[edit] History
The first amateur radio operator in India was Amarendra Chandra Gooptu (callsign 2JK), licensed in 1921. Later that year, Mukul Bose (2HQ) became the second ham operator, thereby introducing the first two-way ham radio communication in the country. By 1923, there were twenty British hams operating in India. In 1929, the call sign prefix VU came into effect in India, replacing three-letter call signs. The first short-wave entertainment and public broadcasting station, "VU6AH", was set up in 1935 by E P Metcalfe, vice-chancellor of Mysore University. However, there were fewer than fifty licence holders in the mid-1930s, most of them British officers in the Indian army.
With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the British cancelled the issue of new licences. All amateur radio operators were sent written orders to surrender their transmitting equipment to the police, both for possible use in the war effort and to prevent the clandestine use of the stations by Axis collaborators and spies. With the gaining momentum of the Indian independence movement, ham operator Nariman Abarbad Printer (VU2FU) set up the Azad Hind Radio to broadcast Gandhian protest music and uncensored news; he was immediately arrested and his equipment seized. In August 1942, after Mahatma Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement, the British began clamping down on the activities of Indian independence activists and censoring the media. To circumvent media restrictions, Indian National Congress activists, led by Usha Mehta, contacted Mumbai-based amateur radio operators, "Bob" Tanna (VU2LK) and Nariman Printer to help broadcast messages to grass-roots party workers across the country. The radio service was called the "Congress Radio", and began broadcasting from 2 September, 1942 on 7.12�MHz. The station could be received as far as Japanese-occupied Myanmar. By November 1942, Tanna was betrayed by an unknown radio officer and was forced to shut down the station.
Temporary amateur radio licences were issued from 1946, after the end of World War II. By 1948, there were 50 amateur radio operators in India, although only a dozen were active. Following India's independence in 1947, the first amateur radio organization, the Amateur Radio Club of India was inaugurated on 15 May 1948 at the School of Signals at Mhow in Madhya Pradesh. The club headquarters was later moved to New Delhi, where it was renamed the Amateur Radio Society of India (ARSI) on 15 May, 1954. As India's oldest amateur radio organization, ARSI became its representative at the International Amateur Radio Union.
Partly due to low awareness among the general population and prohibitive equipment costs, the number of licensed amateur radio operators did not increase significantly over the next two decades, numbering fewer than a thousand by 1970. CW (Morse code) and AM were the predominant modes at that time. The electronic equipment was mostly valve-based, obtained from Indian army surpluses. During the mid-1960s, the modes of operation saw a change from Amplitude Modulation to Single Side Band (SSB) as the preferred communication mode. By 1980, the number of amateur radio operators had risen to 1,500. In 1984, then Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, waived the import duty for wireless equipment. After this, the number of operators rose steadily, and by 2000 there were 10,000 licensed ham operators. As of 2007[update], there are more than 16,000 ham radio operators in India.
Amateur radio operators have played a significant part in disaster management and emergencies. In 1991, during the Gulf War, a lone Indian ham operator in Kuwait, provided the only means of communication between stranded Indian nationals in that country and their relatives in India. Amateur radio operators have also played a helpful part in disaster management. Shortly after the 1993 Latur and 2001 Gujarat earthquakes, the central government rushed teams of ham radio operators to the epicentre to provide vital communication links. In December 2004, a group of amateur radio operators on DX-pedition on the Andaman Islands witnessed the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. With communication lines between the islands severed, the group provided the only way of relaying live updates and messages to stations across the world.
In 2005, India became one of few countries to launch an amateur radio satellite, the HAMSAT. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the microsatellite as an auxiliary payload on the PSLV-6.
[edit] Licence categories
The Indian Wireless Telegraph (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978 lists five licence categories:
To obtain a licence in the first four categories, candidates must pass the Amateur Station Operator's Certificate examination. This examination is held monthly in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai), every two months in Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Hyderabad, and every four months in some smaller cities. The examination consists of two 50-mark written sections: Radio theory and practice, Regulations; and a practical test consisting of a demonstration of Morse code proficiency in both sending and receiving. After passing the examination, the candidate must then clear a police interview. After clearance, the WPC grants the licence along with the user-chosen call sign. This procedure can take up to 12 months.
In a 2005 notification, the WPC proposed an amendment to the 1978 Amateur Service Rules in the rationalization of the licence categories to only two: the Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence (General) and the Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence (Restricted). As of January 2010[update], amendment has yet to be passed by the Parliament of India.
[edit] Call-signs
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has divided all countries into three regions; India is located in ITU Region 3. These regions are further divided into two competing zones, the ITU and the CQ. Mainland India and the Lakshadweep Islands come under ITU Zone�41 and CQ Zone�22, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands under ITU Zone�49 and CQ Zone�26. The ITU has assigned to India call-sign blocks 8TA to 8YZ, VUA to VWZ, and ATA to AWZ.
The WPC allots individual call-signs. Indian amateur radio operators are allotted only the VU call-sign prefix. The V or Viceroy, series prefix was allotted to British colonies. at the 1912 London International Radiotelegraphic Convention.
VU call-signs are listed according to licence grade: for Advanced Grade and Grade–I licence holders, the call-sign prefix is VU2; for Grade–II and Grade–II Restricted licence holders, the prefix is VU3. The VU3 prefix has also been granted to foreigners operating in India. As of 2009[update], call-signs consist of only letters, not numerals, and can be either two or three characters long. Examples of Indian amateur radio call-signs are "VU2XY" and "VU2XYZ".
In addition to individual and club call-signs, the WPC allots temporary call-signs for contests and special events. For example, in November 2007, the WPC temporarily allotted the prefixes AT and AU to selected ham operators to mark the anniversary of the birth of radio scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose. The Indian Union territory (UT) of Andaman and Nicobar Islands are given the call-sign VU4 (VU4AN) and VU5; and the UT of Lakshadweep is given VU7 (VU7LD). The WPC had temporarily allotted these call-signs to hamfests and DX-peditions held at those locations.
Defunct call-signs include CR8 (for Portuguese India), FN8 (for French India), and AC3 (for the former kingdom of Sikkim, which merged with India in 1975).
[edit] Organizations
The WPC is responsible for regulating amateur radio in India. The WPC has its headquarters in New Delhi with divisional offices in Mumbai (Bombay), Kolkata (Calcutta), and Chennai (Madras). It also has monitoring stations in Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Ajmer, Bangalore, Darjeeling, Gorakhpur, Jalandhar, Goa (Betim), Mangalore, Shillong, Ranchi, Srinagar, Dibrugarh, Vishakapatnam, and Thiruvananthapuram. Set up in 1952, the organization is responsible for conducting exams, issuing licences, allotting frequency spectrum, and monitoring the airwaves. It is also responsible for maintaining the rules and regulations on amateur radio. In India, amateur radio is governed by the Indian Wireless Telegraphs (Amateur Service) Rules, 1978, the Indian Wireless Telegraph Rules, and the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885. The WPC is also responsible for coordinating with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Intelligence Bureau in running background checks before issuing amateur radio licences.
The Amateur Radio Society of India (ARSI), based in Chennai, is a non-profit organization founded in 1954 that represents the interests of amateur radio operators before the India government, provides technical advice and assistance to amateur radio enthusiasts, and supports a number of educational programs throughout the country. ARSI is India's representative at the International Amateur Radio Union.
Another notable organization is the non-governmental National Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR), based in Hyderabad. NIAR was established by the Ministry of Communications in 1983 to promote amateur radio in India. NIAR is also involved in amateur radio educational programs in the country and sponsors several DX-peditions.
[edit] Allotted spectrum
The following 14 frequency bands are permitted by the WPC for use by amateur radio operators in India.
[edit] Awareness drives
Indian amateur radio operators number just 16,000 for a population of 1.2 billion, or less than 0.002 percent of the population. Factors for the low numbers include low awareness, high equipment cost, and bureaucratic procedures in obtaining a licence where obtaining a licence can take over a year. After decades of lobbying to include ham radio in school syllabi, efforts paid off in 2006 after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) included ham radio in the chapter of Emergency communications on the subject of Disaster Management. The CBSE is one of the two national education boards. The President of India APJ Abdul Kalam, in a speech to the International Union of Radio Science held in New Delhi in 2005, stressed on the promotion of the hobby and setting up of ham stations in local panchayat offices, schools and hospitals. They would also act as early warning systems for the village communities in cases of emergencies.
Amateur radio clubs across the country many join the hobby by organizing courses in preparation for the Amateur Station Operator's Certificate. The government-funded NIAR is one such organization that actively promotes the hobby by holding regular classes. The Vigyan Parishad, an apex body for science popularization under the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India coordinates simulated disaster communication exercises and also organizes trainings to help people getting ham radio licenses in areas vulnerable to natural calamities.
[edit] Activities and events
Popular events and activities include Amateur Radio Direction Finding, DX-peditions, hamfests, JOTA, QRP operations, Contesting, DX communications, Light House operation, and Islands on Air. One of the most popular activities is Amateur Radio Direction Finding commonly known as a "foxhunt". Several clubs across India regularly organize foxhunts in which participants search for a hidden transmitter around the city. A foxhunt carried out in Matheran near Mumbai in 2005 by the Mumbai Amateur Radio Society was listed in the 2006 Limca Book of Records under the entry "most ham operators on horseback on a foxhunt." Despite being a popular recreational activity among hams, no organization has yet participated in an international event.
Hamfest India is an annual event that serves for social gathering and comparison and sales of radio equipment. Most hamfests feature a flea market, where the attendees buy and sell equipment, generally from and for their personal stations. The event also seeks to raise amateur radio awareness in the host city. In 2008, Gandhinagar hosted the annual hamfest. Bangalore hosted the hamfest in November 2009. The 2010 hamfest would be held at Pollachi, Tamil Nadu. Two special international hamfests were organized in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (VU4) in 2006, and Lakshadweep (VU7) in January 2007. As amateur radio activity is not permitted on the two union territories due to security restrictions, special permissions were needed to be secured to host the event. The two events received widespread international participation through contests, DXing, and DX-peditions.
Ham nets, where amateur radio operators "check into" are regularly conducted across India. Airnet India, Charminar Net, Belgaum Net, and Nite Owl's Net are some of the well-known ham nets in India. Some amateur radio operators have also provided a service of downloading and decoding satellite signals of the weather over India and publishing them on the internet as a public service. In Mumbai, ham operators also help in disaster management during the monsoon season when heavy rain disrupts general life there. In 2008, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, for the first time, formally included ham operators as part of the disaster management plan. Hams in Mumbai also help out at the annual Ganpati Visarjan by providing emergency radio services to civic organizations at the immersion points. The "Island on the Air" is another activity where ham enthusiasts visit remote islands and report on the conditions there, similar to DX-peditions.

Summary:
Amateur radio or ham radio is practised by more than 16,000 licensed users in India. The first amateur radio operator was licensed in 1921, and by the mid-1930s, there were around 20 amateur radio operators in India. Amateur radio operators played an important part in the Indian independence movement with the establishment of illegal pro-independence radio stations in the 1940s. The three decades after India's independence saw only slow growth in the numbers of operators until the then Prime Minister of India and amateur radio operator, Rajiv Gandhi (VU2RG), waived the import duty on wireless equipment in 1984. Since then, numbers have picked up, and as of 2007[update], there were more than 16,000 operators in the country. Amateur radio operators have played a vital role during disasters and national emergencies such as earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones, floods, and bomb blasts, by providing voluntary emergency communications in the affected areas.
The Wireless and Planning and Coordination Wing (WPC)—a division of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology—regulates amateur radio in India. The WPC assigns call signs, issues amateur radio licences, conducts exams, allots frequency spectrum, and monitors the radio waves. In India, the Amateur Radio Society of India (ARSI) represents amateur radio interests at various forums, and represents India at the International Amateur Radio Union. Popular amateur radio events include daily ham nets, the annual Hamfest India, and regular DX contests.
Public figures in India who are licensed ham operators include Indian National Congress president Sonia Gandhi (VU2SON), Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan (VU2AMY), and former Minister for Information Technology Dayanidhi Maran (VU2DMK).


[edit] Party backgrounds
[edit] Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is Australia's oldest political party, founded in 1891. It is a centre-left social democratic party which is formally linked to the trade union labour movement. On a state level, Labor has been in government since 2002, after having been in opposition from 1993 to 2002. Since the 1970 election ending decades of electoral malapportionment of the Playmander, nine of 12 elections have been won by Labor. Labor's premiers in South Australia include Thomas Price in the 1900s, to the reformist Don Dunstan in the 1970s to the factionally nonaligned and pragmatic current premier, Mike Rann. The party's deputy leader, and therefore the Deputy Premier, is Kevin Foley.
[edit] Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right conservative liberal party (see Liberalism in Australia), with close links to business and advocating free markets. Whilst primarily a social conservative party, there exists a more social liberal wing, colloquially known as 'wet', 'moderate' or small-l liberals, highlighted by the short-lived Liberal Movement who first contested the 1975 election as a separate party led by Steele Hall. At state level, the Liberal Party of Australia in 1973 descended from the Liberal and Country League (LCL), which resulted from a merger between the Liberal Federation and the then-Country Party in 1932. The state opposition leader at the 2006 election, Rob Kerin, was factionally nonaligned.
[edit] Nationals SA
The Nationals SA are a sub-division of the conservative National Party of Australia (formerly the Country Party). First contesting the 1965 election, they have only held two seats at alternating periods; Flinders (1973–1993) and Chaffey (1997–current). Their sole member and leader, Karlene Maywald, representing the Riverland district of Chaffey, accepted a cabinet position in the Rann Labor government, as Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Small Business, and later Minister for Water Security. This informal ALP-NAT coalition (the first since 1935) caused uproar, with Christopher Pyne calling for Maywald's expulsion from the Nationals and Patrick Secker calling for a corruption enquiry in to the appointment – neither eventuated. As the Liberal Party in South Australia is descended from a historical merger from an earlier Country Party, the SA Nationals are not as dominant in rural areas as their eastern state counterparts.
[edit] SA Greens
The SA Greens, founded in 1995 are a sub-division of the left-wing Australian Greens. They are based on green politics and consider themselves a new politics party with strong beliefs in ecology, democracy and social justice amongst other issues. Federally and locally they have seen a continued rise in primary votes, in part due to the demise of the Australian Democrats. The 2007 federal election saw 77.28% of preferences flow to Labor over the Liberal Party in SA. The party's leader is Mark Parnell.
[edit] Family First Party
The Family First Party, founded immediately before the 2002 state election, has a political ideology based on Christian-influenced conservatism. Although officially a secular party, it has close links to the Pentecostal movement, and in particular the Assemblies of God denomination, and its social policies generally mirror conservative Christian values (but not necessarily politically conservative values). The 2007 federal election saw 57.10% of preferences flow to the Liberals over the Labor Party in SA. The party's leader at the time of the election was Andrew Evans.
[edit] Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats were originally a centrist party, with most current policies based on social liberalism. Federally, the party was founded in 1977 from three different groups, all of which had split from the Liberal Party at different times: the Liberal Movement, which had split from its parent over electoral reform; the Australia Party, which had rebelled against Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, and initial leader Don Chipp, who left the Liberal Party of Australia, dissatisfied with the increasing underrepresentation of small-l liberals. At the state level it is descended from the New Liberal Movement (New LM) of Robin Millhouse, who held the Democrats' only lower house seats, Mitcham and its successor seat Waite. The Democrats have suffered internal problems and leadership scuffles since 1997. The 2007 federal election saw 65.79% of preferences flow to Labor over the Liberal Party in SA. The party's leader is Sandra Kanck.
[edit] Electoral system
South Australia is governed according to the principles of the Westminster system, a form of parliamentary government based on the model of the United Kingdom. Legislative power rests with the Parliament of South Australia, which consists of The Sovereign (represented by the Governor of South Australia), the House of Assembly (lower house) which forms government, and the Legislative Council (upper house) as a house of review. Forty-seven members of the lower house represent single-member electorates and are elected under the preferential Instant-runoff voting (IRV) system for fixed four-year terms. The independent State Electoral Office, which conducts elections, is responsible for a mandatory redistricting of boundaries before each election to ensure one vote one value. At each election, voters choose half of the 22 upper house members, each of whom serve eight-year terms in a single statewide electorate.
The Legislative Council is elected under the preferential Single Transferable Vote (STV) system through a means of Group voting tickets. Voters can choose to vote for a ticket by placing the number '1' in one of the ticket boxes "above the line" or can vote for individual candidates by numbering all the boxes "below the line" (54 in the 2006 election). In above the line voting, ticket votes are distributed according to the party or group voting ticket registered before the election with the election management body. As most ballot papers are above the line, this form of voting often leads to pre-election trading between parties on how each party will allocate later preferences to other parties and candidates.
Voting is compulsory once enrolled in South Australian elections, which results in turnout rates above 90 percent. Informal voting, which occurs when a voting slip is not valid, is at a rate of under five percent. Voting slips are informal when they are not filled out correctly, such examples are not numbering subsequent numbers, not filling out all the candidate boxes with numbers (except the last candidate), or in some other way that is verified by the State Electoral Office as illegible. South Australian elections have some features that are unique to the rest of Australia.
As elections have fixed four-year terms, the election date of 18 March 2006 was known well ahead of time. The Electoral Act stipulates that the election is to be held on the third Saturday in March every four years. The election campaign must run for a minimum of 25 days or a maximum of 55 days, therefore the Governor would have needed to issue writs for the election by 21 February 2006 at the latest. On 20 February, Premier Mike Rann invited Governor Marjorie Jackson-Nelson to issue writs for the election. In accordance with electoral regulations, the Electoral Commissioner then advertised key dates for the election of the House of Assembly and half of the Legislative Council — close of rolls on 27 February 2006 at noon, nominations to be received by 2 March 2006 at noon, polling day on 18 March 2006, and the return of writs on or before 28 April 2006.
[edit] Election background
In the 2002 election, Labor won 23 seats, the Liberals 20, Nationals 1, and conservative Independents won three. As 24 seats are required to govern, the Liberal Party was expected to retain government with the support of all four independents. However, in a surprise decision, one of the conservative independents, Peter Lewis, decided to support Labor in exchange for holding a constitutional convention, making him speaker of the House of Assembly, and concessions for his electorate including the phasing out of commercial fishing in the River Murray, prioritising the eradication of the branched broomrape weed, changing water rates for irrigation, fast-tracking a feasibility study for a weir and lock at Wellington, and improving rural roads. Lewis resigned as speaker in April 2005 after controversy over allegations of paedophilia he had made about a serving MP. However, by this time, Labor had already gained the support of independents Bob Such and Rory McEwen in 2002, as well as Nationals SA member Karlene Maywald in 2004. Such was given the position of speaker for the remainder of the government's term.
[edit] Campaign
The Labor campaign was heavily based around Premier Mike Rann with Labor's advertising swapping between the mottos "Building South Australia" and, to a greater extent, "RANN Gets Results". Commentators also argued that the "presidential" style of campaign could be seen in Labor's formal campaign launch at the Norwood Town Hall the Sunday before the election, which had some similarities to the nomination conventions that the major parties hold in the United States.
Another facet of the Labor campaign was extensive negative campaigning against Liberal leader Rob Kerin, including an advertisement featuring an excerpt of an interview that Kerin had with FIVEaa presenter Keith Conlon where Conlon asked Kerin why he wanted to be leader of the Liberal Party. Kerin stammered for a few seconds and gave the impression that he was uncertain. The advertisement concluded with the question, "Does Rob Want The Job?". Conlon complained that the advertisement gave the false impression that he was endorsing Labor, but Labor campaign director David Feeney dismissed his concerns. Other negative advertisements run by Labor revolved around the actions of the previous Liberal government — one advertisement and leaflet reminded voters that while in power, the previous Liberal government closed 65 schools, closed hospital wards, and privatised the Electricity Trust of South Australia.
Considered "strapped for cash", the Liberal Party ran a very limited television and radio campaign. Businessman Robert Gerard was forced to resign from his Federal Liberal Party-appointed position on the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia due to the party appointing him to the position despite the known fact that he had outstanding tax avoidance issues being dealt with by the Australian Taxation Office, and had thus subsequently pulled out of his traditional role of bankrolling the state division of the party, leaving the party with "only enough funds for the most basic campaign". Kerin indicated people would have to "wait and see" if there would be any campaign, even asking trade unions for donations, no matter how small. The advertisements that did run argued that Labor was wasting record tax receipts from the GST. A number of embarrassments for the Liberal Party surrounded their television advertisement — in an early version released to journalists, Labor was spelt "Labour" (Labor cabinet minister King O'Malley dropped the 'u' in 1912 to "modernise" it as per American English) and the advertisement alleged that South Australia's hospital waiting lists were the worst in the nation, which Labor successfully disputed to the Electoral Commissioner. During the election campaign, David Pisoni, the Liberal candidate for Unley, made allegations in his advertising that Labor and the Labor candidate Michael Keenan supported controversial urban infill programmes, which Labor flatly denied. Electoral Commissioner Kay Mousley investigated and ordered that the advertisements be withdrawn and corrections be run at Pisoni's expense.
The Labor minority government sought to win a majority in the House of Assembly. Opinion polls indicated that this was likely and ABC elections expert Antony Green said that the "Labor government looks set to be returned with an increased majority". Centrebet had Labor at $1.01 AUD and the Liberals at $12.00 AUD for a majority government.
Most commentators agreed that the Liberal Party had little chance of winning government, and that Kerin would step down from the leadership after the election, a suspicion confirmed in Kerin's concession speech. Martin Hamilton-Smith was considering mounting a leadership challenge, however, he withdrew on 14 October 2005 (probably for the sake of the impression of party unity) and subsequently resigned or was pushed from the opposition frontbench.
[edit] Issues
One of the most publicised issues prior to the election was the tram extension from Victoria Square to the Adelaide Railway Station which the Liberals, despite having proposed the idea in their previous transport plan, now opposed. Construction began in April 2007 and was operational as of October 2007. The Adelaide Airport expansion suffered fuel delivery related delays that Labor was criticised for. Continued delays by Labor to improve the safety of the Britannia roundabout were focused on by the Norwood Liberal candidate. Land and payroll tax cuts worth $1.5 billion were announced by Labor, the largest in the state's history. The tax cuts coincided with South Australia achieving an economic "Triple A" rating under the current Labor government. Business SA chief executive Peter Vaughan "praised" Labor's economic management.
The construction of two bridges over Port River as part of the Port Expressway project had come under criticism,[citation needed] which the Government promised would be open-span to allow passage of tugboats and tall ships, thereby preserving the inner harbour's dwindling port functions. Despite criticism coming from the electorate, the media, federal Labor, and road organisations including the Royal Automobile Association[citation needed], The Advertiser revealed details of "the biggest project of its kind in South Australia's history", a $1.5 billion redevelopment on the western bank of the inner harbour. The development will include 2000 new homes on government-owned land and new buildings as high as 12 storeys. This followed the awarding of a $6 billion air warfare destroyer contract to the Australian Submarine Corporation, based in the electorate at Osborne.
The future of the River Murray has come under threat due to falling water levels, and in an unprecedented move, Nationals MP Karlene Maywald was given a cabinet position as Minister for the River Murray in 2004. Possible nuclear waste dumps were of concern to many Adelaide residents; Premier Rann successfully lobbied against any federal government proposals.
Law and order was another key issue, with Labor promising extra police. Tough drink and drug driving laws had also been introduced which included zero tolerance roadside testing for Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Methamphetamine, and later MDMA. Labor introduced speed limit reduction legislation which took effect in March 2003 which saw non-arterial non-main roads and most Adelaide CBD roads reduce from 60�km/h to 50�km/h. The Liberals proposed to increase the speed limit back to 60�km/h for several roads, concentrated mainly around the Adelaide Park Lands.
Allegations were made over the condition of the state's health system and the capacity to deal with mental health issues. Labor pledged to buy back Modbury Hospital located in the district of Florey, privatised under the Liberal government to alleviate the effect of the State Bank collapse.
The need for homosexual law reform was acknowledged by both major parties; however, there was disquiet within the Labor Party over delays. December 2006 saw the Domestic Partners bill pass which provides greater recognition to same sex relationships on a range of issues such as superannuation. The bill was supported by all parties after much negotiation, but in the end was voted against by both members of Family First, as well as Liberal Terry Stephens.
Electoral reform policies received little attention, as has the 2010 referendum proposed by the Rann Government to abolish or reform the Legislative Council. WorkCover underfunded liability increases have also received little attention, despite the fact that the liability has climbed from a disputed $67 to $85 million to $700 million since Labor came in to government in 2002 due to a more generous compensation scheme. Labor have since looked in to reform for the scheme including cutting payments to injured workers.
There were claims that federal industrial relations reform, WorkChoices, was an influential issue in the election. The Liberals announced 4,000 public service job cuts to pay for election promises.
[edit] Polling
Newspoll polling is conducted via random telephone number selection in city and country areas. Roy Morgan polling is conducted face-to-face Australia-wide. Sampling sizes consist of 500–1000 electors, Roy Morgan has a sampling tolerance (the Margin of error) of ±3.2 percent for a 40 to 60 percent rating in a sample size of 1000 electors, and ±4.5 for 500 electors. The sampling tolerance rate is lower for high and low percentages.
[edit] Results
[edit] House of Assembly
The final results for the House of Assembly seats were 28 Labor, 15 Liberal, three independents and one National. First preference and two party preferred statistics for each district are available through the South Australian House of Assembly electoral districts article.
Labor won six of eight key seats, the Liberals one of three key seats. Labor's wins included the previously marginal Liberal seats of Hartley, Light, Morialta, Mawson, Bright and Newland. The Liberals regained Peter Lewis' seat of Hammond.
National Karlene Maywald and Independents Bob Such, Rory McEwen and Kris Hanna were all re-elected. Hanna was elected at the 2002 election as a Labor candidate; this counted as a loss for Labor, giving Labor a net gain of five seats.
Labor, the Liberals and the Greens ran in all 47 seats, the Democrats ran in all but Giles which resulted in a contested seat vote of three percent, Family First ran in all but Ramsay and Croydon with a contested seat vote of 6.1 percent, with the Nationals running in Chaffey, Flinders, Finniss, and MacKillop, with a subsequent contested seat vote of 24.8 percent. Dignity for Disabled ran in ten seats, No Rodeo in seven seats, and One Nation in six seats.
Jack Snelling became speaker of the House of Assembly.
[edit] Key Liberal seats
The outer southern suburbs district of Mawson was first won by former Liberal Police Minister Robert Brokenshire in the 1993 state election. He was defeated by Labor candidate and former radio presenter Leon Bignell who received a 5.7 percent two party preferred swing.
The other outer suburbs district that fell to Labor was Bright, which was held since 1989 by former Liberal energy minister Wayne Matthew. Matthew decided to retire at this election; subsequently the seat was contested for the Liberals by Legislative Council member Angus Redford. Redford faced a tougher fight than expected and was defeated by Labor candidate Chloe Fox who received a huge 14.4 percent swing on a two party preferred basis, the largest in the state.
The inner southern suburbs district of Unley was won in 2002 by outspoken Liberal Mark Brindal who failed to win Liberal preselection for the seat in the lead up to the 2006 election and attempted to gain backing to contest the marginal Labor seat of Adelaide, but was shrouded in a controversy concerning a sexual relationship that Brindal had with a mentally ill man. The Liberal candidate was businessman David Pisoni, while the Labor candidate was Unley Mayor Michael Keenan, who received a 7.9 percent two party preferred swing, narrowly missing out on picking up the seat by 1.1 percent.
The inner north eastern suburbs district of Hartley had been won by Joe Scalzi in 1993 and held by a very narrow margin in each election since. The district has a very high proportion of Italian migrants and the ability to speak Italian is considered by many commentators as vital to win the seat and was a factor in Labor's preselection of political staffer Grace Portolesi. Portolesi defeated Scalzi with a 5.9 percent two party preferred swing.
The neighbouring district of Morialta was held before this election by former Liberal Tourism Minister Joan Hall since 1993. She was defeated by Labor candidate Lindsay Simmons. Simmons received a 12 percent two party preferred swing, with Labor winning the seat for the first time since 1975.
In the outer north-east, the district of Newland had been won by Liberal Dorothy Kotz since 1989, but after her decision to retire, the Liberal Party preselected police officer and local councillor Mark Osterstock. He was defeated by Labor candidate Tom Kenyon, who won the seat with a 12.5 percent two party preferred swing.
In Light, which contains Gawler and the outer northern suburbs, was recontested by sitting Liberal member and former Education Minister Malcolm Buckby. He was defeated by Labor candidate and Gawler Mayor Tony Piccolo, who received a 4.9 percent two party preferred swing. This seat fell to Labor for the first time since 1944.
The rural and outback district of Stuart was first won in 1997 by Liberal Graham Gunn, a former Speaker and Australia's longest currently serving parliamentarian (the longest being Billy Hughes at 51 years). As in 2002, he was challenged by Labor ministerial adviser Justin Jarvis. Unlike the Adelaide metropolitan area and the neighbouring seat of Giles, there was only a small swing of 0.7 percent to Labor, subsequently Gunn managed to hang on with a margin of 0.6 percent.
[edit] Key Labor seats
The inner eastern suburbs district of Norwood, held for Labor by former Norwood mayor Vini Ciccarello, was expected to be a tough contest, particularly after the Liberal preselection of former Adelaide Crows footballer Nigel Smart. Ciccarello retained the seat picking up a 3.7 percent swing on the two party preferred vote.
The other Labor seat considered under possible threat was the neighbouring inner city district of Adelaide where high profile Education Minister and former Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith was challenged by Liberal Diana Carroll. Lomax-Smith comprehensively defeated Carroll with a 9.2 percent swing to Labor on the two-party preferred vote.
[edit] Key Independent seats
The southern suburbs district of Mitchell was won at the 2002 election by Kris Hanna, who was a Labor member. After the election, Hanna left Labor to join the Greens and subsequently left the Greens to become an independent on 8 February 2006. Hanna faced a tough contest to hold his seat against a challenge by Labor's Rosemary Clancy. Despite expectations before the election of a safe Labor win, Hanna defeated the Labor candidate by 0.6 percent of the vote with the aid of Liberal preferences.
The district of Fisher, located in Adelaide's south, was held by independent MP Dr Bob Such. Late in the campaign, there was some speculation that Fisher may have been a closer contest than commentators initially expected, but Such comfortably defeated both Labor candidate Amanda Rishworth and Liberal candidate Andy Minnis with an independent candidate election best 45.2 percent of the primary vote, picking up a 4.6 percent two party preferred swing. The election outcome saw Such facing the Labor candidate on the two party preferred vote as opposed to the Liberal candidate in 2002.
The Riverland based district of Chaffey is the only seat in South Australia held by a Nationals SA member. River Murray Minister Karlene Maywald won comfortably against a challenge by Liberal Anna Baric. Maywald received a 3.2 percent swing on the two party preferred vote.
The Murray Bridge based district of Hammond was won in 2002 by independent MP Peter Lewis who cut a deal after the 2002 election which delivered government to Labor. Facing almost certain defeat in Hammond, he declined to recontest the district and failed in his attempt to win a seat in the Legislative Council.
Hammond was won comfortably by Liberal Adrian Pederick.
The district of Mount Gambier (which also includes much of South Australia's south east) was a close contest between independent and Agriculture Minister Rory McEwen and Liberal Peter Gandolfi. McEwen prevailed despite a 20.4 percent swing against him on the two party preferred vote.
[edit] Post-election pendulum
The following pendulum is known as the Mackerras Pendulum, invented by psephologist Malcolm Mackerras. The pendulum works by lining up all of the seats held in the House of Assembly according to the percentage point margin they are held by on a two party preferred basis. This is also known as the swing required for the seat to change hands. Given a uniform swing to the opposition or government parties, the number of seats that change hands can be predicted. Marginal 0–5.99 percent, Fairly Safe 6–10 percent, Safe >10 percent.
[edit] Legislative Council
In the South Australian Legislative Council, Labor won 4 seats, the Liberals won 3 seats, both No Pokies member Nick Xenophon and his running mate Ann Bressington were elected and Family First and the Greens won a seat each. Almost 40 percent of voters deserted the major parties for Nick Xenophon and the minor parties; this percentage had been steadily increasing over time.
Labor received a 3.7 percent swing, electing four councillors as in the previous election. Carmel Zollo, Bob Sneath, Russell Wortley and Ian Hunter were all elected, with 4.39 quotas Bob Sneath was elected president of the Legislative Council.
On the other hand, the Liberal vote collapsed with a 14.1 percent swing against the Liberal Party. Having received five councillors in 2002, at this election the Liberal Party had just three councillors elected. Rob Lucas, John Dawkins and Michelle Lensink were elected on 3.12 quotas.
Before the election, No Pokies member Nick Xenophon was popular with the media and in opinion polls, but he faced a tough campaign as a result of both major parties preferencing in favour of other independents and the minor parties. No Pokies received 20.5 percent of the vote, yielding 2.46 quotas, which translated into seats for both Xenophon and his running mate Ann Bressington. Having been elected at the 1997 election with 2.9 percent of the vote and other independent candidates at the 2002 election on 1.3 percent of the vote (Xenophon being a sitting member at that election), the No Pokies ticket received a swing of 19.2 percent.
The Family First Party's first member, Andrew Evans MLC, was elected in 2002. Family First won 5 percent of the upper house vote with only a small swing of 0.98 percent, with candidate Dennis Hood being elected on preferences.
The SA Greens won 4.3 percent of the upper house vote meaning a swing of 1.5 percent, narrowly securing Mark Parnell for the last upper house seat on preferences. This is the first time The Greens have won a seat in South Australia. Having secured second spot on the ticket at this election, Sarah Hanson-Young was successful in gaining the first spot on the ticket at the 2007 federal election, which saw the Greens secure their first federal upper house seat in South Australia.
The Australian Democrats fell to just one seat in the Legislative Council held by Sandra Kanck, after Kate Reynolds was defeated in her bid for re-election after being appointed in 2003. The Democrats gained only 1.8 percent of the upper house vote after a 5.5 percent swing against them. Kanck has since announced that she will not recontest her seat at the next election, placing serious clouds over the future of the party in the state.
Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party gained 0.8 percent of the upper house vote and won none of the six lower house seats they contested. Their highest vote was 4.1 percent in the district of Hammond, followed by 2.7 percent in Goyder, and the other four hovering around 1 percent.
Dignity for Disabled ran for the first time and won 0.6 percent of the upper house vote; they won none of the 10 lower house seats they contested. Their best results were Wright as well as Bright, with 2.4 percent in each (506 and 492 votes respectively).
Labor-turned-independent Terry Cameron and Liberal-turned-independent Peter Lewis both failed in their bids for re-election.
[edit] Legacy
After the election, Rob Kerin vacated the position of opposition leader. The party selected conservative Iain Evans (son of former politician Stan Evans) for the role, with moderate Vickie Chapman (daughter of former politician Ted Chapman) as deputy leader. The only other contestant had been Isobel Redmond, who ran because she was concerned by some speculation that the Evans deal may have been stitched up by federal Liberal counterparts Christopher Pyne and Nick Minchin. Preferred premier ratings in July 2006 showed Rann on 71 percent with Evans on 15 percent. Only 27 percent of Liberal Party supporters saw Evans as the preferred premier. Continuing low support for the new Liberal leadership saw Martin Hamilton-Smith replace Evans in April 2007, however this move saw Liberal support decline further to a three-year low according to an Advertiser poll conducted a month after the leadership change. Over half of polling respondents were unable to name the leader of the Liberal Party. This contradicted Newspolls quarterly polling indicating the Rann Labor government slipping to a two-party preferred figure of 57 percent down four percent, with a preferred premier rating of 52 percent down 14 percent for Rann and a first-time rating of 21 percent for Martin Hamilton-Smith. Poll results also show Rann's satisfaction rating was below 60 percent for the first time since coming to office at 58 percent, with Hamilton-Smith receiving a 33 percent satisfaction rate.
Previously unknown quantity Ann Bressington, elected on the back of Nick Xenophon's No Pokies popularity, has proposed mainly conservative policies such as raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 21, zero tolerance of illicit drugs, mandatory twice-annual drug tests of every South Australian school student over the age of 14 regardless of whether parents give their consent, and making the sale of "drug-taking equipment" illegal. However, she remains undecided on voluntary euthanasia, calling it "a personal struggle".
Setting a precedent, Sandra Kanck's pro-euthanasia speech which contained suicide methods was censored from the internet version of Hansard in August 2006 as a result of an upper house motion, with Labor, Family First, Nick Xenophon and Ann Bressington voting for, and the Liberals and SA Greens member Mark Parnell voting against. Despite this, the speech was published on a non-Australian website.
The state's budget was released on 21 September 2006. It included 1,600 public service job axings despite an election pledge of only 400, however none of the redundancies will be forced. It also included increases in some fees and charges such as victims of crime levies and Technical and Further Education (TAFE) charges. There were increases in funding for health, schools, police and prisons, and the Department of Public Prosecutions. The 2007–2008 budget released on 13 June 2007 saw additional spending on Transport, Energy and Infrastructure, Health, Families and Communities, and Justice portfolios such as transport initiatives including revitalisation of the rail network, commencement of the $1.7 billion Marjorie Jackson-Nelson Hospital to replace the Royal Adelaide Hospital, funding for mental health reform including the delivery of health services, and funding for new commitments to law and order policies.
No Pokies MP Nick Xenophon resigned from parliament in early October 2007 in a successful attempt to win a seat in the Australian Senate at the 2007 federal election, which according to the South Australian result, he retained 72 percent of his 2006 vote, on 14.78 percent. His replacement is his third candidate on the 2006 ticket, former Valuer-General John Darley, and was appointed by a joint sitting on 21 November 2007, where second candidate and upper house MP Ann Bressington also took the opportunity to slam Nick Xenophon, accusing him of lacking integrity and suitability for federal parliament.
A record-breaking 13-hour Parnell-Bressington filibuster occurred in May 2008 in crossbench opposition to WorkCover cuts being passed by the major parties due to the increasing underfunded liability in the workers' compensation scheme.

Summary:
The state election for the 51st Parliament of South Australia was held in the Australian state of South Australia on 18 March 2006, and was conducted by the independent State Electoral Office. The centre-left Australian Labor Party, in government since 2002 under Premier Mike Rann, gained six Liberal-held seats and a 7.7 percent statewide two-party preferred swing, resulting in the first Labor majority government since the 1985 election with 28 of the 47 House of Assembly (lower house) seats, a net gain of five seats. The centre-right Liberal Party of Australia, led by Leader of the Opposition Rob Kerin, regained a former independent seat while losing seats — the net result of 15 seats was the lowest Liberal result in any South Australian election. Independent members Bob Such and Rory McEwen retained their seats, with Kris Hanna successfully changing from Labor to an independent member. The sitting Nationals SA member Karlene Maywald retained her seat.
Independents: Rory McEwen, Bob Such, Kris Hanna
In the 22-member Legislative Council (upper house), both major parties finished with a total of eight seats each, with Labor winning four and the Liberals winning three. No Pokies independent Nick Xenophon polled 20.5 percent, an unprecedented result for an independent or minor party which resulted in both Xenophon and his running mate, Ann Bressington being elected. Xenophon's third running mate, John Darley, was appointed to the vacancy created by Xenophon's later resignation. Family First had a second member elected, the Democrats vote collapsed leaving one remaining member, and the SA Greens won a seat for the first time.
Following the outcome of the election, the member for Davenport, Iain Evans, replaced Kerin as leader of the Liberal Party and thus Leader of the Opposition.


[edit] History
In the mid-1770s, the British government levied taxes that impeded Providence's maritime, fishing and agricultural industries, the mainstay of the city's economy. One example was the Sugar Act, which was a tax levied against Providence's distilleries that adversely affected its trade in rum and slaves. These taxes caused Providence to join the other colonies in renouncing allegiance to the British Crown. In response to enforcement of unpopular trade laws, Providence residents spilled the first blood of the American Revolution in the notorious Gaspée Affair of 1772.
Though during the Revolutionary War the city escaped enemy occupation, the capture of nearby Newport disrupted industry and kept the population on alert. Troops were quartered for various campaigns and Brown University's University Hall was used as a barracks and military hospital.
After departing from Newport, French troops sent by King Louis XVI and commanded by the Comte de Rochambeau passed through Providence on their way to join the attack against British forces. The march from Newport to Providence was the beginning of a campaign led jointly by General George Washington in a decisive march that ended with the defeat of General Cornwallis in the Siege of Yorktown at Yorktown, Virginia and the Battle of the Chesapeake.
Following the war, the economy shifted from maritime endeavors to manufacturing, particularly machinery, tools, silverware, jewelry and textiles. At one time, Providence boasted some of the largest manufacturing plants in the country, including Brown & Sharpe, Nicholson File, and Gorham Silverware, and with 7,614 people, was the country's ninth-largest city.b[›] The city's industries attracted many immigrants from Ireland, Germany, Sweden, England, Italy, Portugal, Cape Verde, and French Canada. Economic and demographic shifts caused social strife, notably with a series of race riots between whites and blacks during the 1820s. In response to these troubles and the economic growth, Providence residents ratified a city charter in 1831 as the population passed 17,000.
During the Civil War, local politics split over slavery as many had ties to Southern cotton. Despite ambivalence concerning the war, the number of military volunteers routinely exceeded quota, and the city's manufacturing proved invaluable to the Union. Postwar, horsecar lines covering the city enabled its growth and Providence thrived with waves of immigrants and land annexations bringing the population from 54,595 in 1865 to 175,597 by 1900.
The city's boom began to wane in the mid-1920s as industries, notably textiles, shut down. Jewelry manufacturing continued to grow, taking up the slack and employing many of the city's new immigrants, coming from Portuguese, Italian, Polish, Lithuanian and Jewish backgrounds. A number of hospitals also opened. The Great Depression hit the city hard, and Providence's downtown was subsequently flooded by the New England Hurricane of 1938. Though the city received a boost from World War II, this ended with the war. The city saw further decline as a result of nation-wide trends, with the construction of highways and increased suburbanization. The population would drop by 38% over the next three decades. From the 1950s to the 1980s, Providence was a notorious bastion of organized crime. The mafia boss Raymond L.S. Patriarca ruled a vast criminal enterprise.
The city's eponymous "Renaissance" began in the 1970s. From 1975 until 1982, $606 million of local and national Community Development funds were invested throughout the city, and the hitherto falling population began to stabilize. In the 1990s, Mayor Vincent Cianci, Jr showcased the city's strength in arts and pushed for further revitalization, ultimately resulting in the uncovering of the city's natural rivers (which had been paved over), relocation of a large section of railroad underground, creation of Waterplace Park and river walks along the river's banks, and construction of the Fleet Skating Rink (now the Bank of America Skating Rink) downtown and the 1.4 million ft² Providence Place Mall.
New investment triggered within the city, with new construction including numerous condo projects, hotels, and a new office high-rise all filling in the freed space. Despite new investment, poverty remains an entrenched problem as it does in most post-industrial New England cities. Nearly 30 percent of the city population lives below the poverty line. Recent increases in real estate values further exacerbate problems for those at marginal income levels, as Providence had the highest rise in median housing price of any city in the United States from 2004 to 2005.
[edit] Geography
The Providence city limits enclose a small geographic region, with a total area of 20.5�square miles (53.2�km²). 18.5�square miles (47.8�km²) of it is land and the remaining 2.1�square miles (5.3�km²) (roughly 10%) of it is water.
Providence is located at the head of Narragansett Bay, with the Providence River running into the bay through the center of the city, formed by the confluence of the Moshassuck and Woonasquatucket Rivers. The Waterplace Park amphitheater and riverwalks line the river's banks through downtown. Constitution Hill (near downtown), College (or Prospect) Hill (east of the Providence River), and Federal Hill (west of downtown and is New England's largest Italian district) are the most prominent of the city's hills. The remaining hills include Tockwotten Hill at Fox Point, Smith Hill (where the State House is located), Christian Hill at Hoyle Square (junction of Cranston & Westminster Streets), and Weybosset Hill at the lower end of Weybosset Street, which was leveled in the early 1880s.
[edit] Neighborhoods
Providence has 25 official neighborhoods, though these neighborhoods are often grouped together and referred to collectively:
[edit] Cityscape
The city of Providence is geographically very compact, characteristic of eastern seaboard cities which developed prior to use of the automobile. It is among the most densely populated cities in the country. For this reason, Providence has the eighth-highest percentage of pedestrian commuters. The street layout is somewhat chaotic—over one thousand streets (a great number for the city's size) run haphazardly, connecting and radiating from traditionally bustling places like Market Square.
Downtown Providence has numerous 19th century mercantile buildings in the Federal and Victorian architectural styles, as well as several post-modern and modernist buildings, are located throughout this area. In particular, a fairly clear spatial separation appears between the areas of pre-1980s development and post-1980s development. West Exchange Street and Exchange Terrace serve as rough boundaries between the two.
The newer area, sometimes called "Capitol Center", includes Providence Place Mall (1999), a Westin hotel (1993) and The Residences at the Westin (2007), GTECH (2006), Waterplace condominiums (2007), and Waterplace Park (1994); the area tends toward newer development since much of it is land reclaimed in the 1970s from a mass of railroad tracks which was referred to colloquially as the "Chinese Wall". This part of Downtown is characterized by open spaces, wide roads, and intent landscaping.
The historic part of downtown has many streetscapes that look as they did eighty years ago. Many of the state's tallest buildings are found here. The largest structure, to date, is the art-deco-styled former Industrial Trust Tower, currently the Bank of America Building at 426 feet (130 m). By contrast, nearby to it is the second tallest One Financial Plaza, designed in modern taut-skin cladding, constructed a half century later. In between the two is 50 Kennedy Plaza. The Textron Tower is also a core building to the modest Providence skyline. Downtown is also the home of the Providence Biltmore and Westminster Arcade, the oldest enclosed shopping mall in the U.S., built in 1828.
The city's southern waterfront, away from the downtown core, is the location of many oil tanks, a docking station for a ferry boat, a decommissioned Russian submarine, a non-profit sailing center, bars, strip clubs, and power plants. The Fox Point Hurricane Barrier is also found here, built to protect Providence from storm surge, like that it had endured in the 1938 New England Hurricane and again in 1954 from Hurricane Carol.
The majority of the cityscape comprises abandoned and revitalized industrial mills, double and triple decker housing (though the row houses found so commonly in other Northeast cities, are notably rare here), a small number of high-rise buildings (predominantly for housing the elderly), and single family homes. I-95 serves as a physical barrier between the city's commercial core and neighborhoods such as Federal Hill and the West End.
[edit] Climate
Providence's climate is between humid continental climate and humid subtropical climate, with warm summers, cold winters, and high humidity year-round. The USDA rates the city at Zone 6a, which is an "in-between" climate. The influence of the Atlantic Ocean keeps Providence, and the rest of the state of Rhode Island, warmer than many inland locales in New England. January is the coldest month with average high temperatures of 37�°F (3�°C) and average low temperatures of 20 °F (-7 °C). July is the warmest month with average high temperatures of 83 °F (28 °C) and average low temperatures of 64 °F (18 °C). The record high temperature in the city was 104 °F (40 °C) recorded in 1975. The record low temperature in the city was -17 °F (-27 °C) recorded in 1934.
As with the rest of the northeastern seaboard, Providence receives ample precipitation year-round. Monthly precipitation ranges from a high of 4.43 inches (112.5�mm) in March to a low of 3.17�inches (80.5�mm) in July. Precipitation levels are generally slightly lesser in the summer months than the winter months when powerful storms known as Nor'easters can cause significant snowfall and blizzard conditions. Although hurricanes are not frequent in coastal New England, Providence's location at the head of Narragansett Bay makes it vulnerable to them. According to Forbes.com, the Providence-New Bedford-Fall River metropolitan area is ranked 30 on America's Most Toxic Cities
[edit] Demographics
As of the census of 2000, the population comprised 173,618 people, 62,389 households, and 35,859 families. The population density was 3,629.4/km² (9,401.7/sq�mi), characteristic of comparatively older cities in New England such as New Haven, Connecticut; Boston, Massachusetts and Hartford, Connecticut. Also like these cities, its population peaked in the 1940s just prior to the nationwide period of rapid suburbanization.
Providence has had a substantial Italian population since the turn of the century, with 14% (a pluralityc[›]) of the population claiming Italian ancestry. Italian influence manifests itself in Providence's Little Italy in Federal Hill. Irish immigrants have also had considerable influence on the city's history, with 8% of residents claiming Irish heritage.
Belying Providence's traditionally white makeup is the sizable minority presence it has acquired in the last twenty years. Though nearby cities like Boston and Hartford have longer-standing black and Latino communities, Providence now surpasses both in the density of its minority population, with non-Hispanic whites comprising less than half (40.9%) of the population. Though salient contributions to this growth have been among Asians and unspecified races, the most dramatic change comes from Hispanics, whose presence has increased fivefold. Having origins in Puerto Rico, Colombia, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, and Central America (particularly Guatemala), Hispanics have strong influence in the neighborhoods of Elmwood, the West End, and Upper and Lower South Providence. Hispanic impact is even larger in the city's schools. Hispanics represent over half (55%) of all students in the city's school system while comprising only 36% of Providence's population.
In addition, Providence, like the nearby Massachusetts cities of Fall River and New Bedford, has a considerable community of immigrants from various Portuguese-speaking countries, living mostly in the areas of Washington Park and Fox Point. Portuguese is the city's third-largest nationality, (after Italian and Irish) at 4% of the population while Cape Verdeans make up another 2%.
African Americans constitute approximately 17% of the city with the largest percentages in Mount Hope and Upper and Lower South Providence neighborhoods. Asians are 6% of Providence's population and have enclaves scattered throughout the city. Another 6% of the city has multiracial ancestry. Native Americans and Pacific Islanders make up the remaining 1.3%. With Liberians comprising .4% of the population, the city is home to the one of the three largest Liberian immigrant populations in the country.
The Providence metropolitan area, which includes Providence, Fall River, Massachusetts, and Warwick is estimated to be 1,622,520. In 2006, this area was officially added to the Boston Combined Statistical Area (CSA), the fifth-largest CSA in the country. In the last fifteen years, Providence has experienced a sizable growth in its under-18 population, attributed to the influx of Hispanics. The median age of the city is 28 years, while the largest age cohort is 20 to 24 year olds, owing to the city's large student population.
The per capita income, as of the 2000 census, was $15,525, which is well below both the state average of $29,113, and the national average of $21,587. The median income for a household was $26,867, and the median income for a family in Providence was $32,058, according to the 2000 census. The city has one of the highest rates of poverty in the nation with 29.1% of the population and 23.9% of families living below the poverty line in 2000, the largest concentrations being found in the city's Olneyville, and Upper and Lower South Providence areas. Poverty has affected children at a disproportionately higher rate with 40.1% of those under the age of 18 living below the poverty line, concentrated particularly west of downtown in the neighborhoods of Hartford, Federal Hill, and Olneyville.
[edit] Crime
Compared to the national average, Providence has a higher than average rate of property crime and an average rate of violent crime per 100,000 inhabitants. In 2009, there were 24 murders, the highest number since 2000 and a jump from the previous year's 13. Crime in all categories had been dropping substantially during 2002-2007, contrary to national trends. The nearby city of Worcester, Massachusetts which is about the same size had six murders in 2009 by comparison. The much larger city of Boston had 42. The police chief asserted that such violence was not stranger-to-stranger, but relationship driven. The pattern of violent crime was highly specific by neighborhood with vast majority of the murders taking place in the poorest sections of Providence, such as Washington Park, Elmwood, South Providence and the West End.
In 2003, of the 239 United States cities with populations over 100,000, Providence's violent crime rate ranked 84th, as compared with New York City at 94th and Boston at 28th. Providence has the fifth-highest rate of property crime per 100,000 inhabitants in the country. Burglary and car theft, in particular constitute 1.12 and 2.49 times the national average.
[edit] Economy
Providence was one of the first cities to industrialize in the United States. By 1830, the city had manufacturing industries in metals, machinery, textiles, jewelry, and silverware. Though manufacturing has declined, the city is still one of the largest centers for jewelry and silverware design and manufacturing. Services, particularly education, health care, and finance, also make up a large portion of the city's economy. Providence also is the site of a sectional center facility, a regional hub for the U.S. Postal Service. Since it is the capital of Rhode Island, Providence's economy additionally consists of government services.
The Fortune 500 conglomerate Textron and Fortune 1000 company Nortek Incorporated are both headquartered in the city, and GTECH's world headquarters has recently been moved to downtown Providence. Citizens Bank is also headquartered in Providence. Another company whose origins were in the city is Fleet Bank. Once Rhode Island's largest bank, it moved its headquarters to Boston, Massachusetts, after acquiring Shawmut Bank in 1995. Before its acquisition by Bank of America, Fleet merged with BankBoston to become New England's largest commercial bank.
The city is home to the Rhode Island Convention Center, which opened in December 1993. Along with a hotel, the convention center is connected to the Providence Place Mall, a major retail center, through a skywalk. The Port of Providence, the second largest deepwater seaport in New England, handles cargo such as cement, chemicals, heavy machinery, petroleum, and scrap metal.
[edit] Government
Providence serves as Rhode Island's capital, housing the Rhode Island General Assembly as well as the offices of the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor in the Rhode Island State House.
Providence's city government has a mayor-council form of government. The Providence City Council consists of fifteen city councilors, one for each of the city's wards. The council is tasked with enacting ordinances and passing an annual budget. Providence also has probate and superior courts. The U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island is located downtown across from City Hall adjacent to Kennedy Plaza.
David N. Cicilline was elected mayor by a large margin in 2002 and was re-elected without any major opposition in 2006. Cicilline is the first and only openly gay mayor of an American state capital. Providence was the largest American city to have an openly gay mayor, until Sam Adams took office in Portland, Oregon on January 1, 2009.
[edit] Education
[edit] Postsecondary
Seven of the fourteen institutions of higher learning in Rhode Island have campuses in Providence (city proper):
Between these schools the number of postsecondary students is approximately 44,000, or 25% the population of Providence. Compounded by Brown University's being the second-largest employer, higher education exerts a considerable presence in the city's politics and economy.
[edit] Private and charter schools
Several private schools, including Moses Brown, the Lincoln School, and the Wheeler School, are in the city's East Side. LaSalle Academy is located in the Elmhurst area of the city near Providence College. The public charter schools Time Squared Academy (K-12) and Textron Chamber of Commerce (9-12) are funded by GTECH and Textron respectively. In addition, the city's South Side houses Community Preparatory School, a private school serving primarily low-income students in grades 3-8. Within the semi-private schools, The Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center (The Met) and The Big Picture Company schools serve students through real world experiences and project-based learning. There are two separate centers for students with special needs.
[edit] Public schools
The Providence Public School District serves about 26,000 students from pre-Kindergarten to grade 12. The district has 25 elementary schools, nine middle schools, and thirteen high schools. The Providence Public School District features magnet schools at the middle and high school level, Nathanael Greene and Classical respectively. The overall graduation rate as of 2007 is 70.1%, which is close to the statewide rate of 71% and the national average of 70%.
[edit] Culture
Much of Providence culture is synonymous with Rhode Island culture. Like the state, the city has a non-rhotic accent which can be heard on local media. Providence also shares Rhode Island's affinity for coffee, as the former has the most coffee/doughnut shops per capita of any city in the country. Providence is also reputed to have the highest number of restaurants per capita, many of which are founded and/or staffed by its own Johnson & Wales graduates.
Providence has several ethnic neighborhoods, notably Federal Hill and the North End (Italian), Fox Point (Cape Verdean and Portuguese), West End (mainly Central American and Asians), and Smith Hill (Irish with miscellaneous enclaves of other groups). There are also many dedicated community organizations and arts associations located in the city.
The city gained the reputation as one of the most active and growing LGBT communities in the Northeast; the rate of reported gay and lesbian relationships is 75% higher than the national average and Providence has been named among the "Best Lesbian Places to Live". The current mayor, David Cicilline, won his election running as an openly gay man, making him the first openly gay mayor of a U.S. state capital. Former Mayor Cianci instituted the position of Mayor's Liaison to the Gay and Lesbian community in the 1990s. There are numerous social and community organizations supporting the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. Providence is home to the largest gay bathhouse in New England.
During the summer months, the city regularly hosts WaterFire, an environmental art installation that consists of about 100 bonfires that blaze just above the surface of the three rivers that pass through the middle of downtown Providence. There are multiple Waterfire events that are accompanied by various pieces of classical and world music. The public art displays, most notably sculptures, change on a regular basis.
The city is also the home of the Tony Award-winning theater group Trinity Repertory Company, the Providence Black Repertory Company, and the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra. Providence is also the home of several performing arts centers such as the Veterans Memorial Auditorium, the Providence Performing Arts Center, and the Providence Festival Ballet. The city's underground music scene, centered around artist-run spaces such as the now-defunct Fort Thunder, is known in underground music circles.
[edit] Sites of interest
Providence is home to an 1,200-acre (4.9�km2) park system, notably Waterplace Park and Riverwalk, Roger Williams Park, Roger Williams National Memorial, and Prospect Terrace Park, the latter featuring expansive views of the downtown area. As one of the first cities in the country, Providence contains many historic buildings while the East Side neighborhood in particular includes the largest contiguous area of buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the U.S. with many pre-revolutionary houses. The East Side is also home to the First Baptist Church in America, the oldest Baptist church in the Americas, founded by Roger Williams in 1638, as well as the Old State House, which served as the state's capitol from 1762 to 1904. Nearby is Roger Williams National Memorial. Downcity Providence is home to the fourth largest unsupported dome in the world (the second largest marble dome after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome), as well as the Westminster Arcade, which is the oldest enclosed shopping center in the U.S.
The main art museum is the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, which has the twentieth largest collection in the country. The city's southern waterfront hosts a decommissioned Cold War era Russian submarine. In addition to the Providence Public Library and its nine branches, the city is home to the Providence Athenæum, the fourth oldest library in the country. Here, on one of his many visits to Providence, Edgar Allan Poe, met and courted a love interest named Sarah Helen Whitman. Poe was a regular fixture there, as was H. P. Lovecraft; both of them influential writers of gothic literature.
The Bank of America Skating Center, formerly the Fleet Skating Center, is located near Kennedy Plaza in the downtown district, connected by pedestrian tunnel to Waterplace Park, a cobblestone and concrete park below street traffic that abuts Providence's three rivers.
The southern part of the city is home to the famous roadside attraction Nibbles Woodaway (also known as the "Big Blue Bug"), the world's largest termite, as well as the aforementioned Roger Williams Park, which contains a zoo, a botanical center, and the Museum of Natural History and Planetarium.
[edit] Sports
The city is home to the American Hockey League team Providence Bruins, which plays at the Dunkin' Donuts Center (formerly the Providence Civic Center). From 1926 to 1972, the AHL's Providence Reds (renamed the Rhode Island Reds in their last years) played at the Rhode Island Auditorium. In 1972, the team relocated to the Providence Civic Center, where they played until moving to Binghamton, New York, in 1977.
Providence has its own roller derby league. Formed in 2004, it currently has four teams: the Providence Mob Squad, the Sakonnet River Roller Rats, the Old Money Honeys, and the Rhode Island Riveters. The NFL's New England Patriots and MLS's New England Revolution play in Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is situated halfway between Providence and Boston. Providence was formerly home to two major league franchises: the NFL's Providence Steam Roller in the 1920s and 1930s, and the NBA's Providence Steamrollers in the 1940s. The city is also where Rocky Marciano won 29 of his 49 fights.
The city's defunct baseball team, the Providence Grays, competed in the National League from 1879 through 1885. The team defeated the New York Metropolitans in baseball's first successful "world championship series" in 1884. In 1914, after the Boston Red Sox purchased Babe Ruth from the then-minor league Baltimore Orioles, the team prepared Ruth for the major leagues by sending him to finish the season playing for a minor league team in Providence that was also known as the Grays. Today, professional baseball is offered by the Pawtucket Red Sox, the AAA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox which plays in nearby Pawtucket. Most baseball fans—along with the local media—tend to follow the Boston Red Sox.
Major colleges and universities fielding NCAA Division I athletic teams are Brown University and Providence College. The latter is a member of the Big East Conference. Much local hype is associated with games between these two schools or the University of Rhode Island. Providence has also hosted the alternative sports event Gravity Games from 1999 to 2001, and was also the first host of ESPN's X Games, known in its first edition as the Extreme Games, in 1995.
[edit] Infrastructure
[edit] Health and medicine
Providence is home to eight hospitals, most prominently Rhode Island Hospital, the largest general acute care hospital in the state. The hospital is in a complex along I-95 that includes Hasbro Children's Hospital and Women and Infants Hospital. The city is also home to the Roger Williams Medical Center, St. Joseph Hospital For Specialty Care (a division of St. Joseph Health Services Of Rhode Island), The Miriam Hospital, a major teaching affiliate associated with the Alpert Medical School of Brown University, as well as a VA medical center.
Providence is home to the Quality Assurance Review Center (QARC), which performs thousands of radiotherapy reviews per year. QARC is primarily supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and contracts from the pharmaceutical industry. It receives radiotherapy data from around one-thousand hospitals in both the United States and abroad. The center also maintains a strategic affiliation with the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts.
The Rhode Island Blood Center has its main headquarters in Providence. Since 1979, the Rhode Island Blood Center has been the sole organization in charge of blood collection and testing and distribution of blood products to 11 hospitals in Rhode Island.
[edit] Transportation
Providence is served by air primarily by the commercial airfield T. F. Green Airport in nearby Warwick. General aviation fields also serve the region. Due to overcrowding and Big Dig complications in Boston, Massport has been promoting T.F. Green as an alternative to Boston's Logan International Airport.
Providence Station, located between the Rhode Island State House and the downtown district, is served by Amtrak and MBTA Commuter Rail services, with a commuter rail running to Boston. Approximately 2400 passengers daily pass through the station. Additionally, funds have been allocated to extend the commuter rail from Providence to T. F. Green Airport terminating at a $222.5 million intermodal station to be completed in 2009.
I-95 runs from north to south through Providence while I-195 connects the city to eastern Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, including New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Cape Cod. I-295 encircles Providence while RI 146 provides a direct connection with Worcester, Massachusetts. The city has commissioned and begun a long-term project, the Iway, to move I-195 not only for safety reasons, but also to free up land and to reunify the Jewelry District with Downcity Providence, which had been split from one another by the highway. The project is estimated to cost $446 million and be completed in 2012.
Kennedy Plaza, in downtown Providence, serves as a transportation hub for local public transit as well as a departure point for Peter Pan and Greyhound bus lines. Public transit is managed by Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA). Through RIPTA alone Kennedy Plaza serves over 71,000 people a day. The majority of the area covered by RIPTA is served by traditional buses. Of particular note is the East Side Trolley Tunnel running under College Hill, the use of which is reserved for RIPTA buses. RIPTA also operates the Providence LINK, a system of tourist trolleys in downtown Providence, as well as a ferry to Newport between May and October.
[edit] Utilities
Electricity and natural gas are provided by Narragansett Electric Company which is owned by National Grid USA. Providence Water is responsible for the distribution of drinking water, ninety percent of which comes from the Scituate Reservoir about ten miles (16�km) west of downtown, with contributions coming from four smaller bodies of water.
[edit] Sister cities
Providence has four sister cities designated by Sister Cities International:

Summary:
Providence is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, and one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the estimated second or third largest citya[›] in the New England region. Despite the city proper only having an estimated population of 171,557 as of 2008, it anchors the 36th largest metropolitan population in the country, with an estimated MSA population of 1,600,856, exceeding that of Rhode Island by about 60% due to its reaching into southern Massachusetts. Situated at the mouth of the Providence River, at the head of Narragansett Bay, the city's small footprint is crisscrossed by seemingly erratic streets and contains a rapidly changing demographic.
Providence was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He named the area in honor of "God's merciful Providence" which he believed was responsible for revealing such a haven for him and his followers to settle. After being one of the first cities in the country to industrialize, Providence became noted for its jewelry and silverware industry. Today, the City of Providence is home to eight hospitals and seven institutions of higher learning, which has shifted the city's economy into service industries, though it still retains significant manufacturing work.
Once nicknamed the "Beehive of Industry", Providence began rebranding itself as the "Creative Capital" in 2009 to emphasize its educational resources and arts community. Its previous moniker was "The Renaissance City", though its 2000 poverty rate was still among the ten highest for cities over 100,000.