South Australian legislative election, 1997

Encyclopedia : S : SO : SOU : South Australian legislative election, 1997

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1997 South Australian state election major party leaders
Labor		Liberal
Mike Rann Opposition Leader		John Olsen Premier of South Australia
Parliament	12 years	Parliament	18 years
Leader since	1994	Leader since	1996
District	Ramsay	District	Kavel

Legislative elections for State Parliament were held in South Australia on 11 October 1997.

Background

For previous results, see South Australian legislative elections.

Following the 1993 landslide to the Liberal Party, the Labor Party, led by Mike Rann held just 11 seats in the House of Assembly. The Liberals held 36 seats and there were no independent or minor party members in the House of Assembly. (They had held a record 37, but lost one in a by-election in 1994). Former deputy, John Olsen had successfully challenged Dean Brown for the leadership of the Liberal Party in 1996 and had been Premier of South Australia for around 12 months on election day. The margin of 25 seats was seen as insurmountable for the Labor Party despite the Liberal leadership change.

The election was held just after the end of the football season (when the state had been captivated by the Adelaide Crows unexpectedly winning the AFL premiership), leaving only one week for campaigning uninterrupted by football. This was expected to work in the government's favour, though it seems it had the opposite effect.

Election Procedure

Under its state constitution, South Australia holds legislative elections approximately every four years. The Electoral Act stipulates that the election campaign must run for a minimum of 25 days and a maximum of 55 days.

In accordance with electoral regulations, the Electoral Commissioner then advertised key dates for this election of all 47 members of the House of Assembly and eleven members of the Legislative Council:

• Close of rolls
• Nominations
• Polling Day
• Return of Writs

1997 State Election
First preference
Party			Seats
	Liberal Party of Australia	40.4%	23
	Australian Labor Party	35.2%	21
	Australian Democrats	16.5%
	Independents/Other	6.2%	2
	Nationals SA	1.7%	1
Two Party Preferred
	Liberal Party of Australia	51.5%	26
	Australian Labor Party	48.5%	21

To the surprise of most observers, the Labor Party polled exceptionally well, gaining 10 seats and coming within a couple of seats of winning government. The Liberals lost a massive 13 seats; 10 to Labor, one to the Nationals and two to conservative independents.

So the numbers were: Liberal 23 seats, Labor 21, Nationals 1 (Karlene Maywald), and two conservative independents (Mitch Williams and Rory McEwen). This left the Liberals one short of a majority, though they had the support of the National and Independents, and Williams later joined the Liberal party.

Post-election Pendulum

For previous pendulums and maps, see South Australian legislative elections.

LABOR SEATS (21)
Marginal
Norwood	Vini Ciccarello	ALP	0.8%
Mitchell	Kris Hanna	ALP	0.9%
Florey	Frances Bedford	ALP	1.3%
Elder	Pat Conlon	ALP	2.6%
Wright	Jennifer Rankine	ALP	3.1%
Reynell	Gay Thompson	ALP	3.7%
Fairly safe
Hanson	Stephanie Key	ALP	5.6%
Kaurna	John Hill	ALP	5.8%
Peake	Tom Koutsantonis	ALP	7.0%
Lee	Michael Wright	ALP	7.1%
Napier	Annette Hurley	ALP	9.5% v AD
Safe
Torrens	Robyn Geraghty	ALP	10.1%
Giles	Lyn Breuer	ALP	11.4%
Playford	Jack Snelling	ALP	12.9%
Elizabeth	Lea Stevens	ALP	14.3%
Ross Smith	Ralph Clarke	ALP	14.8%
Ramsay	Mike Rann	ALP	18.2%
Very safe
Taylor	Trish Worth	ALP	22.2%
Hart	Kevin Foley	ALP	22.7%
Spence	Michael Atkinson	ALP	23.3%
Price	Murray De-Laine	ALP	24.4%

LIBERAL SEATS (26)
Marginal
Gordon	Rory McEwen	IND	0.1% v LIB
Hartley	Joe Scalzi	LIB	0.7%
Stuart	Graham Gunn	LIB	1.5%
Heysen	David Wotton	LIB	1.9% v AD
Chaffey	Karlene Maywald	NAT	2.6% v LIB
Frome	Rob Kerin	LIB	2.9%
Colton	Steve Condous	LIB	4.0%
Davenport	Iain Evans	LIB	4.3% v AD
Unley	Mark Brindal	LIB	4.5%
Mawson	Robert Brokenshire	LIB	4.7%
Fairly safe
Adelaide	Michael Armitage	LIB	5.4%
Waite	Martin Hamilton-Smith	LIB	5.9% v AD
Bright	Wayne Matthew	LIB	6.2%
Light	Malcolm Buckby	LIB	6.3%
Kavel	John Olsen	LIB	6.3% v AD
Finniss	Dean Brown	LIB	7.3% v AD
Coles	Joan Hall	LIB	7.8%
MacKillop	Mitch Williams	IND	7.9% v LIB
Newland	Dorothy Kotz	LIB	8.0%
Schubert	Ivan Venning	LIB	8.7% v AD
Fisher	Bob Such	LIB	9.8%
Safe
Flinders	Liz Penfold	LIB	10.0% v NAT
Morphett	John Oswald	LIB	13.0%
Hammond	Peter Lewis	LIB	14.7%
Goyder	John Meier	LIB	17.2%
Bragg	Graham Ingerson	LIB	18.8%
Very safe

1997 Legislative Council Result
Party			Seats
	Liberal Party of Australia	37.8%	4
	Australian Labor Party	30.6%	4
	Australian Democrats	16.7%	2
	No Pokies	2.9%	1
	HEMP Legalise Marijuana	1.7%
	SA Greens	1.7%
	Grey Power	1.6%
	United Australia Party	1.3%
	Nationals SA	1.0%
1997-2002 Legislative Council
Party			Seats
	Liberal Party of Australia		10
	Australian Labor Party		8
	Australian Democrats		3
	No Pokies		1

In the Legislative Council, voter disquiet was reflected in the fact that 3 of the 11 candidates were from minor parties, with the Australian Democrats having two MLCs elected for the first time. Elected were 4 Liberal, 4 Labor, 2 Australian Democrats, and No Pokies candidate Nick Xenophon. Carrying over from the 1993 election were 6 Liberal, 4 Labor, 1 Democrat; leaving the numbers at: 10 Liberal, 8 Labor, 3 Democrats, 1 No Pokies.

Both on 1.72%, the HEMP Legalise Marijuana party received 15432 votes and the SA Greens received 15377 votes.

Legacy

The 1997 result put Labor within striking distance of winning government at the next election in 2002. John Olsen was left with internal disquiet over the leadership challenge and poor election result while his opponent, Mike Rann was seen to have 'won' the campaign despite losing the election.

See also

• South Australian legislative elections
• South Australian Legislative Council
• South Australian House of Assembly

References

• [State Electoral Office - 1997 results]

Political Parties

• [Australian Labor Party]
• [Liberal Party of Australia]
• [Australian Greens]
• [Australian Democrats]
• [Family First Party]
• [The Nationals]

 

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