Norwood is a former

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

in the Australian state of

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 ...

. It was a 14.2 km² inner-urban electorate in

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 ...

and was named after the inner-eastern suburb of Norwood. In its final configuration, the seat also included the suburbs of Beulah Park, College Park, Evandale,

Firle Firle (; Sussex dialect: ''Furrel'' ) is a village and civil parish in the Lewes district of East Sussex, England. Firle refers to an old-English/Anglo-Saxon word ''fierol'' meaning overgrown with oak. Although the original division of East ...

, Hackney, Joslin,

Kent Town Kent Town is an inner suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters. History Kent Town was named for Dr. Benjamin Archer Kent (1808 – 25 November 1864), a medical practitioner of Walsall, Sta ...

, Marden, Maylands, Payneham South, Royston Park, St Morris, St Peters,

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...

Trinity Gardens Trinity Gardens is a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. The name is taken from '' Holy Trinity Church''. History On 28 March 1840 the trustees of Holy Trinity – Osmond Gilles, Charles Mann and James Hurtle Fisher – were given approximat ...

and

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

, as well as parts of

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, Klemzig and Payneham. Norwood was created as an electoral district in 1938, and was usually a marginal seat, changing hands between the Labor Party and the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

(and the Liberals' predecessor, the

Liberal and Country League Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and ...

) a number of times. The electorate is synonymous with former

Premier of South Australia 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 ...

Don Dunstan Donald Allan Dunstan (21 September 1926 – 6 February 1999) was an Australian politician who served as the 35th premier of South Australia from 1967 to 1968, and again from 1970 to 1979. He was a member of the House of Assembly (MHA) for th ...

, who held the seat from 1953 until 1979. In 1979 and 1980, Norwood voters went to the ballot box three times within 12 months; first at the March 1979 by-election following Dunstan's resignation, then the September 1979 state election, and again at the February 1980 by-election which resulted from a court decision invalidating the election result. That by-election reduced the

Tonkin Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain ''Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, includi ...

government's already precarious two-seat majority to a knife-edge of one seat. From 1979 until 1993 (with a short break from September 1979 to February 1980), the seat was held by prominent Labor minister

Greg Crafter Gregory John Crafter (born 16 September 1944) is a former South Australian Labor Party politician. He was the member for Norwood from 1979 to 1993, with a short break from September 1979 to February 1980. Crafter was elected in a March 1979 ...

, who is now Australian head of the

International Baccalaureate Organization The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

and the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

alumni organisation. In the shadow of the collapse of the

State Bank of South Australia The State Bank of South Australia was a bank created in 1896 and owned by the Government of South Australia. The bank became the subject of a two-year South Australian Royal Commission upon collapse in 1991. The surviving part of the bank now ...

, the Liberals, through John Cummins, reclaimed the seat at the 1993 state election in a landslide. Cummins was defeated by Labor's

Vini Ciccarello Vincenzina "Vini" Ciccarello (born 1947) is a former Australian Labor Party MP for the electoral district of Norwood in South Australia. She was also the mayor of the City of Kensington and Norwood for seven years. Ciccarello first won the sea ...

at the 1997 state election with a 1.5% margin. At the 2002 state election, the margin was whittled down to 0.5% but was increased to 4.2% at the 2006 state election. Ciccarello was defeated in the 2010 state election by Liberal candidate

Steven Marshall Steven Spence Marshall (born 21 January 1968) is an Australian politician who served as the 46th premier of South Australia between 2018 and 2022. He has been a member of the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia in the ...

following a large swing, and this marked the first time that Labor had been in government without holding the seat of Norwood. The

Electoral Commission of South Australia The Electoral Commission SA is an independent office which forms part of the Government of South Australia, and which conducts parliamentary state elections every four years. History In 1907 the then State Electoral Department was establis ...

's 2012 redistribution included renaming the seat to

Dunstan Saint Dunstan (c. 909 – 19 May 988) was an English bishop. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury, Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restor ...

which took effect from 15 March 2014.

Members for Norwood

Election results

References

External links

Poll Bludger profile for Norwood: 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norwood Former electoral districts of South Australia 1938 establishments in Australia 2014 disestablishments in Australia