South Australia

South Australia, state (1991 pop. 1,236,623), 380,070 sq mi (984,381 sq km), S central Australia. It is bounded on the S by the Indian Ocean. Kangaroo Island and many smaller islands off the south coast are included in the state. Adelaide is the capital; other important cities are Port Pirie, Port Augusta, Whyalla, and Mt. Gambier. Two thirds of the state's population live in the Adelaide metropolitan area. Much of South Australia is inhospitable terrain—deserts, mountains, salt lakes, and swampland. The Musgrave Ranges are in the north, the Flinders Ranges in the east, and the Great Victoria Desert and the Nullarbor Plain in the west. The only important river is the Murray, in the extreme southeast. The heavily populated southeastern area has a mild and healthful climate, while the north is arid to semiarid. Agriculture, confined almost exclusively to the Murray River area, consists of the raising of barley and grapes (for wine and brandy) and of wheat, oats, and rye. Livestock are grazed in the northern plains. There are valuable mineral deposits in the state; iron ore, salt, and gypsum are mined, and coal and natural gas are exploited. Industry developed rapidly during and after World War II; the chief products are industrial metals and transportation equipment. South Australia's coastal areas were visited by the Dutch in 1627. The British explorer Matthew Flinders noted likely settlement sites in 1802. Prompted by the writings of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, a British colonial statesman, the English Parliament passed the South Australian Colonization Act in 1834, and in Dec., 1836, the first colonists arrived and proclaimed South Australia a colony. In South Australia, unlike most of Australia, convicts were not admitted as settlers. In 1901, South Australia was federated as a state of the commonwealth. Northern Territory, which had been included in the state in 1863, was transferred in 1911 to the commonwealth government. The government of South Australia consists of a premier, a cabinet, and a bicameral state parliament. The nominal chief executive is the governor, appointed by the British crown on advice of the cabinet.

State (pop., 2006: 1,514,337), south-central Australia. It covers an area of 379,725 sq mi (983,482 sq km), and its capital is Adelaide. The Dutch visited the coast in 1627. British explorers arrived in the early 1800s, and it was colonized as a British province in 1836. Its vast interior, a large part of which is barren, includes Lake Eyre and the Flinders Ranges. A major world source of opals, it also produces most of the wine and brandy consumed in Australia. It has the country's largest shipyards. It became a state of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. Its southeastern part has become industrialized since World War II.

Learn more about South Australia with a free trial on Britannica.com.

See Premiers of the Australian states for a description and history of the office of Premier.

Before the 1890s, there was no formal party system in South Australia. The liberals dominated government from 1893 to 1905 with Labor support, with the conservatives mostly in opposition. Labor took government when they gained more seats than the liberals in 1905, which saw non-Labor politics begin to merge in to various party incarnations. The conservatives merged with the Liberal and Democratic Union (formed in 1906) to become the Liberal Union in 1910, when Labor formed the first South Australian majority government. No "Country" or rural conservative parties emerged as serious forces, often folding in to the non-Labor party.

List of Premiers in South Australia

The first six Governors of South Australia oversaw governance from 1836 until responsible government was introduced in 1856.

No.	Name	Party	Assumed office	Left office	Period
1	Boyle Finniss		24 October 1856	21 August 1857
2	John Baker		21 August 1857	1 September 1857
3	Robert Torrens		1 September 1857	30 September 1857
4	Richard Hanson		30 September 1857	9 May 1860
5	Thomas Reynolds		9 May 1860	8 October 1861
6	George Waterhouse		8 October 1861	4 July 1863
7	Francis Dutton		4 July 1863	15 July 1863
8	Henry Ayers		15 July 1863	4 August 1864
9	Arthur Blyth		4 August 1864	22 March 1865
-	Francis Dutton (2nd time)		22 March 1865	20 September 1865	Total - 193 days
-	Henry Ayers (2nd time)		20 September 1865	23 October 1865	Total - 1 year, 53 days
10	John Hart		23 October 1865	28 March 1866
11	James Boucaut		28 March 1866	3 May 1867
-	Henry Ayers (3rd time)		3 May 1867	24 September 1868	Total - 2 years, 197 days
-	John Hart (2nd time)		24 September 1868	13 October 1868	Total - 175 days
-	Henry Ayers (4th time)		13 October 1868	3 November 1868	Total - 2 years, 218 days
12	Henry Strangways		3 November 1868	30 May 1870
-	John Hart (3rd time)		30 May 1870	10 November 1871	Total - 1 year, 339 days
-	Arthur Blyth (2nd time)		10 November 1871	22 January 1872	Total - 303 days
-	Henry Ayers (5th time)		22 January 1872	22 July 1873	Total - 4 years, 34 days
-	Arthur Blyth (3rd time)		22 July 1873	3 June 1875	Total - 2 years, 254 days
-	James Boucaut (2nd time)		3 June 1875	6 June 1876	Total - 2 years, 39 days
13	John Colton		6 June 1876	26 October 1877
-	James Boucaut (3rd time)		26 October 1877	27 September 1878	Total - 3 years, 10 days
14	William Morgan		27 September 1878	24 June 1881
15	Sir John Cox Bray		24 June 1881	16 June 1884
-	John Colton (2nd time)		16 June 1884	16 June 1885	Total - 2 years, 142 days
16	John Downer		16 June 1885	11 June 1887
17	Thomas Playford		11 June 1887	27 June 1889
18	John Cockburn		27 June 1889	19 August 1890
-	Thomas Playford II (2nd time)		19 August 1890	21 June 1892	3 years, 323 days
19	Frederick Holder		21 June 1892	15 October 1892
-	Sir John Downer (2nd time)	conservatism	15 October 1892	16 June 1893	Total - 2 year, 239 days
20	Charles Kingston	liberalism	16 June 1893	1 December 1899
21	Vaiben Solomon	conservatism	1 December 1899	8 December 1899
-	Frederick Holder (2nd time)	liberalism	8 December 1899	15 May 1901	Total - 1 year, 274 days
22	John Jenkins	liberalism	15 May 1901	1 March 1905
23	Richard Butler	conservatism	1 March 1905	26 July 1905
24	Thomas Price	Australian Labor Party (Labor)	26 July 1905	5 June 1909
25	Archibald Peake	Liberal and Democratic Union	5 June 1909	3 June 1910
26	John Verran	Labor	3 June 1910	17 February 1912
-	Archibald Peake (2nd time)	Liberal Union	17 February 1912	3 April 1915	Total - 4 years, 43 days
27	Crawford Vaughan	Labor	3 April 1915	14 July 1917
-	Archibald Peake (3rd time)	Liberal Union	14 July 1917	8 April 1920	Total - 6 years, 312 days
28	Henry Barwell	Liberal Union/Liberal Federation	8 April 1920	16 April 1924
29	John Gunn	Labor	16 April 1924	28 August 1926
30	Lionel Hill	Labor	28 August 1926	8 April 1927
31	Richard L. Butler	Liberal Federation	8 April 1927	17 April 1930
-	Lionel Hill (2nd time)	Labor	17 April 1930	13 February 1933	Total - 3 years, 160 days
32	Robert Richards	Labor	13 February 1933	18 April 1933
-	Richard L. Butler (2nd time)	Liberal and Country League (LCL)	18 April 1933	5 November 1938	Total - 8 years, 210 days
33	Sir Thomas Playford	LCL	5 November 1938	10 March 1965
34	Frank Walsh	Labor	10 March 1965	1 June 1967
35	Don Dunstan	Labor	1 June 1967	17 April 1968
36	Steele Hall	LCL	17 April 1968	2 June 1970
-	Don Dunstan (2nd time)	Labor	2 June 1970	15 February 1979	Total - 9 years, 214 days
37	Des Corcoran	Labor	15 February 1979	18 September 1979
38	Dr David Tonkin	Liberal Party of Australia (Liberal)	18 September 1979	10 November 1982
39	John Bannon	Labor	10 November 1982	4 September 1992
40	Lynn Arnold	Labor	4 September 1992	14 December 1993
41	Dean Brown	Liberal	14 December 1993	28 November 1996
42	John Olsen	Liberal	28 November 1996	22 October 2001
43	Rob Kerin	Liberal	22 October 2001	5 April 2002
44	Mike Rann	Labor	5 April 2002	Present

Graphical timeline since 1892

In the following timeline, the legend includes Liberal and Democratic Union and later the Liberal Union with the Liberal Federation. The grey area represents duration of Playmander electoral malapportionment.

Living former premiers

As of November 2007, six former premiers are alive, the oldest being Steele Hall (1968–70, born 1928). The most recent premier to die was Des Corcoran (1979), on January 3 2004. The most recently-serving premier to die was Dr David Tonkin (1979–1982), on October 2 2000.

Name	Term as premier	Date of birth
Steele Hall	1968–1970	28 November 1928
John Bannon	1982–1992	1943
Dr Lynn Arnold	1992–1993	January 27 1949
Dean Brown	1993–1996	1943
John Olsen	1996–2001	1945
Rob Kerin	2001–2002	1954

Gallery of the Premiers

No pictures are available for Steele Hall, John Bannon, Lynn Arnold, Dean Brown, John Olsen or Rob Kerin

References

See also

• List of Premiers of South Australia by time in office

External links

• Biographies of all premiers at the SA Parliament web site
• UWA state and federal election results since 1890