A report on 1962 South Australian state election, 1944 South Australian state election, 1953 South Australian state election and Playmander

This image shows the disproportional effects of the Playmander: All elections from 1938 to 1968 (shaded in pink) ended with the Australian Labor Party having a smaller proportion of the 39 state parliamentary seats than the popular vote, with the Liberal & Country Party having a greater proportion. The change to a 47-seat parliament in 1970 reduced the effect of the Playmander

A map of South Australian electorates 1955-69, during the height of the Playmander.

Labor won an additional five seats totaling 16 seats − the highest number of seats won by Labor from the 1933 election through to the 1959 election, an effort not even outdone at the 1953 election where Labor won 53 percent of the statewide two-party vote but the LCL retained government with the assistance of the Playmander − an electoral malapportionment that also saw a clear majority of the statewide two-party vote won by Labor while failing to form government in 1953, 1962 and 1968.

- 1944 South Australian state election

Labor also won comprehensive majorities of the statewide two-party vote whilst failing to form government in 1944, 1953, 1962 and 1968, also winning a majority of the primary vote in 1953, 1962 and 1968.

- Playmander

The Labor opposition won 53 percent of the statewide two-party vote however the LCL retained government with the assistance of the Playmander − an electoral malapportionment that also saw a clear majority of the statewide two-party vote won by Labor while failing to form government in 1944, 1962 and 1968.

- 1953 South Australian state election

The Labor opposition won in excess of 54 percent of the statewide two-party vote, however the LCL retained government with the assistance of the Playmander − an electoral malapportionment in which there were two country seats for every one seat in Adelaide.

- 1962 South Australian state election

This system resulted in Labor being denied government in 1944, 1953 and 1968, despite winning clear statewide two-party majorities.

- 1962 South Australian state election

3 related topics with Alpha

Liberal Party of Australia (South Australian Division)

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South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia.

Sir Richard Layton Butler, LCL Founder and Premier 1933–1938

Sir Tom Playford, LCL Leader 1938–1966, Premier 1938–1965

Steele Hall, LCL Leader 1966–1972, Premier 1968–1970

During its 42-year existence as the Liberal and Country League, it spent 34 years in government, mainly due to an electoral malapportionment scheme known as the Playmander.

Additionally, turnout crashed to a record-low 50 percent in 1941, triggering the Playford LCL to introduce compulsory voting from the 1944 election.

The scheme allowed LCL to win sufficient parliamentary seats even when it lost the two-party vote to Labor opposition by comprehensive margins at several elections: 1944, 1953, 1962 and 1968.

Thomas Playford IV

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Australian politician from the state of South Australia.

Thomas Playford I, soldier and pastor. He was the second Thomas Playford and the first to have lived in South Australia.

Playford's forebears had lived in the town of Norton Summit for generations. Pictured here are market gardens on the hills near the town.

Playford in 1915, as a lieutenant in the 27th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force.

Ben Chifley (left), Labor Prime Minister, enjoyed a strong relationship with Playford (centre), despite their differing political allegiances.

Sir Thomas Playford (left) receiving a barometer as a gift at the opening of the Birkenhead Terminal, Port Adelaide, 1950

Playford in 1963, towards the end of his run in office.

His string of election wins was enabled by a system of malapportionment and gerrymander later dubbed the "Playmander".

In 1942, compulsory voting (but not enrolment) was introduced, and first took effect at the 1944 election, with an increase in voter turnout from 51% to 89%.

At the 1953 election, the young lawyer Don Dunstan was elected to the House of Assembly as the Labor member for Norwood, ousting the LCL incumbent.

It did, however, win a majority of actual votes, barring 1944 and 1953, on a two-party-preferred basis until 1962.

1968 South Australian state election

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Held in South Australia on 2 March 1968.

This result was due to what had become known as the Playmander − an electoral malapportionment that had previously resulted in the LCL also forming government despite having a clear minority of the statewide two-party vote in 1944, 1953 and 1962.