Premier of South Australia explained

The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is appointed by the governor of South Australia, and by modern convention holds office by virtue of their ability to command the support of a majority of members of the lower house of Parliament, the House of Assembly.

Peter Malinauskas is the current premier, having served since 21 March 2022.

History

The office of premier of South Australia was established upon the commencement of responsible government with the passage of the Constitution Act 1856. The role was based upon that of the prime minister of the United Kingdom, with the premier requiring the support of a majority of the members of the lower house to remain head of government.

No parties or solid groupings would be formed until after the 1890 election, which resulted in frequent changes of the premier of South Australia. If for any reason the incumbent premier lost sufficient support through a successful motion of no confidence at any time on the floor of the house, he would tender his resignation to the governor of South Australia, which would result in another member deemed to have the support of the House of Assembly being sworn in by the governor as the next premier.

Informal groupings began and increased government stability occurred from the 1887 election. The United Labor Party would be formed in 1891, while the National Defence League would be formed later in the same year.

Before the 1890s when there was no formal party system in South Australia, MPs tended to have historical liberal or conservative beliefs. The liberals dominated government from the 1893 election to 1905 election with the support of the South Australian United Labor Party, with the conservatives mostly in opposition. Labor took government with the support of eight dissident liberals in 1905 when Labor won the most seats for the first time. The rise of Labor saw non-Labor politics start to merge into various party incarnations.

The two independent conservative parties, the Australasian National League (formerly the National Defence League) and the Farmers and Producers Political Union merged with the Liberal and Democratic Union to become the Liberal Union in 1910. Labor formed South Australia's first majority government after winning the 1910 state election, triggering the merger. The 1910 election came two weeks after federal Labor formed Australia's first elected majority government at the 1910 federal election.

No "Country" or rural conservative parties emerged as serious long-term forces in South Australian state politics, the majority folding into the main non-Labor party.

List of premiers of South Australia

The first six governors of South Australia oversaw governance from proclamation in 1836 until self-government and an elected Parliament of South Australia was enacted in the year prior to the inaugural 1857 election.

Political parties

	Portrait	Name	Election Parliament	Term of office			Political party	Ministry
				Took office	Left office	Time in office
Colonial Government (1856–1901)
1		data-sort-value="Finniss, Boyle"	Boyle Finniss (1807–1893) MHA for Adelaide	1857 (1st)	24 October 1856	21 August 1857		Independent	Finniss
2		data-sort-value="Baker, John"	John Baker (1813–1872) Councillor	— (1st)	21 August 1857	1 September 1857		Independent	Baker
3		data-sort-value="Torrens, Robert"	Robert Richard Torrens (1814–1884) MHA for Adelaide	— (1st)	1 September 1857	30 September 1857		Independent	Torrens
4		data-sort-value="Hanson, Richard"	Richard Hanson (1805–1876) MHA for Adelaide	— (1st)	30 September 1857	9 May 1860		Independent	Hanson
5		data-sort-value="Reynolds, Thomas"	Thomas Reynolds (1818–1875) MHA for Adelaide	1860 (2nd)	9 May 1860	8 October 1861		Independent	Reynolds (1st) Reynolds (2nd)
6		data-sort-value="Waterhouse, George"	George Waterhouse (1824–1906) Councillor	— (2nd) 1862 (3rd)	8 October 1861	4 July 1863		Independent	Waterhouse (1st) Waterhouse (2nd)
7		data-sort-value="Dutton, Francis"	Francis Dutton (1818–1877) MHA for Light	— (3rd)	4 July 1863	15 July 1863		Independent	Dutton (1st)
8		data-sort-value="Ayers, Henry"	Henry Ayers (1821–1897) Councillor	— (3rd)	15 July 1863	4 August 1864		Independent	Ayers (1st) Ayers (2nd)
9		data-sort-value="Blyth, Arthur"	Arthur Blyth (1823–1891) MHA for Gumeracha	— (3rd)	4 August 1864	22 March 1865		Independent	Blyth (1st)
(7)		data-sort-value="Dutton, Francis"	Francis Dutton	1865 (4th)	22 March 1865	20 September 1865		Independent	Dutton (2nd)
(8)		data-sort-value="Ayers, Henry"	Henry Ayers	— (4th)	20 September 1865	23 October 1865		Independent	Ayers (3rd)
10		data-sort-value="Hart, John"	John Hart (1809–1873) MHA for Port Adelaide	— (4th)	23 October 1865	28 March 1866		Independent	Hart (1st)
11		data-sort-value="Boucaut, James"	James Boucaut (1831–1916) MHA for Encounter Bay	— (4th)	28 March 1866	3 May 1867		Independent	Boucaut (1st)
(8)		data-sort-value="Ayers, Henry"	Henry Ayers	— (4th) 1868 (5th)	3 May 1867	24 September 1868		Independent	Ayers (4th)
(10)		data-sort-value="Hart, John"	John Hart MHA for Light	— (5th)	24 September 1868	13 October 1868		Independent	Hart (2nd)
(8)		data-sort-value="Ayers, Henry"	Henry Ayers	— (5th)	13 October 1868	3 November 1868		Independent	Ayers (5th)
12		data-sort-value="Strangways, Henry"	Henry Strangways (1832–1920) MHA for West Torrens	— (5th) 1870 (6th)	3 November 1868	30 May 1870		Independent	Strangways (1st) Strangways (2nd)
(10)		data-sort-value="Hart, John"	John Hart MHA for The Burra	— (6th)	30 May 1870	10 November 1871		Independent	Hart (3rd)
(9)		data-sort-value="Blyth, Arthur"	Arthur Blyth	— (6th) 1871 (7th)	10 November 1871	22 January 1872		Independent	Blyth (2nd)
(8)		data-sort-value="Ayers, Henry"	Henry Ayers	— (7th)	22 January 1872	22 July 1873		Independent	Ayers (6th) Ayers (7th)
(9)		data-sort-value="Blyth, Arthur"	Arthur Blyth	— (7th) 1875 (8th)	22 July 1873	3 June 1875		Independent	Blyth (3rd)
(11)		data-sort-value="Boucaut, James"	James Boucaut	— (8th)	3 June 1875	6 June 1876		Independent	Boucaut (2nd) Boucaut (3rd)
13		data-sort-value="Colton, John"	John Colton (1823–1902) MHA for Noarlunga	— (8th)	6 June 1876	26 October 1877		Independent	Colton (1st)
(11)		data-sort-value="Boucaut, James"	James Boucaut	— (8th) 1878 (9th)	26 October 1877	27 September 1878		Independent	Boucaut (4th)
14		data-sort-value="Morgan, William"	William Morgan (1828–1883) Councillor	— (9th) 1881 (10th)	27 September 1878	24 June 1881		Independent	Morgan
15		data-sort-value="Bray, John Cox"	John Bray (1842–1894) MHA for East Adelaide	— (10th) 1884 (11th)	24 June 1881	16 June 1884		Independent	Bray
(13)		data-sort-value="Colton, John"	John Colton	— (11th)	16 June 1884	16 June 1885		Independent	Colton (2nd)
16		data-sort-value="Downer, John"	John Downer (1843–1915) MHA for Barossa	— (11th) 1887 (12th)	16 June 1885	11 June 1887		Independent	Downer (1st)
17		data-sort-value="Playford, Thomas II"	Thomas Playford (1837–1915) MHA for Newcastle	— (12th)	11 June 1887	27 June 1889		Independent	Playford II (1st)
18		data-sort-value="Cockburn, John"	John Cockburn (1850–1929) MHA for Mount Barker	— (12th) 1890 (13th)	27 June 1889	19 August 1890		Liberalism	Cockburn
(17)		data-sort-value="Playford, Thomas II"	Thomas Playford MHA for East Torrens	— (13th)	19 August 1890	21 June 1892		Conservatism	Playford II (2nd)
19		data-sort-value="Holder, Frederick"	Frederick Holder (1850–1909) MHA for Burra	— (13th)	21 June 1892	15 October 1892		Liberalism	Holder (1st)
(16)		data-sort-value="Downer, John"		— (13th)	15 October 1892	16 June 1893		Conservatism	Downer (2nd)
20		data-sort-value="Kingston, Charles"	Charles Kingston (1850–1908) MHA for West Adelaide	1893 (14th) 1896 (15th) 1899 (16th)	16 June 1893	1 December 1899		Liberalism	Kingston
21		data-sort-value="Solomon, Vaiben"	Vaiben Solomon (1853–1908) MHA for Northern Territory	— (16th)	1 December 1899	8 December 1899		Conservatism	Solomon
(19)		data-sort-value="Holder, Frederick"	Frederick Holder	— (16th)	8 December 1899	15 May 1901		Liberalism	Holder (2nd)
State Government (1901–present)
22		data-sort-value="Jenkins, John"	John Jenkins (1851–1923) MHA for Torrens	— (16th) 1902 (17th)	15 May 1901	1 March 1905		Liberalism	Jenkins
23		data-sort-value="Butler, Richard"	Richard Butler (1850–1925) MHA for Barossa	— (17th)	1 March 1905	26 July 1905		Conservatism	Butler I
24		data-sort-value="Price, Thomas"	Thomas Price (1852–1909) MHA for Torrens	1905 (18th) 1906 (19th)	26 July 1905	5 June 1909		United Labor	Price
25		data-sort-value="Peake, Archibald"	Archibald Peake (1859–1920) MHA for Victoria & Albert	— (19th)	5 June 1909	3 June 1910		Liberal &<br />Democratic Union	Peake (1st)
26		data-sort-value="Verran, John"	John Verran (1856–1932) MHA for Wallaroo	1910 (20th)	3 June 1910	17 February 1912		United Labor	Verran
(25)		data-sort-value="Peake, Archibald"	Archibald Peake (1859–1920)	1912 (21st)	17 February 1912	3 April 1915		Liberal Union	Peake (2nd)
27		data-sort-value="Vaughan, Crawford"	Crawford Vaughan (1874–1947) MHA for Sturt	1915 (22nd)	3 April 1915	14 July 1917		United Labor	Vaughan
(25)		data-sort-value="Peake, Archibald"	Archibald Peake (1859–1920)	— (22nd) 1918 (23rd)	14 July 1917	8 April 1920		Liberal Union	Peake (3rd)
28		data-sort-value="Barwell, Henry"	Henry Barwell (1877–1959) MHA for Stanley	— (23rd) 1921 (24th)	8 April 1920	16 April 1924		Liberal Union (until 1923) Liberal Federation (from 1923)	Barwell
29		data-sort-value="Gunn, John"	John Gunn (1884–1959) MHA for Adelaide	1924 (25th)	16 April 1924	28 August 1926		Labor	Gunn
30		data-sort-value="Hill, Lionel"	Lionel Hill (1881–1963) MHA for Port Pirie	— (25th)	28 August 1926	8 April 1927		Labor	Hill (1st)
31		data-sort-value="Butler, Richard Layton"	Richard L. Butler (1885–1966) MHA for Wooroora	1927 (26th)	8 April 1927	17 April 1930		Liberal Federation	Butler II (1st)
(30)		data-sort-value="Hill, Lionel"	Lionel Hill (1881–1963)	1930 (27th)	17 April 1930	13 February 1933		Labor	Hill (2nd)
32		data-sort-value="Richards, Robert"	Robert Richards (1885–1967) MHA for Wallaroo	— (27th)	13 February 1933	18 April 1933		Labor	Richards
(31)		data-sort-value="Butler, Richard Layton"	Richard L. Butler (1885–1966)	1933 (28th) 1938 (29th)	18 April 1933	5 November 1938		Liberal and Country League	Butler II (2nd)
33		data-sort-value="Playford, Thomas IV"	Thomas Playford (1896–1981) MHA for Gumeracha	— (29th) 1941 (30th) 1944 (31st) 1947 (32nd) 1950 (33rd) 1953 (34th) 1956 (35th) 1959 (36th) 1962 (37th)	5 November 1938	10 March 1965		Liberal and Country League	Playford IV (1st) Playford IV (2nd)
34		data-sort-value="Walsh, Frank"	Frank Walsh (1897–1968) MHA for Edwardstown	1965 (38th)	10 March 1965	1 June 1967		Labor	Walsh
35		data-sort-value="Dunstan, Don"	Don Dunstan (1926–1999) MHA for Norwood	— (38th)	1 June 1967	17 April 1968		Labor	Dunstan (1st)
36		data-sort-value="Hall, Steele"	Steele Hall (1928–2024) MHA for Gouger	1968 (39th)	17 April 1968	2 June 1970		Liberal and Country League	Hall
(35)		data-sort-value="Dunstan, Don"	Don Dunstan	1970 (40th) 1973 (41st) 1975 (42nd) 1977 (43rd)	2 June 1970	15 February 1979		Labor	Dunstan (2nd)
37		data-sort-value="Corcoran, Des"	Des Corcoran (1928–2004) MHA for Hartley	— (43rd)	15 February 1979	18 September 1979		Labor	Corcoran
38		data-sort-value="Tonkin, David"	David Tonkin (1929–2000) MHA for Bragg	1979 (44th)	18 September 1979	10 November 1982		Liberal	Tonkin
39		data-sort-value="Bannon, John"	John Bannon (1943–2015) MHA for Ross Smith	1982 (45th) 1985 (46th) 1989 (47th)	10 November 1982	4 September 1992		Labor	Bannon
40		data-sort-value="Arnold, Lynn"	Lynn Arnold (born 1949) MHA for Ramsay	— (47th)	4 September 1992	14 December 1993		Labor	Arnold
41		data-sort-value="Brown, Dean"	Dean Brown (born 1943) MHA for Finniss	1993 (48th)	14 December 1993	28 November 1996		Liberal	Brown
42		data-sort-value="Olsen, John"	John Olsen (born 1945) MHA for Kavel	— (48th) 1997 (49th)	28 November 1996	22 October 2001		Liberal	Olsen
43		data-sort-value="Kerin, Rob"	Rob Kerin (born 1954) MHA for Frome	— (49th)	22 October 2001	5 March 2002		Liberal	Kerin
44		data-sort-value="Rann, Mike"	Mike Rann (born 1953) MHA for Ramsay	2002 (50th) 2006 (51st) 2010 (52nd)	5 March 2002	21 October 2011		Labor	Rann
45		data-sort-value="Weatherill, Jay"	Jay Weatherill (born 1964) MHA for Cheltenham	— (52nd) 2014 (53rd)	21 October 2011	19 March 2018		Labor	Weatherill
46		data-sort-value="Marshall, Steven"	Steven Marshall (born 1968) MHA for Dunstan	2018 (54th)	19 March 2018	21 March 2022		Liberal	Marshall
47		data-sort-value="Malinauskas, Peter"	Peter Malinauskas (born 1980) MHA for Croydon	2022 (55th)	21 March 2022	—		Labor	Malinauskas

Timeline

In the following timeline, the legend includes the Liberal and Democratic Union, the Liberal Union and the Liberal Federation represented as "Liberal (pre-1979)". The Liberal Party is represented as "Liberal (post-1979)" only. The grey area represents the duration of Playmander electoral malapportionment, beginning in 1936, in effect until the 1970 election.ImageSize = width:720 height:1500PlotArea = left:0 right:0 bottom:65 top:10Legend = columns:4 left:205 top:55 columnwidth:125AlignBars = justify

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Colors= id:canvas value:gray(0.5) id:ALP value:red legend:Labor id:LPA value:darkblue legend:Liberal_(post_1979) id:LCL value:blue legend:Lib/Cou._League id:LIU value:skyblue legend:Liberal_(pre_1979) id:LIB value:orange legend:Liberalism id:CON value:powderblue legend:Conservatism id:NON value:gray(0.6) legend:(Pre–party) id:WAR value:gray(0.6)

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width:33 shift:(-25,-5) align:right color:War fontsize:S textcolor:war

from:1936 till:1969 shift:(25,7) align:left

width:29 color:black textcolor:black

width:25 from:1845 till:1846 color:NON $right text:"1856–1857_Boyle_Finniss" from:1846 till:1847 color:NON $left text:"John_Baker_1857" from:1847 till:1848 color:NON $right text:"1857_Robert_Torrens" from:1848 till:1851 color:NON $left text:"Richard_Hanson_1857–1860" from:1851 till:1852 color:NON $right text:"1860–1861_Thomas Reynolds" from:1852 till:1854 color:NON $left text:"George_Waterhouse_1861–1863" from:1854 till:1855 color:NON $right text:"1863_Francis_Dutton" from:1855 till:1856 color:NON $left text:"Henry_Ayres_1863–1864" from:1856 till:1857 color:NON $right text:"1864–1865_Arthur_Blyth" from:1857 till:1858 color:NON $left text:"(second time)_Francis_Dutton_1865" from:1858 till:1859 color:NON $right text:"1865_Henry_Ayres_(second time)" from:1859 till:1860 color:NON $left text:"John_Hart_1865–1866" from:1860 till:1861 color:NON $right text:"James_Boucaut_1866–1867" from:1861 till:1862 color:NON $left text:"(third time)_Henry_Ayers_1867–1868" from:1862 till:1863 color:NON $right text:"1868_John_Hart_(second time)" from:1863 till:1864 color:NON $left text:"(fourth time)_Henry_Ayers_1868" from:1864 till:1866 color:NON $right text:"1868–1870_Henry_Strangways" from:1866 till:1867 color:NON $left text:"(third time)_John_Hart_1870–1871" from:1867 till:1868 color:NON $right text:"1871–1872_Arthur_Blyth_(second time)" from:1868 till:1869 color:NON $left text:"(fifth time)_Henry_Ayers_1872–1873" from:1869 till:1871 color:NON $right text:"1873–1875_Arthur_Blyth_(third time)" from:1871 till:1872 color:NON $left text:"(second time)_James_Boucaut_1875–1876" from:1872 till:1873 color:NON $right text:"1876–1877_John_Colton" from:1873 till:1874 color:NON $left text:"(third time)_James_Boucaut_1877–1878" from:1874 till:1877 color:NON $right text:"1878–1881_William_Morgan" from:1877 till:1880 color:NON $left text:"John_Cox_Bray_1881–1884" from:1880 till:1881 color:NON $right text:"1884–1885_John_Colton_(second time)" from:1881 till:1883 color:NON $left text:"John_Downer_1885–1887" from:1883 till:1885 color:NON $right text:"1887–1889_Thomas_Playford_II" from:1885 till:1886 color:NON $left text:"John_Cockburn_1889–1890" from:1886 till:1888 color:NON $right text:"1890–1892_Thomas_Playford_II_(second time)" from:1888 till:1889 color:NON $left text:"Frederick Holder_1892" from:1889 till:1890 color:CON $right text:"1892–1893_John_Downer_(second time)" from:1890 till:1896 color:LIB $left text:"Charles_Kingston_1893–1899" from:1896 till:1897 color:CON $right text:"1899_Vaiben_Solomon" from:1897 till:1899 color:LIB $left text:"(second_time)_Frederick_Holder_1899–1901" from:1899 till:1903 color:LIB $right text:"1901–1905_John_Jenkins" from:1903 till:1904 color:CON $left text:"Richard_Butler_1905" from:1904 till:1908 color:ALP $right text:"1905–1909_Thomas_Price" from:1908 till:1909 color:LIU $left text:"Archibald_Peake_1909–1910" from:1909 till:1911 color:ALP $right text:"1910–1912_John_Verran" from:1911 till:1914 color:LIU $left text:"(second_time)_Archibald_Peake_1912–1915]]" from:1914 till:1916 color:ALP $right text:"1915–1917_Crawford_Vaughan" from:1916 till:1919 color:LIU $left text:"(third_time)_Archibald_Peake_1917–1920]]" from:1919 till:1923 color:LIU $right text:"1920–1924_Henry_Barwell" from:1923 till:1925 color:ALP $left text:"John_Gunn_1924–1926" from:1925 till:1926 color:ALP $right text:"1926–1927_Lionel_Hill" from:1926 till:1929 color:LIU $left text:"Richard_L._Butler_1927–1930" from:1929 till:1932 color:ALP $right text:"1930–1933_Lionel_Hill_(second_time)" from:1932 till:1933 color:ALP $left text:"Robert_Richards_1933" from:1933 till:1938 color:LCL $right text:"1933–1938_Richard_L._Butler_(second_time)" from:1938 till:1964 color:LCL $left text:"Thomas Playford IV_1938–1965" from:1964 till:1966 color:ALP $right text:"1965–1967_Frank_Walsh" from:1966 till:1967 color:ALP $left text:"Don Dunstan_1967–1968" from:1967 till:1969 color:LCL $right text:"1968–1970_Steele_Hall" from:1969 till:1978 color:ALP $left text:"(second_time)_Don_Dunstan_1970–1979" from:1978 till:1979 color:ALP $right text:"1979_Des Corcoran" from:1979 till:1982 color:LPA $left text:"David Tonkin_1979–1982" from:1982 till:1992 color:ALP $right text:"1982–1992_John_Bannon" from:1992 till:1993 color:ALP $left text:"Lynn_Arnold_1992–1993" from:1993 till:1996 color:LPA $right text:"1993–1996_Dean_Brown" from:1996 till:2001 color:LPA $left text:"John_Olsen_1996–2001" from:2001 till:2002 color:LPA $right text:"2001–2002_Rob_Kerin" from:2002 till:2011 color:ALP $left text:"Mike_Rann_2002–2011" from:2011 till:2018 color:ALP $right text:"2011–2018_Jay_Weatherill" from:2018 till:2022 color:LPA $left text:"Steven_Marshall_2018–2022" from:2022 till:end color:ALP $right text:"2022–present_Peter_Malinauskas"

See also

• • List of premiers of South Australia by time in office Deputy Premier of South Australia
• Leader of the Opposition (South Australia)

References

• Statistical Record of the Legislature 1836 – 2007

External links

• Biographies of all premiers at the SA Parliament web site
• UWA state and federal election results since 1890

Notes and References

1. Web site: Tyeson . Cam . Here's How Much Every State Premier Gets Paid If You Wanna Get Boomer-Tier Mad About Yr Taxes . Pedestrian . 26 June 2022 . 1 June 2021 . 8 April 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220408143136/https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/state-territory-leader-salaries/ . live .