With churches' support, Tom Playford content with South Australia being 'wowser' state of gambling and drinking

Restricting gambling throughout his term as South Australian premier, Tom Playford put a short-lived ban on horse racing in 1942.

Premier Tom Playford was unperturbed by South Australia being regarded, going into the 1960s, as the wowser state, although he was no longer a teetotaller himself – despite only drinking lemonade, water or milk in public.

His anti-gambling side came through when he banned horse racing in March 1942, claiming it was to control wartime manpower. The ban was lifted in October 1943.

Protestant church leaders, who believed Playford was “on their side”, remained a vigorous pressure group for “moral and social wellbeing” through legislation. In 1940, Playford ended 65 years of secular education by allowing clergy or their representatives to conduct weekly religious instruction in government schools

In 1947, teachers were themselves permitted to conduct these sessions, at their own request and authorised by a religious denomination. Playford marked Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953 by presenting a copy of the New Testament to every South Australian schoolchild.

The conservatism of Playford and the Liberal and Country League (LCL) stood by strong police powers, with “no loitering” laws still in place and gambling restricted. It didn’t match a changing South Australian society.

There was dissatisfaction with curbs on drinking hours. The constituents who loudly demanded changes were mostly immigrants and their children, used to freer conditions in their original countries. Their homes, usually built by the housing trust, sprawled into outer-suburban rural electoral districts controlled by the LCL.

The Labor party pledged to introduce social legislation to meet their demands. Playford had no interest in this and he didn’t budge as the fatal 1965 election approached. He campaigned on a strong economy with incomes increasing.