Leader of the Opposition (South Australia)


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, he or she is generally a member of the House of Assembly. He or she acts as the public face of the opposition, and act 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 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

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".
NoLeaderPartyPeriod in office
1John Colton1884
2John Cox Bray1884
3John Downer1885
4Jenkin Coles1886
5Thomas Playford II1887
-John Downer '1887–1889
6John Cockburn1889
-Thomas Playford II '1889–1890
7Frederick Holderliberalism1890–1892
-John Downer 'conservatism1893–1895
8William Copleyconservatism1896
-John Downer 'conservatism1897–1899
9Vaiben Louis Solomonconservatism1899
-Frederick Holder 'liberalism1899
-Vaiben Louis Solomon 'conservatism1899–1901
10Robert Homburgconservatism1901–1902
11John Darling Jr.conservatism1902–1904
12Thomas PriceUnited Labor1904–1905
13Richard Butlerconservatism1905–1909
14John VerranUnited Labor1909–1910
15Archibald PeakeLiberal Union1910–1912
-John Verran 'United Labor1912–1913
16Crawford VaughanUnited Labor1913–1915
-Archibald Peake 'Liberal Union1915–1917
-Crawford Vaughan 'National Labor1917
17Andrew KirkpatrickLabor 1917–1918
18John GunnLabor1918–1924
19Henry BarwellLiberal Union1924–1925
20Richard L. ButlerLiberal Federation1925–1927
21Lionel HillLabor1927–1930
-Richard L. Butler 'Liberal Federation/LCL1930–1933
22Andrew LaceyLabor1933–1938
23Robert RichardsLabor1938–1949
24Mick O'HalloranLabor1949–1960
25Frank WalshLabor1960–1965
26Thomas Playford IVLCL1965–1966
27Steele HallLCL1966–1968
28Don DunstanLabor1968–1970
-Steele Hall LCL1970–1972
29Bruce EastickLCL/Liberal 1972–1975
30David TonkinLiberal1975–1979
31Des CorcoranLabor1979
32John BannonLabor1979–1982
33John OlsenLiberal1982–1990
34Dale BakerLiberal1990–1992
35Dean BrownLiberal1992–1993
36Lynn ArnoldLabor1993–1994
37Mike RannLabor1994–2002
38Rob KerinLiberal2002–2006
39Iain EvansLiberal2006–2007
40Martin Hamilton-SmithLiberal2007–2009
41Isobel RedmondLiberal2009–2013
42Steven MarshallLiberal2013–2018
43Peter MalinauskasLabor2018–present