Premier of South Australia


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 his or her ability to command the support of a majority of members of the lower house of Parliament, the House of Assembly.
Steven Marshall is the current Premier, having served since 19 March 2018.

History

Pre-Party

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 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, often 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.
Colour key

Living former premiers

There are seven living former premiers, the oldest being Steele Hall. The most recent premier to die was John Bannon on 13 December 2015.
NameTerm as premierDate of birth
Steele Hall1968–1970
Lynn Arnold1992–1993
Dean Brown1993–1996
John Olsen1996–2001
Rob Kerin2001–2002
Mike Rann2002–2011
Jay Weatherill2011–2018

Timeline

In the following timeline, the legend includes the Liberal and Democratic Union, the Liberal Union and the Liberal Federation represented as "Liberal ". The Liberal Party is represented as "Liberal " only. The grey area represents the duration of Playmander electoral malapportionment, beginning in 1936, in effect until the 1970 election.

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id:canvas value:gray
id:ALP value:red legend:Labor
id:LPA value:darkblue legend:Liberal_
id:LCL value:blue legend:Lib/Cou._League
id:LIU value:skyblue legend:Liberal_
id:LIB value:orange legend:Liberalism
id:CON value:powderblue legend:Conservatism
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mark: fontsize:S shift:
width:33 shift: align:right color:War fontsize:S textcolor:war
from:1936 till:1969 shift: 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:"_Francis_Dutton_1865"
from:1858 till:1859 color:NON $right text:"1865_Henry_Ayres_"
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:"_Henry_Ayers_1867–1868"
from:1862 till:1863 color:NON $right text:"1868_John_Hart_"
from:1863 till:1864 color:NON $left text:"_Henry_Ayers_1868"
from:1864 till:1866 color:NON $right text:"1868–1870_Henry_Strangways"
from:1866 till:1867 color:NON $left text:"_John_Hart_1870–1871"
from:1867 till:1868 color:NON $right text:"1871–1872_Arthur_Blyth_"
from:1868 till:1869 color:NON $left text:"_Henry_Ayers_1872–1873"
from:1869 till:1871 color:NON $right text:"1873–1875_Arthur_Blyth_"
from:1871 till:1872 color:NON $left text:"_James_Boucaut_1875–1876"
from:1872 till:1873 color:NON $right text:"1876–1877_John_Colton"
from:1873 till:1874 color:NON $left text:"_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_Coltan_"
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_"
from:1888 till:1889 color:NON $left text:"Frederick Holder_1892"
from:1889 till:1890 color:CON $right text:"1892–1893_John_Downer_"
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:"_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:"_Archibald_Peake_1912–1915"
from:1914 till:1916 color:ALP $right text:"1915–1917_Crawford_Vaughan"
from:1916 till:1919 color:LIU $left text:"_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_"
from:1932 till:1933 color:ALP $left text:"Robert_Richards_1933"
from:1933 till:1938 color:LCL $right text:"1933–1938_Richard_L._Butler_"
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:"_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:end color:LPA $left text:"Steven_Marshall_2018–present"