South Australian state election, 1977
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State elections were held in South Australia on 17 September 1977. All 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Premier of South Australia Don Dunstan won a fourth term in government, defeating the Liberal Party of Australia led by Leader of the Opposition David Tonkin.
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Labor Party | 383,831 | 51.64 | +5.31 | 27 | +4 | |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 306,356 | 41.21 | +9.68 | 17 | -3 | |
| New LM-Australian Democrats | 25,855 | 3.48 | * | 1 | -1 | |
| Nationals SA | 11,855 | 1.59 | -1.18 | 1 | 0 | |
| Independent Liberal | 10,793 | 1.45 | * | 1 | +1 | |
| Independent | 2,914 | 0.39 | -0.51 | 0 | -1 | |
| Other | 1,730 | 0.23 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 743,334 | 47 | ||||
| Australian Labor Party | WIN | 53.40 | +4.20 | 27 | +3 | |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 46.60 | -4.20 | 20 | -3 | ||
Background
Parliamentary elections for the lower house of the Parliament of South Australia were held in South Australia in 1977, which saw Don Dunstan and the Australian Labor Party win a fourth successive term, against the Liberal Party of Australia opposition led by David Tonkin. This would be Dunstan's last election before collapsing in parliament and resigning due to ill health.
It was the first time that a Labor government in South Australia had been re-elected for a fourth term, and would be the first nine-year-incumbent Labor government.
This was the first election after the end of Playmander seat weighting where one vote one value was introduced. At the previous election some metropolitan seats still saw more than three times the number of voters than in some rural seats, despite most of the Playmander being abolished nearly a decade ago.
A 1979 Norwood by-election was triggered as a result of Dunstan's resignation. Labor retained the seat on a considerably reduced majority.
The Australian Democrats ran for the first time under a joint New LM-Australian Democrats ticket, winning an average 12.3 percent of the primary vote in the 12 electorates they contested, with former LCL MP Robin Millhouse retaining his seat of Mitcham, which he would hold until 1982. In the South Australian Legislative Council, the sole balance of power was held unbroken by the Democrats from their inception in mid-1970s, until the late 1990s. Though the Democrats would exceed 16 percent of the vote at the 1997 election, during the following term the Democrats would lose the sole balance of power for the first time, sharing the balance of power with independent members, slowly losing numbers and influence, until they were eventually without parliamentary representation as of the 2010 election.
Post-election pendulum
| LABOR SEATS (27) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Marginal | |||
| Morphett | Terry Groom | ALP | 0.3% |
| Fairly safe | |||
| Mawson | Leslie Drury | ALP | 6.5% |
| Todd | Molly Byrne | ALP | 6.5% |
| Brighton | Hugh Hudson | ALP | 8.1% |
| Henley Beach | Glen Broomhill | ALP | 9.3% |
| Newland | John Klunder | ALP | 9.8% |
| Safe | |||
| Unley | Gil Langley | ALP | 10.1% |
| Norwood | Don Dunstan | ALP | 10.2% |
| Hartley | Des Corcoran | ALP | 10.4% |
| Mitchell | Ron Payne | ALP | 11.4% |
| Ascot Park | Geoff Virgo | ALP | 12.5% |
| Gilles | Jack Slater | ALP | 12.8% |
| Albert Park | Charles Harrison | ALP | 14.1% |
| Playford | Terry McRae | ALP | 15.1% |
| Adelaide | Jack Wright | ALP | 16.2% |
| Baudin | Don Hopgood | ALP | 16.7% |
| Florey | Charles Wells | ALP | 17.0% |
| Peake | Don Simmons | ALP | 17.4% |
| Price | George Whitten | ALP | 19.4% |
| Salisbury | Reg Groth | ALP | 19.5% |
| Napier | Terry Hemmings | ALP | 21.0% |
| Ross Smith | John Bannon | ALP | 22.2% |
| Semaphore | Jack Olson | ALP | 22.2% |
| Elizabeth | Peter Duncan | ALP | 22.4% |
| Whyalla | Max Brown | ALP | 23.2% |
| Stuart | Gavin Keneally | ALP | 23.9% |
| Spence | Roy Abbott | ALP | 27.3% |
| LIBERAL SEATS (17) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Marginal | |||
| Coles | Jennifer Adamson | LIB | 1.4% |
| Mount Gambier | Harold Allison | LIB | 1.4% |
| Torrens | Michael Wilson | LIB | 2.5% |
| Hanson | Heini Becker | LIB | 5.4% |
| Eyre | Graham Gunn | LIB | 5.9% |
| Fairly safe | |||
| Rocky River | Howard Venning | LIB | 8.2% |
| Glenelg | John Mathwin | LIB | 9.5% |
| Chaffey | Peter Arnold | LIB | 9.6% |
| Murray | David Wotton | LIB | 10.0% |
| Safe | |||
| Fisher | Stan Evans | LIB | 10.4% |
| Light | Bruce Eastick | LIB | 10.7% |
| Bragg | David Tonkin | LIB | 15.3% |
| Victoria | Allan Rodda | LIB | 15.3% |
| Kavel | Roger Goldsworthy | LIB | 18.7% |
| Alexandra | Ted Chapman | LIB | 19.8% |
| Mallee | William Nankivell | LIB | 23.8% |
| Davenport | Dean Brown | LIB | 24.2% |
| CROSSBENCH SEATS (3) | |||
| Mitcham | Robin Millhouse | DEM | 6.5% v LIB |
| Goyder | Keith Russack | IND | 7.9% v LIB |
| Flinders | Peter Blacker | NAT | 24.2% v LIB |
Legislative Council Results
No upper house vote took place at this election.
| 1975-1979 Legislative Council | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Seats | |
| Australian Labor Party | 10 | |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 9 | |
| New LM-Australian Democrats | 2 | |
See also
- Results of the South Australian state election, 1977 (House of Assembly)
- Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1977-1979
- Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1975-1979
References
- History of South Australian elections 1857-2006, volume 1: ECSA
- Historical lower house results
- Historical upper house results
- State and federal election results in Australia since 1890
| General elections | |
|---|---|
| Referendums | |