Electoral district of Murray (South Australia)

This article is about the historical South Australian state electorate. For the Australian federal electorate, see Division of Murray. For the New South Wales state electorate, see Electoral district of Murray.

Murray is a defunct electoral district that elected members to the House of Assembly, the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. The electorate, incorporating part of the River Murray, was rural in nature, with Mannum the only large town within its boundaries. From its establishment to the 1938 state election, Murray was a three-member electorate, but was made a single-member electorate afterwards, as part of a system of electoral malapportionment known as the "Playmander". In both incarnations it elected candidates from both major parties as marginal and safe seat holders at various times. If just 21 LCL votes were Labor votes in Murray at the 1968 election, Labor would have formed majority government. Murray was one of two gains in 1968 that put the LCL in office. The electorate was abolished prior to the 1985 election, with its territory now forming part of the districts of Hammond, Kavel, and Schubert. In total, 24 people represented Murray between 1902 and 1985, with its most notable member being Thomas Playford IV, who later served as Premier of South Australia.

Murray South Australia—House of Assembly
State	South Australia
Created	1902
Abolished	1985
Namesake	Murray River
Demographic	Rural

List of members

First incarnation (1902–1938, 3 members)
Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term
	Walter Duncan	National League	1902–1906		Friedrich Pflaum		1902–1905		Robert Homburg	National League	1902–1905
						National League	1905–1910		William Jamieson	National League	1905–1906
	Hermann Homburg	National League	1906–1910							Liberal and Democratic	1906–1910
		Liberal Union	1910–1915			Liberal Union	1910–1915			Liberal Union	1910–1912
									Harry Young	Liberal Union	1912–1923
	George Dunn	Labor	1915–1917		Maurice Parish	Labor	1915–1917
		National	1917–1918			National	1917–1918
						Independent	1918–1918
	Sid O'Flaherty	Labor	1918–1921		Herbert Parsons	Liberal Union	1918–1921
	John Godfree	Liberal Union	1921–1923		John Randell	Liberal Union	1921–1923
		Liberal Federation	1923–1924			Liberal Federation	1923–1924			Liberal Federation	1923–1927
	Clement Collins	Labor	1924–1933		Frank Staniford	Labor	1924–1927
					Ernest Hannaford	Liberal Federation	1927–1930		Hermann Homburg	Liberal Federation	1927–1930
					Frank Staniford	Labor	1930–1931		Robert Hunter	Labor	1930–1931
		Parliamentary Labor	1931–1933			Parliamentary Labor	1931–1933			Parliamentary Labor	1931–1933
	George Morphett	Liberal and Country	1933–1938		Thomas Playford IV	Liberal and Country	1933–1938		Howard Shannon	Liberal and Country	1933–1938
Second incarnation (1938–1977)
Member		Party	Term
	Richard McKenzie	Independent	1938–1943
		Labor	1943–1953
	Hector White	Liberal and Country	1953–1956
	Gabe Bywaters	Labor	1956–1968
	Ivon Wardle	Liberal and Country	1968–1974
		Liberal	1974–1977
	David Wotton	Liberal	1977–1985

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Murray (South Australia)

External links

• The 13 electorates from 1902 to 1915: The Adelaide Chronicle