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Leader of the Opposition (South Australia)

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Leader of the Opposition
since 12 August 2024
Term lengthWhile leader of the largest political party not in government
Inaugural holderJohn Colton
Formation1884

The Leader of the Opposition in South Australia is the leader of the largest minority political party or coalition of parties, known as the Opposition, in the House of Assembly of the Parliament of South Australia. By convention, the leader of the opposition is a member of the House of Assembly. The leader acts as the public face of the opposition, and acts as a chief critic of the government and ultimately attempt to portray the opposition as a feasible alternate government. They are also given certain additional rights under parliamentary standing orders, such as extended time limits for speeches. Should the opposition win an election, the Leader of the Opposition will be nominated to become the Premier of South Australia.

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 Labor support, 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.

In an historical record, Steven Marshall was the fifth consecutive Liberal opposition leader during their 2002 to 2018 opposition period. In comparison, every former Labor opposition leader for over half a century would also proceed to serve as Premier.

List of leaders of the opposition in South Australia

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The following is a list of leaders of the opposition in South Australia, from 1884 to present. According to the official parliament record, prior to the year 1884 "no definite evidence of the official holder of the office could be found".

No Leader Party Took Office Left Office
1 John Colton 1884 1884
2 John Cox Bray 1884 1884
3 John Downer 1885 1885
4 Jenkin Coles 1886 1886
5 Thomas Playford II 1887 1887
- John Downer (2nd time) 1887 1889
6 John Cockburn 1889 27 June 1889
- Thomas Playford II (2nd time) 1889 9 April 1890
7 Frederick Holder liberalism 1890 12 June 1892
- John Downer (3rd time) conservatism 1892[1] 1895
8 William Copley conservatism May 1896[2] May 1897
- John Downer (4th time) conservatism May 1897[3] 27 June 1899[4]
9 Vaiben Louis Solomon conservatism 27 June 1989 1 December 1899
- Frederick Holder (2nd time) liberalism 1 December 1899 8 December 1899
- Vaiben Louis Solomon (2nd time) conservatism 8 December 1899 May 1901[5]
10 Robert Homburg conservatism May 1901 3 May 1902
11 John Darling Jr. conservatism 3 May 1902 15 July 1904
12 Thomas Price United Labor 15 July 1904 26 July 1905
13 Richard Butler conservatism 26 July 1905 5 June 1909
14 John Verran United Labor 5 June 1909 3 June 1910
15 Archibald Peake Liberal Union 3 June 1910 17 February 1912
- John Verran (2nd time) United Labor 17 February 1912 26 July 1913
16 Crawford Vaughan United Labor 26 July 1913 3 April 1915
- Archibald Peake (2nd time) Liberal Union 3 April 1915 14 July 1917
- Crawford Vaughan (2nd time) National Labor 14 July 1917 1917
17 Andrew Kirkpatrick Labor (SA) 1917 15 February 1918[6]
18 John Gunn Labor 18 April 1918[7] 16 April 1924
19 Henry Barwell Liberal Union 16 April 1924 17 December 1925
20 Richard L. Butler Liberal Federation 17 December 1925 8 April 1927
21 Lionel Hill Labor 8 April 1927 17 April 1930
- Richard L. Butler (2nd time) Liberal Federation/LCL 17 April 1930 18 April 1933
22 Andrew Lacey Labor 22 April 1933 1 April 1938
23 Robert Richards Labor 1 April 1938 27 October 1949
24 Mick O'Halloran Labor 27 October 1949 22 September 1960
25 Frank Walsh Labor 5 October 1960 10 March 1965
26 Sir Thomas Playford IV LCL 10 March 1965 13 July 1966
27 Steele Hall LCL 13 July 1966 16 April 1968
28 Don Dunstan Labor 16 April 1968 2 June 1970
- Steele Hall LCL 2 June 1970 15 March 1972
29 Bruce Eastick LCL/Liberal (SA) 16 March 1972 24 July 1975
30 David Tonkin Liberal 24 July 1975 18 September 1979
31 Des Corcoran Labor 18 September 1979 2 October 1979
32 John Bannon Labor 2 October 1979 10 November 1982
33 John Olsen Liberal 10 November 1982 12 January 1990
34 Dale Baker Liberal 12 January 1990 11 May 1992
35 Dean Brown Liberal 11 May 1992 14 December 1993
36 Lynn Arnold Labor 14 December 1993 20 September 1994
37 Mike Rann Labor 20 September 1994 5 March 2002
38 Rob Kerin Liberal 5 March 2002 30 March 2006
39 Iain Evans Liberal 30 March 2006 12 April 2007
40 Martin Hamilton-Smith Liberal 12 April 2007 8 July 2009
41 Isobel Redmond Liberal 8 July 2009 31 January 2013
42 Steven Marshall Liberal 4 February 2013 19 March 2018
43 Peter Malinauskas Labor 9 April 2018 21 March 2022
- Steven Marshall Liberal 21 March 2022 19 April 2022
44 David Speirs Liberal 19 April 2022 8 August 2024
45 Vincent Tarzia Liberal 12 August 2024

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "THE PARLIAMENT". South Australian Register. 13 October 1892. p. 1.
  2. ^ "THE WEEK". Chronicle. 30 May 1896. p. 9.
  3. ^ "THE ELECTIONS". Southern Cross. 28 May 1897. p. 6.
  4. ^ "PARLIAMENT BEGINS". Southern Cross. 30 June 1899. p. 9.
  5. ^ The Evening Journal (4 May 1901). "OUR ILLUSTRATIONS". The Evening Journal.
  6. ^ "MR. KIRKPATRICK RESIGNS". The Mail. 15 February 1918.
  7. ^ "JOHN GUNN, DRIVER". The Mail. 18 May 1918.
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