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(Top) 1 Background 2 Results 3 Post-election pendulum 4 See also 5 Notes 6 External links

1956 South Australian state election

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← 1953

3 March 1956 (1956-03-03)

1959 →

All 39 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly
20 seats were needed for a majority

	First party	Second party

Leader	Thomas Playford	Mick O'Halloran
Party	Liberal and Country League	Labor
Leader since	5 November 1938	10 October 1949
Leader's seat	Gumeracha	Frome
Last election	21 seats	14 seats
Seats won	21 seats	15 seats
Seat change	0	1
Percentage	51.3%	48.7%
Swing	4.3	4.3

Premier before election

Thomas Playford
Liberal and Country League

Elected Premier

Thomas Playford
Liberal and Country League

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]

Aredistribution occurred in 1955 based upon the results of the census held in June 1954.^[3]^[4]

Background[edit]

Labor won one seat, rural Murray from the LCL. The LCL won two seats, rural Wallaroo from Labor and rural Chaffey from an independent. An independent won one seat, rural Burra from the LCL.^[1]^[2]

Results[edit]

South Australian state election, 3 March 1956^[5] House of Assembly << 1953–1959 >>
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.

Post-election pendulum[edit]

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

Notes[edit]

^ ^a ^b Jaensch, Dean (March 2007). "The 1956 General Election - Formed the 35th Parliament". History of South Australian elections 1857-2006: House of Assembly, Volume 1. State Electoral Office South Australia. pp. 274–276. ISBN 9780975048634. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via Electoral Commission of South Australia.

^ ^a ^b Tilby Stock, Jenny (1996). "The 'Playmander', Its origins, operation and effect on South Australia". In O'Neil, Bernard; Raftery, Judith; Round, Kerrie (eds.). Playford's South Australia: essays on the history of South Australia, 1933-1968. Association of Professional Historians. pp. 73–90. ISBN 9780646290928 – via Professional Historians Association (South Australia).

^ "To Take Place Next Year: Redistribution of Federal Boundaries". The Morning Bulletin. 8 October 1954. Retrieved 14 January 2016 – via Trove.

^ "Redistribution soon in Victoria". The Argus. 5 November 1954. Retrieved 14 January 2016 – via Trove.

^ "Summary of 1956 Election". University of Western Australia. Retrieved 7 July 2015.

External links[edit]

Two-party preferred figures since 1950, ABC News Online

v t e Elections and referendums in South Australia
General elections	1851 1855 1857 1860 1862 1865 1868 1870 1871 1875 1878 1881 1884 1887 1890 1893 1896 1899 1902 1905 1906 1910 1912 1915 1918 1921 1924 1927 1930 1933 1938 1941 1944 1947 1950 1953 1956 1959 1962 1965 1968 1970 1973 1975 1977 1979 1982 1985 1989 1993 1997 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026
Legislative Council elections	1861 1865 1869 1873 1877 1882 1885 1888 1891 1894 1897 1900
Local elections	1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 2000 2003 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026
First Nations Voice	2024 2026
Referendums	1896 1898 1899 1911 1915 1965 1970 1982 1991
Related	by-elections

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