Division of South Australia

The Division of South Australia was an Australian electoral division covering South Australia.^{[note 1]} The seven-member statewide seat existed from the inaugural 1901 election until the 1903 election. Each elector cast seven votes. Unlike most of the other states, South Australia had not been split into individual single-member electorates. The other exception was the five-member Division of Tasmania. The statewide seats were abolished at a redistribution conducted two months prior to the 1903 election and were subsequently replaced with single-member divisions, one per displaced member, with each elector now casting a single vote.

South Australia Australian House of Representatives Division
Created	1901
Abolished	1903
Namesake	South Australia

Members

Sorted in order of votes received

Image		Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Charles Kingston (1850–1908)	Protectionist	30 March 1901 – 16 December 1903	Previously held the South Australian House of Assembly seat of West Adelaide. Served as minister under Barton. Transferred to the Division of Adelaide when South Australia was abolished in 1903
		Sir Langdon Bonython (1848–1939)		30 March 1901 – 16 December 1903	Transferred to the Division of Barker when South Australia was abolished in 1903
		Paddy Glynn (1855–1931)	Free Trade	30 March 1901 – 16 December 1903	Previously held the South Australian House of Assembly seat of North Adelaide. Transferred to the Division of Angas when South Australia was abolished in 1903
		Sir Frederick Holder (1850–1909)		30 March 1901 – 9 May 1901	Previously held the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Burra. Served as Speaker during the Barton and Deakin Governments. Transferred to the Division of Wakefield when South Australia was abolished in 1903
			Independent	9 May 1901 – 16 December 1903
		Lee Batchelor (1865–1911)	Labour	30 March 1901 – 16 December 1903	Previously held the South Australian House of Assembly seat of West Adelaide. Transferred to the Division of Boothby when South Australia was abolished in 1903
		Vaiben Louis Solomon (1853–1908)	Free Trade[a]	30 March 1901 – 16 December 1903	Previously held the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Northern Territory. Failed to win the Division of Boothby when South Australia was abolished in 1903. Later elected to the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Northern Territory in 1905
		Alexander Poynton (1853–1935)		30 March 1901 – 16 December 1903	Previously held the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Flinders. Transferred to the Division of Grey when South Australia was abolished in 1903

1. Though labelled a Free Trader, Poynton was an Australasian National League candidate.^[1]

The Division was split into seven single-member seats at the 1903 election – Adelaide (Kingston, Protectionist), Angas (Glynn, Free Trade), Barker (Bonython, Protectionist), Boothby (Batchelor, Labour), Grey (Poynton, Labour), Hindmarsh (Hutchison, Labour) and Wakefield (Holder, Independent).

Election results

Elected members listed in bold. South Australia elected seven members, with each elector casting seven votes.

1901 Australian federal election: South Australia

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Protectionist	Charles Kingston	41,477	65.9	+65.9
	Protectionist	Sir Langdon Bonython	39,434	62.7	+62.7
	Free Trade	Paddy Glynn	37,450	59.5	+59.5
	Free Trade	Frederick Holder	37,424	59.5	+59.5
	Labour	Lee Batchelor	31,614	50.3	+50.3
	Free Trade	Vaiben Louis Solomon	27,030	43.0	+43.0
	Free Trade	Alexander Poynton	25,864	41.1	+41.1
	Labour	Thomas Price	24,019	38.2	+38.2
	Protectionist	Robert Caldwell	21,102	33.6	+33.6
	Free Trade	Henry Baker	15,760	25.1	+25.1
	Free Trade	Crawford Vaughan	11,874	18.9	+18.9
	Free Trade	Richard Wood	11,054	17.6	+17.6
	Free Trade	Thomas Webb	9,357	14.9	+14.9
	Protectionist	John Cooke	8,947	14.2	+14.2
	Protectionist	John O'Connell	3,152	5.0	+5.0
	Protectionist	George Wyld	2,858	4.6	+4.6
	Independent	George Mitchell	1,745	2.8	+2.8
Total formal votes			350,161	98.4
Informal votes			985	1.6
Turnout			62,982	40.8

Notes

1. The Northern Territory was part of South Australia until 1911. Its area was covered by the Division of Grey from 1903 to 1910.