1956 South Australian state election
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State elections were held in South Australia on 3 March 1956. 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]
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3 March 1956
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All 39 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly 20 seats were needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 A map of South Australian electorates from 1955 to 1969, during the height of the Playmander. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A redistribution occurred in 1955 based upon the results of the census held in June 1954.[3][4]
Background
Results
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South Australian state election, 3 March 1956[5] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrolled voters | 299,048 | |||||
| Votes cast | 280,811 | Turnout | 93.90% | –1.11% | ||
| Informal votes | 6,702 | Informal | 2.39% | –0.54% | ||
| Summary of votes by party | ||||||
| Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| Labor | 129,853 | 47.37% | –3.60% | 15 | ± 0 | |
| Liberal and Country | 100,569 | 36.69% | +0.24% | 21 | + 1 | |
| Labor (A-C) | 20,384 | 7.44% | * | 0 | ± 0 | |
| Communist | 3,185 | 1.16% | –0.32% | 0 | ± 0 | |
| Independent | 20,118 | 7.34% | –3.76% | 3 | – 1 | |
| Total | 274,109 | 39 | ||||
| Two-party-preferred | ||||||
| Liberal and Country | 51.30% | +4.30% | ||||
| Labor | 48.70% | –4.30% | ||||
- The primary vote figures were from contested seats, while the state-wide two-party-preferred vote figures were estimated from all seats.[6]
Post-election pendulum
| LCL seats (21) | |||
| Marginal | |||
| Wallaroo | Leslie Heath | LCL | 2.0% |
| Chaffey | Harold King | LCL | 5.2% v IND |
| Fairly safe | |||
| Glenelg | Baden Pattinson | LCL | 8.0% |
| Torrens | John Coumbe | LCL | 8.2% |
| Safe | |||
| Unley | Colin Dunnage | LCL | 10.2% |
| Victoria | Leslie Harding | LCL | 11.7% |
| Onkaparinga | Howard Shannon | LCL | 20.1% v IND |
| Gouger | Rufus Goldney | LCL | 20.5% v IND |
| Angas | Berthold Teusner | LCL | 27.6% v IND |
| Gumeracha | Thomas Playford | LCL | 38.6% v COM |
| Eyre | George Bockelberg | LCL | undistributed |
| Albert | Malcolm McIntosh | LCL | unopposed |
| Alexandra | David Brookman | LCL | unopposed |
| Barossa | Condor Laucke | LCL | unopposed |
| Burnside | Geoffrey Clarke | LCL | unopposed |
| Flinders | Glen Pearson | LCL | unopposed |
| Light | George Hambour | LCL | unopposed |
| Mitcham | Robin Millhouse | LCL | unopposed |
| Rocky River | James Heaslip | LCL | unopposed |
| Stirling | William Jenkins | LCL | unopposed |
| Yorke Peninsula | Cecil Hincks | LCL | unopposed |
| Labor seats (15) | |||
| Marginal | |||
| Murray | Gabe Bywaters | ALP | 1.4% |
| West Torrens | Fred Walsh | ALP | 1.4% |
| Millicent | Jim Corcoran | ALP | 2.3% |
| Frome | Mick O'Halloran | ALP | 4.3% |
| Fairly safe | |||
| Norwood | Don Dunstan | ALP | 7.2% |
| Safe | |||
| Enfield | Joe Jennings | ALP | 17.9% |
| Edwardstown | Frank Walsh | ALP | 24.3% v DLP |
| Adelaide | Sam Lawn | ALP | 31.7% v DLP |
| Port Adelaide | James Stephens | ALP | 32.1% v DLP |
| Gawler | John Clark | ALP | unopposed |
| Hindmarsh | Cyril Hutchens | ALP | unopposed |
| Port Pirie | Charles Davis | ALP | unopposed |
| Semaphore | Harold Tapping | ALP | unopposed |
| Stuart | Lindsay Riches | ALP | unopposed |
| Whyalla | Ron Loveday | ALP | unopposed |
| Crossbench seats (3) | |||
| Burra | Percy Quirke | IND | 1.2% v LCL |
| Mount Gambier | John Fletcher | IND | 6.1% v ALP |
| Ridley | Tom Stott | IND | 11.0% v LCL |