Premier of South Australia

Premier of South Australia
Ministry
State
Incumbent Jay Weatherill
Style	The Honourable
Appointed by	Kevin Scarce as Governor of South Australia
First	B.T. Finniss
Formation	24 October 1856
Term length	At the Governor's pleasure

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 1893 to 1905 with Labor support, with the conservatives mostly in opposition. Labor took government with the support of eight dissident liberals in 1905 when Labor gained more seats than the liberals. The rise of Labor saw non-Labor politics start 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. Labor formed South Australia's first majority government after winning the 1910 state election, two weeks after federal Labor formed Australia's first majority government after winning the 1910 federal election. No "Country" or rural conservative parties emerged as serious long-term forces in South Australian state politics, often folding in to the non-Labor party.

List of Premiers of South Australia

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

No.	Name	Party	Assumed office	Left office	Period	Picture
1	B.T. Finniss		24 October 1856	21 August 1857	&100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000301000000301 days
2	John Baker		21 August 1857	1 September 1857	&100000000000000000000000 years, &1000000000000001100000011 days
3	Robert Torrens		1 September 1857	30 September 1857	&100000000000000000000000 years, &1000000000000002900000029 days
4	Richard Hanson		30 September 1857	9 May 1860	&100000000000000020000002 years, &10000000000000222000000222 days
5	Thomas Reynolds		9 May 1860	8 October 1861	&100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000152000000152 days
6	George Waterhouse		8 October 1861	4 July 1863	&100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000269000000269 days
7	Francis Dutton		4 July 1863	15 July 1863	&100000000000000000000000 years, &1000000000000001100000011 days
8	Henry Ayers		15 July 1863	4 August 1864	&100000000000000010000001 year, &1000000000000002000000020 days
9	Arthur Blyth		4 August 1864	22 March 1865	&100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000230000000230 days
-	Francis Dutton (2nd time)		22 March 1865	20 September 1865	&100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000182000000182 days Total - 193 days
-	Henry Ayers (2nd time)		20 September 1865	23 October 1865	&100000000000000000000000 years, &1000000000000003300000033 days Total - 1 year, 53 days
10	John Hart		23 October 1865	28 March 1866	&100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000156000000156 days
11	James Boucaut		28 March 1866	3 May 1867	&100000000000000010000001 year, &1000000000000003600000036 days
-	Henry Ayers (3rd time)		3 May 1867	24 September 1868	&100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000144000000144 days Total - 2 years, 197 days
-	John Hart (2nd time)		24 September 1868	13 October 1868	&100000000000000000000000 years, &1000000000000001900000019 days Total - 175 days
-	Henry Ayers (4th time)		13 October 1868	3 November 1868	&100000000000000000000000 years, &1000000000000002100000021 days Total - 2 years, 218 days
12	Henry Strangways		3 November 1868	30 May 1870	&100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000208000000208 days
-	John Hart (3rd time)		30 May 1870	10 November 1871	&100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000164000000164 days Total - 1 year, 339 days
-	Arthur Blyth (2nd time)		10 November 1871	22 January 1872	&100000000000000000000000 years, &1000000000000007300000073 days Total - 303 days
-	Henry Ayers (5th time)		22 January 1872	22 July 1873	&100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000181000000181 days Total - 4 years, 34 days
-	Arthur Blyth (3rd time)		22 July 1873	3 June 1875	&100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000316000000316 days Total - 2 years, 254 days
-	James Boucaut (2nd time)		3 June 1875	6 June 1876	&100000000000000010000001 year, &100000000000000030000003 days Total - 2 years, 39 days
13	John Colton		6 June 1876	26 October 1877	&100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000142000000142 days
-	James Boucaut (3rd time)		26 October 1877	27 September 1878	&100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000336000000336 days Total - 3 years, 10 days
14	William Morgan		27 September 1878	24 June 1881	&100000000000000020000002 years, &10000000000000270000000270 days
15	John Cox Bray		24 June 1881	16 June 1884	&100000000000000020000002 years, &10000000000000358000000358 days
-	John Colton (2nd time)		16 June 1884	16 June 1885	&100000000000000010000001 year, &100000000000000000000000 days Total - 2 years, 142 days
16	John Downer		16 June 1885	11 June 1887	&100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000360000000360 days
17	Thomas Playford II		11 June 1887	27 June 1889	&100000000000000020000002 years, &1000000000000001600000016 days
18	John Cockburn		27 June 1889	19 August 1890	&100000000000000010000001 year, &1000000000000005300000053 days
-	Thomas Playford II (2nd time)		19 August 1890	21 June 1892	&100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000307000000307 days Total - 3 years, 323 days
19	Frederick Holder		21 June 1892	15 October 1892	&100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000116000000116 days
-	John Downer (2nd time)	conservatism	15 October 1892	16 June 1893	&100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000244000000244 days Total - 2 year, 239 days
20	Charles Kingston	liberalism	16 June 1893	1 December 1899	&100000000000000060000006 years, &10000000000000168000000168 days
21	Vaiben Solomon	conservatism	1 December 1899	8 December 1899	&100000000000000000000000 years, &100000000000000070000007 days
-	Frederick Holder (2nd time)	liberalism	8 December 1899	15 May 1901	&100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000158000000158 days Total - 1 year, 274 days
22	John Jenkins	liberalism	15 May 1901	1 March 1905	&100000000000000030000003 years, &10000000000000290000000290 days
23	Richard Butler	conservatism	1 March 1905	26 July 1905	&100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000147000000147 days
24	Thomas Price	Australian Labor Party (Labor)	26 July 1905	5 June 1909	&100000000000000030000003 years, &10000000000000314000000314 days
25	Archibald Peake	Liberal and Democratic Union	5 June 1909	3 June 1910	&100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000363000000363 days
26	John Verran	Labor	3 June 1910	17 February 1912	&100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000259000000259 days
-	Archibald Peake (2nd time)	Liberal Union	17 February 1912	3 April 1915	&100000000000000030000003 years, &1000000000000004500000045 days Total - 4 years, 43 days
27	Crawford Vaughan	Labor	3 April 1915	14 July 1917	&100000000000000020000002 years, &10000000000000102000000102 days
-	Archibald Peake (3rd time)	Liberal Union	14 July 1917	8 April 1920	&100000000000000020000002 years, &10000000000000269000000269 days Total - 6 years, 312 days
28	Henry Barwell	Liberal Union/ Liberal Federation	8 April 1920	16 April 1924	&100000000000000040000004 years, &100000000000000080000008 days
29	John Gunn	Labor	16 April 1924	28 August 1926	&100000000000000020000002 years, &10000000000000134000000134 days
30	Lionel Hill	Labor	28 August 1926	8 April 1927	&100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000223000000223 days
31	Richard Layton Butler	Liberal Federation	8 April 1927	17 April 1930	&100000000000000030000003 years, &100000000000000090000009 days
-	Lionel Hill (2nd time)	Labor	17 April 1930	13 February 1933	&100000000000000020000002 years, &10000000000000302000000302 days Total - 3 years, 160 days
32	Robert Richards	Labor	13 February 1933	18 April 1933	&100000000000000000000000 years, &1000000000000006400000064 days
-	Richard Layton Butler (2nd time)	Liberal and Country League (LCL)	18 April 1933	5 November 1938	&100000000000000050000005 years, &10000000000000201000000201 days Total - 8 years, 210 days
33	Thomas Playford IV	LCL	5 November 1938	10 March 1965	&1000000000000002600000026 years, &10000000000000125000000125 days
34	Frank Walsh	Labor	10 March 1965	1 June 1967	&100000000000000020000002 years, &1000000000000008300000083 days
35	Don Dunstan	Labor	1 June 1967	17 April 1968	&100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000321000000321 days
36	Steele Hall	LCL	17 April 1968	2 June 1970	&100000000000000020000002 years, &1000000000000004600000046 days
-	Don Dunstan (2nd time)	Labor	2 June 1970	15 February 1979	&100000000000000080000008 years, &10000000000000258000000258 days Total - 9 years, 214 days
37	Des Corcoran	Labor	15 February 1979	18 September 1979	&100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000215000000215 days
38	David Tonkin	Liberal Party of Australia (Liberal)	18 September 1979	10 November 1982	&100000000000000030000003 years, &1000000000000005300000053 days
39	John Bannon	Labor	10 November 1982	4 September 1992	&100000000000000090000009 years, &10000000000000299000000299 days
40	Lynn Arnold	Labor	4 September 1992	14 December 1993	&100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000101000000101 days
41	Dean Brown	Liberal	14 December 1993	28 November 1996	&100000000000000020000002 years, &10000000000000350000000350 days
42	John Olsen	Liberal	28 November 1996	22 October 2001	&100000000000000040000004 years, &10000000000000328000000328 days
43	Rob Kerin	Liberal	22 October 2001	5 March 2002	&100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000134000000134 days
44	Mike Rann	Labor	5 March 2002	21 October 2011	&100000000000000090000009 years, &10000000000000230000000230 days
45	Jay Weatherill	Labor	21 October 2011	Incumbent	&100000000000000000000000 years, &1000000000000009900000099 days

Living former premiers

Former South Australian premiers (from left) Robert Richards, Richard L. Butler, Lionel Hill and Henry Barwell meet with then Premier Tom Playford in 1940

There are seven living former premiers, the oldest being Steele Hall (1968–70, born 1928). The most recent death, on 3 January 2004, was that of Des Corcoran (Premier Feb–Sept 1979), and the most recently-serving premier to die was Dr David Tonkin (1979–1982), on 2 October 2000.

Name	Term as premier	Date of birth
Steele Hall	1968–1970	28 November 1928 (1928-11-28)
John Bannon	1982–1992	7 May 1943 (1943-05-07)
Lynn Arnold	1992–1993	27 January 1949 (1949-01-27)
Dean Brown	1993–1996	5 April 1943 (1943-04-05)
John Olsen	1996–2001	7 June 1945 (1945-06-07)
Rob Kerin	2001–2002	4 January 1954 (1954-01-04)
Mike Rann	2002–2011	5 January 1953 (1953-01-05)

Graphical 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.

See also

• Leader of the Opposition (South Australia)
• 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