The South Australian Labor Party is the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party. Originally formed in 1891 as the United Labor Party of South Australia, it is the major centre-left political party in South Australia and one of two major parties in South Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party. The party has been in government since the 2022 state election; their most recent re-election came with a landslide victory in 2026.
The South Australian Labor Party was the first labor party in the world to hold stable government in 1905 under the leadership of Premier Tom Price.
Since the 1970 election, marking the beginning of democratic fair representation (one vote, one value) and ending decades of pro-rural electoral malapportionment known as the Playmander, Labor have won 13 of the 17 elections. Spanning 16 years and 4 terms, Labor was in government from the 2002 election until the 2018 election. Jay Weatherill led the Labor government since a 2011 leadership change from Mike Rann. During 2013 it became the longest-serving state Labor government in South Australian history, and went on to win a fourth four-year term at the 2014 election. After losing the 2018 election, the party spent 4 years in opposition before leader Peter Malinauskas led the party to landslide victories in the 2022 and 2026 state elections.
Labor's most notable historic Premiers of South Australia include Thomas Price in the 1900s, Don Dunstan in the 1970s, John Bannon in the 1980s, and Mike Rann in the 2000s.
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Formation
A United Trades and Labor Council meeting with the purpose of creating an elections committee was convened on 12 December 1890, and held on 7 January 1891. The elections committee was formed, officially named the United Labor Party of South Australia (unlike state Labor, prior to 1912 their federal counterparts included the 'u' in their spelling of Labour) with John McPherson the founding secretary. Four months later, Labor enjoyed immediate success, electing David Charleston, Robert Guthrie and Andrew Kirkpatrick to the South Australian Legislative Council. A week later, Richard Hooper won the 1891 Wallaroo by-election as an Independent Labor member in the South Australian House of Assembly. McPherson won the 1892 East Adelaide by-election on 23 January, becoming the first official Labor leader and member of the House of Assembly.
Prior to party creation, South Australian politics had lacked parties or solid groupings, although loose liberal and conservative blocs had begun to develop by the end of the 1880s. The 1893 election was the first general election Labor would stand at, resulting in liberal and conservative leaning MPs beginning to divide, additionally with unidentified groupings and independents, as well as the subsequent formation of the staunchly anti-Labor National Defence League. The voluntary turnout rate increased from 53 to 68 percent, with Labor on 19 percent of the vote, and 10 Labor candidates including McPherson and Hooper were elected to the 54-member House of Assembly which gave Labor the balance of power. The Kingston liberal government was formed with the support of Labor, ousting the Downer conservative government. Kingston served as Premier for a then-record of six and a half years, usually implementing legislation with Labor support.
Thomas Price formed the state's first Labor minority government and the world's first stable Labor Party government at the 1905 election with the support of several non-Labor MPs to form the Price-Peake administration, which was re-elected at the 1906 double dissolution election, with Labor falling just two seats short of a majority. So successful, John Verran led Labor to form the state's first of many majority governments at the 1910 election, just two weeks after the 1910 federal election where their federal counterparts formed Australia's first elected majority in either house in the Parliament of Australia, the world's first Labor Party majority government at a national level, and after the 1904 Chris Watson minority government the world's second Labor Party government at a national level.
Premiers
Thirteen of the nineteen parliamentary Labor leaders have served as Premier of South Australia: Thomas Price (1905–1909), John Verran (1910–1912), Crawford Vaughan (1915–1917), John Gunn (1924–1926), Lionel Hill (1926–1927 and 1930–1931; expelled from party but continued as Premier until 1933), Frank Walsh (1965–1967), Don Dunstan (1967–1968 and 1970–1979), Des Corcoran (1979), John Bannon (1982–1992), Lynn Arnold (1992–1993), Mike Rann (2002–2011), Jay Weatherill (2011–2018) and Peter Malinauskas (2022–present). Robert Richards was Premier in 1933 while leading the rebel Parliamentary Labor Party of MPs who had been expelled in the 1931 Labor split; he would later be readmitted and lead the party in opposition. Bannon is Labor's longest-serving Premier of South Australia, ahead of Rann and Dunstan by a matter of weeks. Every Labor leader for more than half a century has gone on to serve as Premier.
Deputy Premiers
Since the position's formal introduction in 1968, nine parliamentary Labor deputy leaders have served as Deputy Premier of South Australia: Des Corcoran (1968 and 1970–1979), Hugh Hudson (1979), Jack Wright (1982–1985), Don Hopgood (1985–1992), Frank Blevins (1992–1993), Kevin Foley (2002–2011), John Rau (2011–18), Susan Close (2022–2025) and Kyam Maher (2025–present). Foley is the state's longest-serving Deputy Premier.
Current federal parliamentarians
House of Representatives
Matt Burnell – Spence MP since 2022
Mark Butler – Hindmarsh MP since 2019, previously Port Adelaide MP from 2007 to 2019.
Claire Clutterham – Sturt MP since 2025
Steve Georganas – Adelaide MP since 2019, previously Hindmarsh MP from 2004 to 2013 and again from 2016 to 2019.
Louise Miller-Frost – Boothby MP since 2022
Amanda Rishworth – Kingston MP since 2007
Tony Zappia – Makin MP since 2007
Senate
Don Farrell – since 2016
Karen Grogan – since 2021
Marielle Smith – since 2019
Penny Wong – since 2002
Charlotte Walker – since 2025
Historic party officials
Elizabeth Rose Hanretty