State elections were held in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

on 27 May 1905. All 42 seats in the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assembly was creat ...

were up for election. The incumbent

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

government led by

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

of South Australia Richard Butler in an informal coalition with the liberals was defeated by the

United Labor Party The South Australian Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch) and commonly referred to simply as South Australian Labor, is the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, originally formed ...

(ULP) led by

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

Thomas Price. Each of the 13 districts elected multiple members, with voters casting multiple votes. The first ministry formed after the 1902 election by John Jenkins, who resigned prior to the 1905 election. Richard Butler took the parliament into the 1905 election. Prior to the election, a new party formed. The rural stockowners and graziers were concerned at the concentration of the Australasian National League (ANL) on the metropolitan electorates and urban issues. In 1905, these interests formed the

Farmers and Producers Political Union The Farmers and Producers Political Union (FPPU) was an independent conservative agrarian political party founded in South Australia in reaction to Labor, keen to fend off a perceived threat to the FPPU's interests against a rising labour moveme ...

(FPPU), which had a conservative political agenda, and was absolutely opposed to franchise reform. It was essentially the rural wing of the ANL. There were four distinct blocs at the election, with the over-riding issue that of franchise reform for the Legislative Council: the ULP, a liberal group of franchise reformers led by

Archibald Peake Archibald Henry Peake (15 January 1859 – 6 April 1920) was an Australian politician. He was Premier of South Australia on three occasions: from 1909 to 1910 for the Liberal and Democratic Union, and from 1912 to 1915 and 1917 to 1920 for its ...

, the Butler moderate conservatives with some FPPU support, and an "extreme conservative" group led by John Darling at the core of the ANL. There was no "Liberal" party, but there was a relatively cohesive liberal group among both independent members and candidates. The

Liberal and Democratic Union The Liberal and Democratic Union (LDU) was a South Australian political party formed by early liberals, as opposed to the conservatives. It was formed in 1906 when liberal party structures were becoming more solid. Its leader, Archibald Peake, s ...

would not be formed until the 1906 election. The ULP, on the fewest seats prior to the election, in just one election became the single largest party, increasing their primary vote to 41.3 (+22.2) percent and increasing their representation from five to 15 seats, winning 11 of the 12 city seats (four at the last election) from the three city

multi-member An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections ma ...

electorates,

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

and Torrens, with a policy of development and progress, expansion of business and honest government: "they would not be frightened by the nonsense that had been talked about

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

". After the new lower house first met, the ULP forced the incumbent conservative Butler government to resign with the support of several disaffected non-ULP MPs, forming the Price-Peake administration

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

. Peake sought the alliance stating "the only difference between us is a difference of degree and of speed". It was the start of the first stable Labor government in the world. A year later at the 1906 election, the ULP would increase their primary vote to 44.8 (+3.5) percent and increase their representation from 15 to 20 seats, just two short of a parliamentary majority.

References

History of South Australian elections 1857-2006, volume 1: ECSAStatistical Record of the Legislature 1836-2007: SA ParliamentState and federal election results
in Australia since 1890

External links

The 13 electorates from 1902 to 1915: The Adelaide Chronicle
{{South Australian elections Elections in South Australia 1905 elections in Australia 1900s in South Australia May 1905 events

See also

References

External links