country League had its roots in the Emergency Committee of South Australia which ran as the main non Labor party in South Australia at the 1931 federal election landslide In the House of Representatives it took an additional two seats to hold six of the state s seven seats In the bloc voting winner take all Senate it took the three seats up for election Encouraged by this success the Liberal Federation the SA branch of the United Australia Party and the SA Country Party merged to form the LCL on 9 June 1932 with former Liberal Federation leader Richard Layton Butler as its first leader Liberal Federation itself was preceded by Liberal Union 1910 1923 with the latter created from a tri merger between the Liberal and Democratic Union formed 1906 the Farmers and Producers Political Union formed 1904 and the National Defence League formed 1891 In its first electoral test the 1933 state election the LCL took advantage of a three way split in the state Labor government to win a smashing victory taking 29 seats versus only 13 for the three Labor factions combined Butler then became the Premier of South Australia Traditionally a socially conservative party the LCL contained relatively distinct factions whose ideologies often conflicted citation needed Farmers graziers and rural property owners The urban middle classThe urban middle class continued to support the party although they had little say in its running Indeed it was not until the election of Robin Millhouse in 1955 that someone from this third faction was elected to parliament Millhouse often considered during his term as the most progressive member of the LCL continually criticised the conservative wing of the party He eventually resigned in 1973 and joined the splinter Liberal Movement party 8 Playmander period Edit See also Playmander Early years Edit Sir Tom Playford LCL Leader 1938 1966 Premier 1938 1965 The Butler LCL introduced the electoral malapportionment scheme later known as the Playmander in 1936 The House of Assembly was also reduced from 46 members elected from multi member districts to 39 members elected from single member electorates The electorates consisted of rural districts enjoying a 2 to 1 advantage in the state parliament even though they contained less than half of the population Two thirds of seats were to be located in rural areas the country This arrangement was retained even as Adelaide the state capital grew to two thirds of the state s population Even allowing for a smaller chamber the LCL suffered heavy losses at the 1938 election winning just 15 of 39 seats However Labor picked up only a small number of additional seats In an unprecedented result the crossbench swelled massively with no less than 14 independents elected from a combined independent primary vote of 40 percent higher than either major party 33 percent for the LCL 26 percent for Labor Butler and the LCL had to rely on the crossbench for confidence and supply to remain in government Only months later Butler resigned in favour of Tom Playford to make an unsuccessful attempt to enter federal politics From the 1941 election onward the Playford LCL would regain and keep a parliamentary majority albeit narrowly Additionally turnout crashed to a record low 50 percent in 1941 triggering the Playford LCL to introduce compulsory voting from the 1944 election In January 1945 the Liberal and Country League became the South Australian division of the newly formed Liberal Party of Australia 6 However the SA division continued to be known as the LCL 9 Effects on elections Edit Under the scheme a vote in a low population rural seat had anywhere from double to ten times the value of a vote in a high population metropolitan seat For example at the 1968 election the rural seat of Frome had 4 500 formal votes while the metropolitan seat of Enfield had 42 000 formal votes The scheme allowed LCL to win sufficient parliamentary seats even when it lost the two party vote to Labor opposition by comprehensive margins at several elections 1944 1953 1962 and 1968 For instance in the 1944 and 1953 elections Labor took 53 percent of the two party vote which would have normally been enough to deliver a solid majority for the Labor leader Robert Richards in 1944 and Mick O Halloran in 1953 However on both occasions the LCL managed to just barely hold onto power By the 1950s a number of Labor figures had despaired of ever winning power O Halleran for instance felt he needed to maintain a cordial relationship with Playford in hopes of getting Labor friendly legislation through the House of Assembly Playford had become synonymous with the LCL over his record 27 year tenure as Premier of South Australia The LCL became so strongly identified with Playford that during election campaigns it branded itself as The Playford Liberal and Country League Playford gave the impression that the LCL membership were there solely to raise money and run election campaigns his grip on the party was such that he frequently ignored LCL convention decisions This treatment of rank and file party members continued to cause resentment throughout the party This split mirrored the dissatisfaction amongst the Establishment faction which had been steadily losing its power within the party and was appalled at the nouveau riche new money commoners such as Millhouse that had infiltrated the parliamentary wing of the LCL Fall from power Edit The LCL s grip on power began to slip in the 1950s they would lose seats in every election from 1953 onward Even at the height of Playford s popularity the LCL was almost nonexistent in Adelaide winning almost no seats in the capital outside the wealthy eastern crescent and the area around Glenelg and Holdfast Bay Due to its paper thin base in the capital Playford s LCL often won just barely enough seats to govern alone the party never held more than 23 seats at any time during Playford s tenure Despite this the LCL party machine had become moribund as leaders had become lulled into a false sense of security due to the extended run of election wins aided by the Playmander The LCL was thus caught unawares when O Halloran s successor as state Labor leader Frank Walsh eschewed a statewide campaign in favour of targeting marginal LCL seats Walsh s strategy almost paid off at the 1962 election Labor won a decisive 54 3 percent of the two party preferred vote to the LCL s 45 7 percent In the rest of Australia this would have been enough for a comprehensive Labor victory However due to the Playmander Labor only picked up a two seat swing leaving it one short of a majority The two independents threw their support to the LCL allowing Playford to remain in office This election showed how grossly distorted the Playmander had become by this time Adelaide accounted for two thirds of the state s population but elected only one third of the legislature A year later the LCL received another jolt with the reformation of a separate Country Party Although a shadow of its former self the reformed Country Party served as a wakeup call to Playford that there were problems within the LCL Labor finally beat the Playmander against the odds at the 1965 election Despite winning the same two party vote as it had three years earlier the Playmander was strong enough that Labor was only able to win government by two seats Playford resigned as party leader in 1966 and was succeeded by Steele Hall Dismantling Playmander Edit See also Liberal Movement Australia Steele Hall LCL Leader 1966 1972 Premier 1968 1970 At the 1968 election Labor won a 53 2 percent two party vote to the LCL s 46 8 percent but suffered a two seat swing resulting in a hung parliament The lone independent in the chamber Tom Stott threw his support to the LCL allowing Hall to form a minority government Hall was embarrassed that his party was in a position to win power despite having clearly lost the vote Concerned by the level of publicity and public protest about the issue Hall committed himself to reducing the rural weighting Under his watch the lower house was expanded 39 to 47 seats 28 of which were located in Adelaide It fell short of one vote one value as Labor had demanded since rural areas were still over represented Nonetheless with Adelaide now electing a majority of the legislature conventional wisdom held that Hall knew he was effectively handing the premiership to Labor leader Don Dunstan at the next election That election took place in 1970 when Stott crossed the floor to vote against the LCL As expected the LCL was defeated Hall remained as the Leader of the Opposition One vote one value would later be introduced by Labor following the 1975 election The party s problems had already emerged in public spats most notably the formation of the Liberal Movement a socially progressive or small l liberal wing of the LCL in 1972 8 The divisions culminated in the Liberal Movement becoming a separate party in 1973 with Hall and fellow parliamentarians Martin Cameron and Robin Millhouse resigning from the LCL to join the newly formed party Hall claimed that the Party had lost its idealism and forgotten its purpose for existence Bruce Eastick succeeded Hall as LCL leader after Hall s resignation from the party in 1973 Liberal Party Edit Renaming to the Liberal Party Edit During Eastick s leadership the Liberal and Country League met at the State Council meeting on 22 July 1974 to rename itself to Liberal Party of Australia South Australian Division 10 11 The renaming initiative was welcomed by federal Liberal leader and opposition leader Billy Snedden who was present at the meeting The party also revised its constitution adopted a new platform appointed new young party officials and organisers modelling after the Victorian Liberals 12 In July 1975 David Tonkin challenged Eastick for party leadership and became leader unopposed after Eastick stood aside 13 This would be the last time that a Liberal leader was elected unopposed until 2013 Hall s Liberal Movement dissolved in 1976 and three of its four state parliamentary members Martin Cameron John Carnie David Boundy rejoined the Liberal Party Hall who was elected to the Senate in 1974 and 1975 as a Liberal Movement member also rejoined the Liberal Party and joined the federal Liberal Party room The remaining Liberal Movement state parliamentary member was Millhouse who refused to rejoin the Liberal Party founding the New Liberal Movement instead His new party merged with the Australia Party a year later in 1977 to become the Australian Democrats One vote one value was introduced by Labor following the 1975 election where the Liberal Party won a 50 8 percent two party vote but fell one seat short of forming government Labor would regain their vote and majority at the 1977 election however Dunstan resigned in the months prior to the 1979 election where the Liberals won government for one term Tonkin Government 1979 1982 Edit This section needs expansion You can help by adding to it April 2020 At that election David Tonkin who succeeded Eastick as party leader in 1975 led the Liberals to victory against a weakened Labor Party It was the first time in 20 years that the non Labor side in South Australia had won the most seats while also winning a majority of the vote However despite winning 55 percent of the two party vote the largest two party preferred margin since the end of the Playmander at the time the Liberals only won 25 of the 47 seats This was because the one vote one value reforms left most of the Liberal vote locked in comfortably safe rural seats Despite taking six seats off Labor the Liberals only won 13 seats in Adelaide As a result despite winning a margin that would have been large enough for a strong majority government in the rest of Australia the Liberals won only 25 seats a bare majority of two Tonkin survived for only one term before the early 1980s recession resulted in him narrowly losing the 1982 election to Labor under John Bannon Opposition 1982 1993 Edit John Olsen succeeded Tonkin as leader in 1982 and led the Liberals to defeats at the 1985 and 1989 In the latter the Liberals won a bare majority of the two party vote However much of that majority was wasted on landslides in their rural heartland allowing Labor to eke out a two seat majority Olsen resigned to take up a Senate seat soon afterward and was succeeded by Dale Baker By 1992 however Baker had been unable to gain much ground on Labor despite festering anger over its handling of the collapse of the State Bank of Australia Baker resigned as leader and called for a spill of all leadership positions Olsen resigned from the Senate soon afterward and Baker intended to hand the leadership back to Olsen as soon as Olsen was safely back in the legislature This gambit backfired however former Tonkin minister Dean Brown returned to politics after a seven year absence Olsen like Baker was from the conservative wing of the party while Brown was from the moderate wing Brown narrowly defeated Olsen in the leadership vote Brown and Olsen Governments 1993 2002 Edit This section needs expansion You can help by adding to it April 2020 The Liberals went into the 1993 election as unbackable favourites At that election Brown won one of the most comprehensive state level victories since Federation taking 37 seats on 60 9 percent of the two party vote and a swing of almost nine percent in all three cases the largest on record in South Australia Along the way the Liberals won all but nine seats in Adelaide a city where they had been all but nonexistent even after adopting the Liberal banner These figures led to talk of a generation of Liberal government in South Australia much as the 1970s had been considered a Dunstan Decade However Brown was unable to rein in the factional battles in his large party room By late 1996 the Liberals poll numbers had tailed off markedly less than a year before a statutory general election This led two of Brown s fellow moderates Joan Hall and Graham Ingerson to throw their support to Olsen which was enough for Olsen to defeat Brown in a leadership spill At the 1997 state election the Liberals withstood a swing slightly larger than the one that swept them to power four years earlier this time 9 4 percent However they only lost 11 seats allowing Olsen to cling to power with a minority government supported by conservative crossbenchers Olsen was forced to resign in 2001 after a finding that he had misled the House about the Motorola affair He was succeeded by Deputy Premier Rob Kerin Opposition 2002 2018 Edit This section needs expansion You can help by adding to it January 2020 Kerin only held office for three months before leading the Liberals into a statutory general election in 2002 The Liberals lost two seats to Labor but won a paper thin majority of the two party vote The balance of power rested with four conservative crossbenchers They unexpectedly announced their support for Labor making Labor leader Mike Rann premier designate by one seat However Kerin announced that he still had a mandate to govern based on winning the two party vote He insisted that he would not resign unless Rann demonstrated he had support on the House floor to govern Three weeks of deadlock ended in March when Kerin called a confidence motion in his own government He lost and stood down in favour of Rann Kerin resigned as leader following a landslide loss in 2006 Factional battles resulted in three leaders in less than three years Iain Evans Martin Hamilton Smith and the party s first female leader Isobel Redmond The last serving parliamentarian from the LCL era Graham Gunn retired in 2010 he had been elected in 1970 the next to last election that the party fought under the LCL banner On 4 February 2013 Steven Marshall was elected unopposed as Liberal leader Vickie Chapman was elected as deputy leader after a contest with former party leader Iain Evans 13 14 Marshall Government 2018 2022 Edit This section needs expansion You can help by adding to it June 2020 Opposition 2022 present Edit Following the election defeat at the 2022 state election Marshall resigned as leader of the party In April 2022 David Speirs was elected as party leader securing 18 votes compared to Josh Teague s five and Nick McBride s one 15 John Gardner was elected as deputy party leader Ideology divisions Edit In the 1990s and 2000s ongoing division continued based on both ideologies and personalities with sides forming between the moderate Chapman and conservative Evans family dynasties complicated further by the moderate Brown and conservative Olsen rifts 16 17 18 19 20 Leader EditLeader of the Liberal Party IncumbentDavid Speirssince 19 April 2022Term lengthNo fixed termInaugural holderRichard Layton ButlerFormation9 June 1932DeputyJohn GardnerWebsitesaliberal wbr org wbr au wbr team wbr david speirsSince the 1970s five parliamentary Liberal leaders have served as Premier of South Australia David Tonkin 1979 1982 Dean Brown 1993 1996 John Olsen 1996 2001 Rob Kerin 2001 2002 and Steven Marshall 2018 2022 All leaders have served as Leader of the Opposition List of leaders Edit Party leader Assumed office Left office Premier Reason for departureRichard Layton Butler 1932 1938 1932 1938 Resigned to contest the 1938 Wakefield federal by electionSir Tom Playford 1938 1966 1938 1965 Resigned after 1965 election lossSteele Hall 1966 1972 1968 1970 ResignedBruce Eastick 1972 1975 Resigned following party room challenge from Tonkin after 1975 election lossDavid Tonkin 1975 1982 1979 1982 Resigned after 1982 election lossJohn Olsen 1982 1990 Resigned after 1989 election lossDale Baker 1990 1992 Resigned endorsed Olsen to succeed himDean Brown 1992 1996 1993 1996 Lost party room challenge to OlsenJohn Olsen 1996 2001 1996 2001 Resigned as premier due to Motorola affairRob Kerin 2001 2006 2001 2002 Resigned after 2006 election lossIain Evans 2006 2007 Lost party room challenge to Hamilton SmithMartin Hamilton Smith 2007 2009 Resigned following unsatisfying party room vote for his leadership Isobel Redmond 2009 2013 ResignedSteven Marshall 2013 2022 2018 2022 Resigned after 2022 election lossDavid Speirs 2022 presentDeputy leader Edit Since the 1970s seven parliamentary Liberal deputy leaders have served as Deputy Premier of South Australia Roger Goldsworthy 1979 1982 Stephen Baker 1993 1996 Graham Ingerson 1996 1998 Rob Kerin 1998 2001 Dean Brown 2001 2002 Vickie Chapman 2018 2021 and Dan van Holst Pellekaan 2021 2022 Current federal parliamentarians EditRepresentatives Edit Rowan Ramsey Grey MP since 2007 Tony Pasin Barker MP since 2013 James Stevens Sturt MP since 2019Senators Edit Simon Birmingham Senator since 2008 David Fawcett Senator since 2011 Anne Ruston Senator since 2012 Alex Antic Senator since 2019 Andrew McLachlan Senator since 2020State election results EditThe Playmander began in 1936 and ended after 1968 Compulsory voting was introduced since the 1944 election Election Seats won Total votes Position Leader1933 29 46 60 159 34 6 Majority government Richard L Butler1938 15 39 14 72 998 33 4 Minority government Richard L Butler1941 20 39 5 63 317 37 6 Majority government Tom Playford1944 20 39 0 113 536 45 8 Majority government Tom Playford1947 23 39 3 111 216 40 4 Majority government Tom Playford1950 23 39 0 113 673 40 5 Majority government Tom Playford1953 21 39 2 119 106 36 5 Majority government Tom Playford1956 21 39 0 100 569 36 7 Majority government Tom Playford1959 20 39 1 143 710 37 0 Majority government Tom Playford1962 18 39 2 140 507 34 5 Minority government Tom Playford1965 17 39 1 179 183 35 9 Opposition Tom Playford1968 19 39 2 246 560 43 8 Minority government Steele Hall1970 20 47 1 258 856 43 8 Opposition Steele Hall1973 20 47 0 250 312 39 8 Opposition Bruce Eastick1975 20 47 0 218 820 31 5 Opposition Bruce Eastick1977 17 47 3 306 356 41 2 Opposition David Tonkin1979 24 47 7 352 343 47 9 Majority government David Tonkin1982 21 47 3 326 372 42 7 Opposition David Tonkin1985 16 47 5 344 337 42 2 Opposition John Olsen1989 22 47 6 381 834 44 2 Opposition John Olsen1993 37 47 15 481 623 52 8 Majority government Dean Brown1997 23 47 14 359 509 40 4 Minority government John Olsen2002 20 47 3 378 929 39 9 Opposition Rob Kerin2006 15 47 5 319 041 34 0 Opposition Rob Kerin2010 18 47 3 408 482 41 7 Opposition Isobel Redmond2014 22 47 4 455 797 44 8 Opposition Steven Marshall2018 25 47 3 398 182 38 0 Majority government Steven Marshall2022 16 47 9 389 059 35 7 Opposition Steven MarshallSee also EditMembers of the South Australian House of Assembly 2018 2022 Members of the South Australian Legislative Council 2018 2022 Australian Labor Party South Australian Branch Playmander the 1936 1968 electoral malapportionment 2018 South Australian state election 2022 South Australian state election List of elections in South AustraliaReferences Edit SA Liberals opt for generational shift rather than conservative takeover at annual general meeting ABC News 17 September 2022 https www LiberalPride net au bare URL a b SA Liberals call in Jones and Deves 13 September 2022 SA Liberals Conduct Purge of Pentecostals After the Infiltration of Party Ranks 25 June 2021 Former environment minister David Speirs elected SA Liberal leader ABC News 19 April 2022 a b Liberal Party of Australia The Kapunda Herald 11 January 1945 p 4 Retrieved 16 December 2021 Liberal Party of Australia South Australian Division SLSA sa gov au a b The 1970s SA Memory Past Present for the Future 16 May 2007 Archived from the original on 12 November 2009 Retrieved 28 May 2015 Liberal Party of Australia N S W Division Constitution August 1945 p 3 Retrieved 30 January 2020 Liberal and Country League State Council Address Billy Snedden 22 July 1974 Retrieved 30 January 2020 Martin Robert 2009 Responsible Government in South Australia Volume 2 South Australia Wakefield Press p 82 ISBN 9781862548442 Labor in SA appears edgy The Canberra Times 15 August 1974 Retrieved 30 January 2020 a b Alexander Downer endorses cleanskin Steven Marshall The Australian 2 February 2013 Retrieved 30 January 2020 Wills Novak Crouch Daniel Lauren Brad 4 February 2013 Steven Marshall and Vickie Chapman to lead SA Liberal Party The Advertiser a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link SA Liberals elect former environment minister David Speirs as new party leader ABC News 19 April 2022 South Australia s 10 most poisonous political feuds The Advertiser Adelaide 21 May 2014 Retrieved 10 August 2016 Can Liberals heal rifts Australian Broadcasting Corporation 24 March 2006 Retrieved 10 August 2016 Senior SA Liberal Iain Evans quits frontbench to leave politics within 12 months The Advertiser Adelaide Retrieved 10 August 2016 Departing SA Liberal Iain Evans takes final swipe at parliamentary colleagues Australian Broadcasting Corporation 30 October 2014 Retrieved 10 August 2016 John Spoehr 2009 State of South Australia From Crisis to Prosperity Wakefield Press ISBN 9781862548657 Retrieved 10 August 2016 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Liberal Party of Australia South Australian Division amp oldid 1149782110, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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