1985 South Australian state election

State elections were held in South Australia on 7 December 1985. All 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Premier of South Australia John Bannon increased its majority, and defeated the Liberal Party of Australia led by Leader of the Opposition John Olsen.

1985 South Australian state election
7 December 1985 (1985-12-07)
All 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly
24 seats were needed for a majority
11 (of the 22) seats in the South Australian Legislative Council
  First party Second party Third party
 
NAT
Leader John Bannon John Olsen Peter Blacker
Party Labor Liberal National
Leader since 18 September 1979 10 November 1982
Leader's seat Ross Smith Custance Flinders
Seats before 23 21 1
Seats won 27 16 1
Seat change Increase4 Decrease5 Steady
Popular vote 393,652 344,337 14,056
Percentage 48.19% 42.15% 1.72%
Swing Increase1.91 Decrease0.52 Decrease0.60
TPP 53.2% 46.8%
TPP swing Increase2.2 Decrease2.2
Premier before election

John Bannon
Labor

 Elected Premier

John Bannon
Labor

Background

Parliamentary elections for both houses of the Parliament of South Australia were held in South Australia on 7 December 1985, which saw John Bannon and the Australian Labor Party win a second successive term, against the Liberal Party of Australia opposition led by John Olsen.

Labor won the election with an increased majority–at the time, the biggest majority it had held since the end of the Playmander, a record that would stand until 2006. The Liberal Party retained John Olsen as leader, partly because his main rival Dean Brown lost his seat to Independent Liberal Stan Evans. Evans rejoined the Liberal Party soon after the election.

In the South Australian Legislative Council, Labor won one seat from the Liberals, while the Democrats maintained their 2 seats. This shift gave the Australian Democrats sole balance of power. They would continue to hold it until the 1997 election.

Key dates
  • Issue of writ: 10 November 1985
  • Close of nominations: 22 November 1985
  • Polling day: 7 December 1985
  • Return of writ: On or before 2 January 1986

Results

House of Assembly

South Australian state election, 7 December 1985[1]
House of Assembly
<< 1982–1989 >>

Enrolled voters 905,507
Votes cast 846,289 Turnout 93.46 +0.28
Informal votes 29,401 Informal 3.47 –2.31
Summary of votes by party
Party Primary votes  % Swing Seats Change
  Labor 393,652 48.19 +1.91 27 + 4
  Liberal 344,337 42.15 –0.52 16 – 5
  Democrats 34,732 4.25 –2.87 0 0
  National 14,056 1.72 –0.60 1 0
  Independent Labor 18,641 2.28 * 2 0
  Independent 5,368 0.66 –0.94 0 0
  Independent Liberal 5,224 0.64 * 1 + 1
  Other 878 0.11 * 0 0
Total 816,888     47  
Two-party-preferred
  Labor 434,325 53.17 +2.23
  Liberal 382,563 46.83 –2.23
Popular vote
Labor
 
 48.19%
Liberal
 
 42.15%
Democrats
 
 4.25%
Independents
 
 3.58%
National
 
 1.72%
Others
 
 0.11%
Two-party-preferred vote
Labor
 
 53.17%
Liberal
 
 46.83%
Seats
Labor
 
 57.45%
Liberal
 
 34.04%
Independents
 
 6.38%
National
 
 2.13%

Legislative Council

South Australian state election, 7 December 1985[2]
Legislative Council
<< 1982–1989 >>

Enrolled voters 905,507
Votes cast 846,250 Turnout 93.46 +0.67
Informal votes 31,312 Informal 3.70 –6.37
Summary of votes by party
Party Primary votes  % Swing Seats
won		 Seats
held
  Labor 391,076 47.99 +0.40 5 10
  Liberal 320,055 39.27 –2.15 5 10
  Democrats 44,988 5.52 –0.04 1 2
  Call to Australia 24,666 3.03 +3.03 0 0
  National 13,276 1.63 –0.37 0 0
  Nuclear Disarmament 12,098 1.48 +1.48 0 0
  Other 8,779 1.08 * 0 0
Total 814,938     11 22

Seats changing hands
Seat Pre-1985 Swing Post-1985
Party Member Margin Margin Member Party
Bright   Liberal Notional - New Seat 1.0 2.6 1.6 Derek Robertson Labor  
Davenport   Liberal Dean Brown 22.0 N/A 2.6 Stan Evans Independent  
Fisher   Liberal Stan Evans* 2.1 3.2 1.1 Philip Tyler Labor  

Redistribution affected seats
Seat 1982 election 1983 redistribution Swing 1985 election
Party Member Margin Party Member Margin Margin Member Party
Adelaide   Labor Jack Wright 15.6   Liberal Notional 2.8 -3.4 0.6 Mike Duigan Labor  
Newland   Labor John Klunder* 3.6   Liberal Notional 1.0 -2.5 1.5 Di Gayler Labor  
Todd   Liberal Scott Ashenden* 1.4   Labor Notional 2.0 +3.9 5.9 John Klunder Labor  

Post-election pendulum
For previous pendulums and maps, see List of elections in South Australia.
Labor seats (27)
Marginal
Adelaide Mike Duigan ALP 0.6%
Fisher Philip Tyler ALP 1.1%
Newland Di Gayler ALP 1.5%
Bright Derek Robertson ALP 1.6%
Hayward June Appleby ALP 2.8%
Unley Kym Mayes ALP 5.0%
Todd John Klunder ALP 5.9%
Fairly safe
Norwood Greg Crafter ALP 6.3%
Henley Beach Don Ferguson ALP 7.3%
Florey Robert Gregory ALP 8.2%
Safe
Walsh John Trainer ALP 10.7%
Hartley Terry Groom ALP 12.5%
Albert Park Kevin Hamilton ALP 12.9%
Mitchell Ron Payne ALP 13.5%
Baudin Don Hopgood ALP 13.7%
Gilles Jack Slater ALP 14.2%
Peake Keith Plunkett ALP 15.7%
Mawson Susan Lenehan ALP 16.1%
Whyalla Frank Blevins ALP 17.0%
Briggs Mike Rann ALP 17.4%
Spence Roy Abbott ALP 18.4%
Ross Smith John Bannon ALP 18.7%
Playford Terry McRae ALP 19.4%
Stuart Gavin Keneally ALP 22.0%
Napier Terry Hemmings ALP 23.5%
Ramsay Lynn Arnold ALP 24.2%
Price Murray De Laine ALP 24.3%
Liberal seats (16)
Marginal
Hanson Heini Becker LIB 0.9%
Morphett John Oswald LIB 4.7%
Fairly safe
Mitcham Stephen Baker LIB 8.3%
Coles Jennifer Adamson LIB 8.4%
Heysen David Wotton LIB 8.8%
Light Bruce Eastick LIB 9.3%
Mount Gambier Harold Allison LIB 9.9%
Safe
Kavel Stephen Baker LIB 11.0%
Goyder John Meier LIB 12.4%
Alexandra Ted Chapman LIB 15.2%
Eyre Graham Gunn LIB 15.8%
Chaffey Peter Arnold LIB 16.3%
Custance John Olsen LIB 16.3%
Bragg Graham Ingerson LIB 17.5%
Victoria Dale Baker LIB 18.3%
Murray-Mallee Peter Lewis LIB 18.6%
Crossbench seats (4)
Davenport Stan Evans IND 2.8% v LIB
Elizabeth Martyn Evans IND 4.0% v ALP
Semaphore Norm Peterson IND 7.3% v ALP
Flinders Peter Blacker NAT 8.3% v LIB

See also

References
  1. "Details of SA 1985 Election". Australian Politics and Elections Database.
  2. "History of South Australian elections 1857–2006, volume 2 Legislative Council". ECSA. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
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