Liberals won 6 seats, Labor won 4, and Australian Democrats won 1; giving numbers of 11 Liberal, 10 Labor and 1 Democrat, leaving the Liberal government one seat short of a majority. Aftermath Corcoran was bitter in defeat, believing sections of the ALP had undermined him during the campaign. He resigned as leader soon after the election, and retired from politics in 1982. In 1982, when legislation to enable the Roxby Downs uranium mine was opposed by both Labor and the Democrats, Norm Foster resigned from the Labor Party to support the legislation, and sat as an independent in the Legislative Council. Key dates House of Assembly dissolved: 22 August 1979, 2:00pm Issue of writ: 27 August 1979 Close of nominations: 5 September 1979 Polling day: 15 September 1979 Return of writ: On or before 5 October 1979 Results House of Assembly These numbers include the result of the 1980 Norwood state by-election. |} Seats changing hands Members in italics did not recontest their seats. Keith Russack was elected in 1977 as an Independent, but joined the Liberal party soon after. Legislative Council |} Post-election pendulum These numbers include the result of the 1980 Norwood state by-election. Subsequently, the 1982 Mitcham by-election and 1982 Florey by-election were held. The Democrats retained Mitcham by 45 votes, while Labor increased their margin in Florey. See also Results of the South Australian state election, 1979 (House of Assembly) Results of the 1979 South Australian state election (Legislative Council) Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1979-1982 Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1979-1982 References History of South Australian elections 1857-2006, volume 1: ECSA Historical lower house results Historical upper house results State and federal election results in Australia since 1890 Specific Elections in South Australia 1979 elections in Australia 1970s in South Australia September 1979 events in Australia