1975 South Australian state election

1975 South Australian state election

12 July 1975

All 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly
24 seats were needed for a majority
11 (of the 21) seats of the South Australian Legislative Council
Registered771,414
Turnout721,770 (93.56%)
( 0.64 pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
LM
Leader Don Dunstan Bruce Eastick Robin Millhouse
Party Labor Liberal Liberal Movement
Leader since 1 June 1967 15 March 1972 2 April 1973
Leader's seat Norwood Light Mitcham
Last election 26 seats 20 seats Did not exist
Seats won 23 seats 20 seats 2 seats
Seat change 3 0 2
Primary vote 321,481 218,820 126,820
Percentage 46.32% 31.53% 18.27%
Swing 5.20 8.26 New party
TPP 49.20% 52.80%
TPP swing 5.30 5.30

Premier before election

Don Dunstan
Labor

Resulting Premier

Don Dunstan
Labor

State elections were held in South Australia on 12 July 1975. All 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Premier of South Australia Don Dunstan won a third term in government, defeating the Liberal Party of Australia led by Leader of the Opposition Bruce Eastick.

It was the first time that a Labor government in South Australia had been re-elected for a third term, and would be the first seven-year-incumbent Labor government.

The election was also the first in South Australia where both major parties contested all lower house seats.

The election saw a drop in major party primary votes. This was due to the emergence of the socially progressive Liberal Movement (LM) led by Robin Millhouse, which achieved 18.3 percent of the primary vote and 2 seats.

The election of half of the South Australian Legislative Council was conducted using list proportional representation. Labor won 6 seats, the Liberal Party won 3, and the Liberal Movement won 2.