# 1985 South Australian state election

State elections were held in South Australia on 7 December 1985. 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 John Bannon increased its majority, and defeated the Liberal Party of Australia led by Leader of the Opposition John Olsen.

## Background

Parliamentary elections for both houses of the Parliament of South Australia were held in South Australia on 7 December 1985, which saw John Bannon and the Australian Labor Party win a second successive term, against the Liberal Party of Australia opposition led by John Olsen.
Labor won the election with an increased majority–at the time, the biggest majority it had held since the end of the Playmander, a record that would stand until 2006. The Liberal Party retained John Olsen as leader, partly because his main rival Dean Brown lost his seat to Independent Liberal Stan Evans. Evans rejoined the Liberal Party soon after the election.
In the South Australian Legislative Council, Labor won one seat from the Liberals, while the Democrats maintained their 2 seats. This shift gave the Australian Democrats sole balance of power. They would continue to hold it until the 1997 election.

## Key dates

* Issue of writ: 10 November 1985
* Close of nominations: 22 November 1985
* Polling day: 7 December 1985
* Return of writ: On or before 2 January 1986

## Results
### House of Assembly

South Australian state election, 7 December 1985 House of Assembly
<< 1982–1989 >> :
| Enrolled voters | Enrolled voters | 905,507 | | | | |
| Votes cast | Votes cast | 846,289 | | Turnout | 93.46 | +0.28 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 29,401 | | Informal | 3.47 | –2.31 |
| Summary of votes by party |||||||
| Party | Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change |
| | Labor | 393,652 | 48.19 | +1.91 | 27 | + 4 |
| | Liberal | 344,337 | 42.15 | –0.52 | 16 | – 5 |
| | Democrats | 34,732 | 4.25 | –2.87 | 0 | 0 |
| | National | 14,056 | 1.72 | –0.60 | 1 | 0 |
| | Independent Labor | 18,641 | 2.28 | * | 2 | 0 |
| | Independent | 5,368 | 0.66 | –0.94 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independent Liberal | 5,224 | 0.64 | * | 1 | + 1 |
| | Other | 878 | 0.11 | * | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 816,888 | | | 47 | |
| Two-party-preferred |||||||
| | Labor | 434,325 | 53.17 | +2.23 | | |
| | Liberal | 382,563 | 46.83 | –2.23 | | |
Popular vote
Labor
48.19%
Liberal
42.15%
Democrats
4.25%
Independents
3.58%
National
1.72%
Others
0.11% :
Two-party-preferred vote
Labor
53.17%
Liberal
46.83% :
Seats
Labor
57.45%
Liberal
34.04%
Independents
6.38%
National
2.13% :

### Legislative Council

South Australian state election, 7 December 1985 Legislative Council
<< 1982–1989 >> :
| Enrolled voters | Enrolled voters | 905,507 | | | | |
| Votes cast | Votes cast | 846,250 | | Turnout | 93.46 | +0.67 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 31,312 | | Informal | 3.70 | –6.37 |
| Summary of votes by party |||||||
| Party | Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Seats held |
| | Labor | 391,076 | 47.99 | +0.40 | 5 | 10 |
| | Liberal | 320,055 | 39.27 | –2.15 | 5 | 10 |
| | Democrats | 44,988 | 5.52 | –0.04 | 1 | 2 |
| | Call to Australia | 24,666 | 3.03 | +3.03 | 0 | 0 |
| | National | 13,276 | 1.63 | –0.37 | 0 | 0 |
| | Nuclear Disarmament | 12,098 | 1.48 | +1.48 | 0 | 0 |
| | Other | 8,779 | 1.08 | * | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 814,938 | | | 11 | 22 |

## Seats changing hands

| Seat | Pre-1985 | Pre-1985 | Pre-1985 | Pre-1985 | Swing | Post-1985 | Post-1985 | Post-1985 | Post-1985 |
| Seat | Party | Party | Member | Margin | Swing | Margin | Member | Party | Party |
| Bright | | Liberal | Notional - New Seat | 1.0 | 2.6 | 1.6 | Derek Robertson | Labor | |
| Davenport | | Liberal | Dean Brown | 22.0 | N/A | 2.6 | Stan Evans | Independent | |
| Fisher | | Liberal | Stan Evans* | 2.1 | 3.2 | 1.1 | Philip Tyler | Labor | |
* In addition, Independent MP for Elizabeth, Martyn Evans retained his seat after winning it from Labor at the 1984 by-election.
* Sitting Liberal MP for Fisher, Stan Evans quit the party and contested Davenport as an Independent, and won.

### Redistribution affected seats

| Seat | 1982 election | 1982 election | 1982 election | 1982 election | 1983 redistribution | 1983 redistribution | 1983 redistribution | 1983 redistribution | Swing | 1985 election | 1985 election | 1985 election | 1985 election |
| Seat | Party | Party | Member | Margin | Party | Party | Member | Margin | Swing | Margin | Member | Party | Party |
| Adelaide | | Labor | Jack Wright | 15.6 | | Liberal | Notional | 2.8 | -3.4 | 0.6 | Mike Duigan | Labor | |
| Newland | | Labor | John Klunder* | 3.6 | | Liberal | Notional | 1.0 | -2.5 | 1.5 | Di Gayler | Labor | |
| Todd | | Liberal | Scott Ashenden* | 1.4 | | Labor | Notional | 2.0 | +3.9 | 5.9 | John Klunder | Labor | |
* Sitting Labor MP for Newland, John Klunder instead contested Todd, and won.
* Sitting Liberal MP for Todd, Scott Ashenden instead contested Newland, and lost.