2006 South Australian state election

2006 South Australian state election

← 2002 18 March 2006 (2006-03-18) 2010 →
All 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly 24 seats were needed for a majority 11 (of the 22) seats in the South Australian Legislative Council
First party Second party Third party   Leader Mike Rann Rob Kerin Karlene Maywald Party Labor Liberal National Leader since 5 November 1994 22 October 2001 11 October 1997 Leader's seat Ramsay Frome Chaffey Last election 23 seats 20 seats 1 seat Seats won 28 15 1 Seat change 5 5 Popular vote 424,715 319,041 19,636 Percentage 45.22% 33.97% 2.09% Swing 8.88 6.00 0.64 TPP 56.78% 43.22% TPP swing 7.71pp 7.71pp
Premier before election Mike Rann Labor Elected Premier Mike Rann Labor

The state election for the 51st Parliament of South Australia was held in the Australian state of South Australia on 18 March 2006 to elect all members of the South Australian House of Assembly and 11 members of the South Australian Legislative Council. The election was conducted by the independent State Electoral Office.

In the 47-seat South Australian House of Assembly, the Labor government was returned in a landslide with 28 seats from a 56.8 per cent two-party-preferred vote, winning six seats from the Liberal Party. The Liberals were reduced to just 15 seats, the worst result in their history.

In the 22-seat South Australian Legislative Council, the balance of power has been continuously held by the crossbench since the 1985 election. With half of the seats up for election, Labor gained an additional seat at the expense of the Liberals, Nick Xenophon and No Pokies rose to prominence after unexpectedly winning a historic fifth of the entire statewide vote, the Greens won their first seat, Family First won their second seat to hold two seats, while the faltering Democrats failed to win a seat for the first time in their history.