Seat Adelaide Formation 24 October 1856 | Inaugural holder Boyle Finniss | |
 | ||
Style The Honourable
(Formal)
Premier
(Spoken) Appointer Governor of South Australia Term length At the Governor's pleasure | ||
The Premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The Premier is appointed by the Governor of South Australia, and by modern convention holds office by virtue of his or her ability to command the support of a majority of members of the lower house of Parliament, the House of Assembly.
Contents
The current Premier is Jay Weatherill, the Leader of the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party. His Deputy is John Rau. Weatherill replaced Mike Rann on 21 October 2011, after Rann resigned as Premier.
Pre-Party
Before the 1890s when there was no formal party system in South Australia, MPs tended to have historical liberal or conservative beliefs. The liberals dominated government from the 1893 election to 1905 election with the support of the South Australian United Labor Party, with the conservatives mostly in opposition. Labor took government with the support of eight dissident liberals in 1905 when Labor won the most seats for the first time. The rise of Labor saw non-Labor politics start to merge into various party incarnations.
The two independent conservative parties, the Australasian National League (formerly National Defence League) and the Farmers and Producers Political Union merged with the Liberal and Democratic Union to become the Liberal Union in 1910. Labor formed South Australia's first majority government after winning the 1910 state election, triggering the merger. The 1910 election came two weeks after federal Labor formed Australia's first elected majority government at the 1910 federal election.
No "Country" or rural conservative parties emerged as serious long-term forces in South Australian state politics, often folding into the main non-Labor party.
List of Premiers of South Australia
The first six Governors of South Australia oversaw governance from proclamation in 1836 until self-government and an elected Parliament of South Australia was enacted in the year prior to the inaugural 1857 election.
Living former premiers
There are six living former premiers, the oldest being Steele Hall (1968–70, born 1928). The most recent premier to die was John Bannon (Premier 1982–1992) on 13 December 2015.
Timeline
In the following timeline, the legend includes the Liberal and Democratic Union, the Liberal Union and the Liberal Federation represented as "Liberal (pre-1979)". The Liberal Party of Australia is represented as "Liberal (post-1979)" only. The grey area represents the duration of Playmander electoral malapportionment, beginning in 1936, in effect until the 1970 election.