Mr Steele Hall

Raymond (Steele) Steele Hall

30 November 1928

Liberal Movement

Former Member

Goyder

House of Assembly

07 March 1959

Steele Hall was elected to the House of Assembly, as Member for Gouger, at the age of 30 in 1959. The Liberal and Country League (LCL) had been in government in South Australia since 1933, but in 1965, the Australian Labor Party won the State election held on 6 March, ending Premier Sir Thomas Playford's record 26 year run. After the LCL's return to opposition, Hall was appointed Opposition Whip. In 1966 he took over the LCL leadership from Playford, becoming Leader of the Opposition, and two years later became Premier himself following the LCL gaining two seats at the 1968 State election, with the support of independent MP Tom Stott.

The major political issue of the day was electoral reform: the deliberately inequitable electoral boundaries imposed by the LCL under Playford's predecessor Sir Richard L. Butler and Playford himself had been affecting the results of elections for forty years, and the level of publicity and protest about the matter had risen significantly in recent years. One of the 'progressive' members of the LCL, Hall introduced legislation to reform the House of Assembly to a more equitable system of representation - the internal repercussions of this self-sacrificing act to the LCL were severe, as it virtually guaranteed Hall's defeat at the next elections. Other important consequences of Hall's Premiership were seen in social welfare, Aboriginal affairs, abortion reform, and the arts.

In 1970, Stott pulled his support for Hall's government over construction of a new dam, forcing Hall called an election for 30 May, which the LCL subsequently lost to the Labor Party under leader Don Dunstan, as expected. Hall remained Leader of the Opposition for two years before resigning as party leader. He remained in Parliament and founded the Liberal Movement, before winning a Senate seat in 1974, which he held for two and a half years, during a tumultuous period in federal politics. He rejoined the Liberal Party in 1976 (which had changed its name from the Liberal and Country League in 1974). He became Member for Boothby in the federal House of Representatives in 1981, and held the seat for the 15 years, retiring 1996.

Steele Hall died in 2024, aged 95.

Senator for South Australia 1975-77
Member of the House of Representatives for Boothby 1981-96

A portrait of Hall, by South Australian artist Robert Hannaford AM, unveiled in 2019, hangs in Parliament House.

10 June 2024