Premier of South Australia

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The premier of South Australia is the head of the South Australian government. They are the leaders of the political party which has a majority of the seats in the Legislative Assembly. Before the 1890s when there was no formal party system in South Australia, politicians usually held liberal or conservative beliefs. The liberals dominated government from 1893 to 1905 with Labor support, with the conservatives mostly in opposition. Labor took government with the support of eight liberals in 1905 when Labor gained more seats than the liberals. The rise of Labor meant the other groups began to become anti-labor parties. The conservatives merged with the Liberal and Democratic Union (formed in 1906) to become the Liberal Union in 1910. No "country" or rural conservative parties have lasted in South Australian state politics.

Premier of South Australia
Incumbent
Peter Malinauskas

since 21 March 2022
StyleThe Honourable
(Formal)
Premier
(Spoken)
Member of
Reports toParliament of South Australia Governor of South Australia
SeatAdelaide, South Australia
AppointerGovernor of South Australia
Term lengthAt the Governor's pleasure
Inaugural holderBoyle Finniss
Formation24 October 1856
Salary$374,648 (AUD)[1]
Websitehttp://premier.sa.gov.au/

Labor formed South Australia's first majority government after winning the 1910 state election. This was two weeks after federal Labor formed Australia's first majority government after winning the 1910 federal election.

List of Premiers of South Australia

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The first six Governors of South Australia ran the government from 1836 until responsible government was began in 1856.

No. Name Party Assumed office Left office Period Picture
1 B.T. Finniss 24 October 1856 21 August 1857 301 days  
2 John Baker 21 August 1857 1 September 1857 11 days  
3 Robert Torrens 1 September 1857 30 September 1857 29 days  
4 Richard Hanson 30 September 1857 9 May 1860 2 years, 222 days  
5 Thomas Reynolds 9 May 1860 8 October 1861 1 year, 152 days  
6 George Waterhouse 8 October 1861 4 July 1863 1 year, 269 days  
7 Francis Dutton 4 July 1863 15 July 1863 11 days  
8 Henry Ayers 15 July 1863 4 August 1864 1 year, 20 days  
9 Arthur Blyth 4 August 1864 22 March 1865 230 days  
- Francis Dutton
(2nd time)
22 March 1865 20 September 1865 182 days
Total - 193 days
- Henry Ayers
(2nd time)
20 September 1865 23 October 1865 33 days
Total - 1 year, 53 days
10 John Hart 23 October 1865 28 March 1866 156 days  
11 James Boucaut 28 March 1866 3 May 1867 1 year, 36 days  
- Henry Ayers
(3rd time)
3 May 1867 24 September 1868 1 year, 144 days
Total - 2 years, 197 days
- John Hart
(2nd time)
24 September 1868 13 October 1868 19 days
Total - 175 days
- Henry Ayers
(4th time)
13 October 1868 3 November 1868 21 days
Total - 2 years, 218 days
12 Henry Strangways 3 November 1868 30 May 1870 1 year, 208 days  
- John Hart
(3rd time)
30 May 1870 10 November 1871 1 year, 164 days
Total - 1 year, 339 days
- Arthur Blyth
(2nd time)
10 November 1871 22 January 1872 73 days
Total - 303 days
- Henry Ayers
(5th time)
22 January 1872 22 July 1873 1 year, 181 days
Total - 4 years, 34 days
- Arthur Blyth
(3rd time)
22 July 1873 3 June 1875 1 year, 316 days
Total - 2 years, 254 days
- James Boucaut
(2nd time)
3 June 1875 6 June 1876 1 year, 3 days
Total - 2 years, 39 days
13 John Colton 6 June 1876 26 October 1877 1 year, 142 days  
- James Boucaut
(3rd time)
26 October 1877 27 September 1878 336 days
Total - 3 years, 10 days
14 William Morgan 27 September 1878 24 June 1881 2 years, 270 days  
15 John Cox Bray 24 June 1881 16 June 1884 2 years, 358 days  
- John Colton
(2nd time)
16 June 1884 16 June 1885 1 year, 0 days
Total - 2 years, 142 days
16 John Downer 16 June 1885 11 June 1887 1 year, 360 days  
17 Thomas Playford II 11 June 1887 27 June 1889 2 years, 16 days  
18 John Cockburn 27 June 1889 19 August 1890 1 year, 53 days  
- Thomas Playford II
(2nd time)
19 August 1890 21 June 1892 1 year, 307 days
Total - 3 years, 323 days
19 Frederick Holder 21 June 1892 15 October 1892 116 days  
- John Downer
(2nd time)
conservatism[2] 15 October 1892 16 June 1893 244 days
Total - 2 year, 239 days
20 Charles Kingston liberalism 16 June 1893 1 December 1899 6 years, 168 days  
21 Vaiben Solomon conservatism 1 December 1899 8 December 1899 7 days  
- Frederick Holder
(2nd time)
liberalism 8 December 1899 15 May 1901 1 year, 158 days
Total - 1 year, 274 days
22 John Jenkins liberalism 15 May 1901 1 March 1905 3 years, 290 days  
23 Richard Butler conservatism 1 March 1905 26 July 1905 147 days  
24 Thomas Price Australian Labor Party (Labor) 26 July 1905 5 June 1909 3 years, 314 days  
25 Archibald Peake Liberal and Democratic Union 5 June 1909 3 June 1910 363 days  
26 John Verran Labor 3 June 1910 17 February 1912 1 year, 259 days  
- Archibald Peake
(2nd time)
Liberal Union 17 February 1912 3 April 1915 3 years, 45 days
Total - 4 years, 43 days
27 Crawford Vaughan Labor 3 April 1915 14 July 1917 2 years, 102 days  
- Archibald Peake
(3rd time)
Liberal Union 14 July 1917 8 April 1920 2 years, 269 days
Total - 6 years, 312 days
28 Henry Barwell Liberal Union/
Liberal Federation
8 April 1920 16 April 1924 4 years, 8 days  
29 John Gunn Labor 16 April 1924 28 August 1926 2 years, 134 days  
30 Lionel Hill Labor 28 August 1926 8 April 1927 223 days  
31 Richard Layton Butler Liberal Federation 8 April 1927 17 April 1930 3 years, 9 days  
- Lionel Hill
(2nd time)
Labor 17 April 1930 13 February 1933 2 years, 302 days
Total - 3 years, 160 days
32 Robert Richards Labor 13 February 1933 18 April 1933 64 days  
- Richard Layton Butler
(2nd time)
Liberal and Country League (LCL) 18 April 1933 5 November 1938 5 years, 201 days
Total - 8 years, 210 days
33 Thomas Playford IV LCL 5 November 1938 10 March 1965 26 years, 125 days  
34 Frank Walsh Labor 10 March 1965 1 June 1967 2 years, 83 days
35 Don Dunstan Labor 1 June 1967 17 April 1968 321 days  
36 Steele Hall LCL 17 April 1968 2 June 1970 2 years, 46 days
- Don Dunstan
(2nd time)
Labor 2 June 1970 15 February 1979 8 years, 258 days
Total - 9 years, 214 days
37 Des Corcoran Labor 15 February 1979 18 September 1979 215 days
38 David Tonkin Liberal Party of Australia (Liberal) 18 September 1979 10 November 1982 3 years, 53 days
39 John Bannon Labor 10 November 1982 4 September 1992 9 years, 299 days  
40 Lynn Arnold Labor 4 September 1992 14 December 1993 1 year, 101 days
41 Dean Brown Liberal 14 December 1993 28 November 1996 2 years, 350 days
42 John Olsen Liberal 28 November 1996 22 October 2001 4 years, 328 days
43 Rob Kerin Liberal 22 October 2001 5 March 2002 134 days
44 Mike Rann Labor 5 March 2002 21 October 2011 9 years, 230 days  
45 Jay Weatherill Labor 21 October 2011 19 March 2018 6 years, 149 days
46 Steven Marshall Liberal 19 March 2018 21 March 2022 6 years, 228 days[3]
47 Peter Malinauskas Labor 21 March 2022 Incumbent 2 years, 226 days[4]

References

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  1. "'Extraordinary' $30,000 MP pay rise under fire from South Australian welfare groups". ABC News. 18 December 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  2. 1893 SA election Archived 2015-01-18 at the Wayback Machine - Playford replaced Cockburn as premier of a ministerialist minority government on 19 August 1890, and Holder replaced Playford as premier of a ministerialist minority government on 21 June 1892. The Downer Conservative minority government replaced the Holder ministerialist minority government on 15 October 1892. The Kingston Liberal minority government formed following the 1893 election, but non not take office until 16 June 1893 after the Assembly met for the first time.
  3. As at 2 November 2024
  4. As at 2 November 2024