1956 South Australian state election

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]

1956 South Australian state election

← 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
A map of South Australian electorates from 1955 to 1969, during the height of the Playmander.
Premier before election Thomas Playford Liberal and Country League Elected Premier Thomas Playford Liberal and Country League

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

Background

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

Arrangement of the House of Assembly after the 1956 state election.

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.^[6]

Post-election pendulum

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

See also

• Results of the South Australian state election, 1956 (House of Assembly)
• Candidates of the 1956 South Australian state election
• Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1956-1959
• Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1956-1959
• Playmander