South Australian legislative election, 2006
Encyclopedia : S : SO : SOU : South Australian legislative election, 2006
| 2006 South Australian state election major party leaders | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Liberal | ||
 |  | ||
| Mike Rann Premier of South Australia | Rob Kerin Opposition Leader | ||
| Parliament | 20 years | Parliament | 12 years |
| Leader since | 1994 | Leader since | 2001 |
| District | Ramsay | District | Frome |
Legislative elections for Parliament of South Australia were held in South Australia on March 18, 2006. The Australian Labor Party led by Mike Rann comprehensively defeated the Liberal Party led by Rob Kerin, with a 7.7% state-wide swing[link], to win a second four year term and win majority government for Labor for the first time since 1989.
Background
- For previous results, see South Australian legislative elections.
Election Procedure
Under its state constitution, South Australia has fixed four year parliamentary terms. This meant that the expected election date of March 18 was known well ahead of time. The Electoral Act stipulates that the election campaign must run for a minimum of 25 days and 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 February 20, 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 this election of all 47 members of the House of Assembly and eleven members of the Legislative Council:
- Close of rolls - Monday 27 February 2006 at noon
- Nominations to be received by - Thursday 2 March 2006 at noon
- Polling Day - Saturday 18 March 2006
- Return of Writs - on or before Friday 28 April 2006
Campaign
Style
The Labor campaign was heavily based around the Premier Mike Rann with Labor advertising swapping between the mottos "Building South Australia" and "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 5AA 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 [link]. The other negative advertisements run by Labor revolved around the actions of the previous Liberal Government, one advertisement and leaflet argued that Rob Kerin "just sat back" while the previous Liberal Government closed 65 schools, cut 491 hospital beds and sold off ETSA.
Considered "strapped for cash" [link], the Liberal Party ran a very limited television and radio campaign against Labor. 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" (while this is the usual spelling of the word in Australia, the ALP dropped the 'u' in 1908) 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.
Issues
Such issues which may have mattered to the electorate in no particular order: The tram extension from Victoria Square to the Railway Station, land/payroll tax cuts, drink/drug laws, privatisation (including Labor's pledge to buy back Modbury Hospital which the Liberals sold off), federal IR reform (although this is debated), Adelaide Airport delays, the 2010 referendum to abolish the legislative council, hospitals/health/mental health, and public service job cuts to pay for election promises.Predictions
Labor sought to win a majority in the House of Assembly in its own right to avoid having to rely on the support of independents. Opinion polls indicated that this was highly likely and ABC elections expert Antony Green said that the "Labor government looks set to be returned with an increased majority" [link], which is exactly what happened.Most commentators agreed that the Liberal party had little chance of winning government, and that the party's leader Rob Kerin would step down from the leadership after the election, a suspicion confirmed in Kerin's concession speech. Martin Hamilton-Smith, who withdrew a leadership challenge on October 14 2005 (probably for the sake of the impression of party unity) and resigned from the Opposition frontbench, was considered a strong contender for the leadership, but Iain Evans was safely elected as new leader, with Vickie Chapman as deputy leader.
Candidates
Voting intention
The tables below list voting intentions for the 2006 election. Conducted by Roy Morgan Research, the surveys asked approximately 1000 voters each month: "If a State election were being held today — which party would receive your first preference?" The table also includes the two-party preferred vote.
| South Australian state voting intention | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Political parties | Two-party preferred | ||||||||
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| Other parties/ independents |
|
| |
| March 2006 ¹ | 50.5% | 30.5% | 2% | 2% | 8% | 0.5% | 6.5% | 61.5% | 38.5% |
| February 2006 ² | 50.5% | 31.5% | 5% | 3.5% | 4% | 0% | 5.5% | 61.5% | 38.5% |
| January 2006 | 50.5% | 33% | 3% | 3.5% | 4.5% | 0.5% | 5% | 60.5% | 39.5% |
| December 2005 | 49% | 32% | 4% | 5.5% | 4% | 1% | 4.5% | 60.5% | 39.5% |
| October 2005 | 50% | 33% | 3.5% | 3.5% | 4.5% | 0.5% | 5% | 62.5% | 37.5% |
| August 2005 | 53% | 32% | 3% | 4% | 3.5% | 1% | 3.5% | 62% | 38% |
| June 2005 | 54% | 33% | 1% | 4% | 4% | 0.5% | 3.5% | 62% | 38% |
| April 2005 | 44.5% | 38% | 4% | 4% | 3.5% | 1% | 5% | 53.5% | 46.5% |
| February 2005 | 45% | 38.5% | 4% | 4% | 5.5% | 0.5% | 2.5% | 54% | 46% |
| December 2004 | 50.5% | 36% | 2% | 4% | 4% | 0.5% | 3% | 59.5% | 40.5% |
| October 2004 | 53.5% | 33% | 3% | 4% | 3.5% | 0.5% | 2.5% | 61% | 39% |
| August 2004 | 53% | 33% | 3.5% | 1.5% | 6% | 0.5% | 2.5% | 63% | 37% |
| June 2004 | 51% | 32.5% | 4.5% | 1.5% | 4.5% | 2% | 4% | 62.5% | 37.5% |
| April 2004 | 49.5% | 32.5% | 3.5% | 2% | 7.5% | 0.5% | 4.5% | 61.5% | 38.5% |
| February 2004 | 53% | 32.5% | 3.5% | 2% | 4% | 1.5% | 3.5% | 62% | 38% |
| December 2003 | 45% | 34.5% | 7% | 1% | 6.5% | 1% | 5% | 58% | 42% |
| October 2003 | 47% | 33% | 6% | 1.5% | 4% | 1.5% | 7% | 59% | 41% |
| August 2003 | 48% | 30% | 7% | 2% | 6% | 0.5% | 6.5% | 60% | 40% |
| June 2003 | 52% | 32% | 4% | 2% | 5% | 1% | 4.5% | 60% | 40% |
| 2002 Election | 36.3% | 40% | 7.5% | 2.6% | 2.4% | 2.4% | 8.8% | 49.1% | 50.9% |
| Source: [Roy Morgan Research] - ¹ Post-election announcement - ² Pre-election announcement | |||||||||
| 2006 State Election | ||||
| First preference | ||||
| Party | Seats | Contested | ||
| Australian Labor Party | 45.2% | 28 | 47 | |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 34.0% | 15 | 47 | |
| SA Greens | 6.5% | 47 | ||
| Family First Party | 5.9% | 45 | ||
| Australian Democrats | 2.9% | 46 | ||
| Independents | 2.8% | 3 | 14 | |
| Nationals SA | 2.1% | 1 | 4 | |
| Dignity for Disabled | 0.4% | 10 | ||
| One Nation Party | 0.3% | 6 | ||
| Two Party Preferred | ||||
| Australian Labor Party | 56.8% | 32 | ||
| Liberal Party of Australia | 43.2% | 15 | ||
| 2002 State Election | ||||
| Australian Labor Party | 49.1% | 24 | ||
| Liberal Party of Australia | 50.9% | 23 | ||
The final results for the House of Assembly seats are 28 Labor, 3 Independent, 1 National, and 15 Liberal.
First preference and two party preferred statistics for each district are available through the South Australian House of Assembly electoral districts page. Labor's wins included the marginal Liberal seats of Hartley, Light, Morialta, Mawson, Bright and Newland.
The Liberals regaining the independent seat of Hammond.
National Karlene Maywald and Independents Bob Such, Rory McEwen and Kris Hanna were all re-elected. Hanna was elected in 2002 as a Labor candidate, so this counted as a loss for Labor, giving Labor a net gain of five seats.
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 6% 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 the 2006 election and the seat was contested for the Liberals by Legislative Council member Angus Redford. Redford faced a tougher fight than expected[link] and was defeated by Labor candidate Chloe Fox who received a huge 15% swing on a two party preferred basis.
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. During the election campaign, Pisoni made allegations in his advertising that Keenan and Labor supported controversial "urban infill" programmes. Labor flatly denied these claims and Electoral Commissioner Kay Mousley ordered that the advertisements be withdrawn and corrections be run at Pisoni's expense. Despite the controversy, Pisoni was elected, but Keenan received an 8% two party preferred swing.
The inner north eastern suburbs district of Hartley was very narrowly won by Joe Scalzi in 2002. 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[link] and was a factor in Labor's preselection of political staffer Grace Portolesi. Portolesi comprehensively defeated Scalzi with a 8% two party preferred swing.
The neighbouring district of Morialta was held before this election by former Liberal minister Joan Hall. She was defeated by Labor candidate Lindsay Simmons. Simmons received a 12% two party preferred swing.
In the outer north-east, the district of Newland was won by Liberal Dorothy Kotz in 2002, 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 13% two party preferred swing.
In Gawler and the outer northern suburbs, the district of Light 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 5% two party preferred swing.
The rural and outback district of Stuart was won in 2002 by Liberal Graham Gunn, a former Speaker and Australia's longest serving parliamentarian.[link] 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 to Labor and Gunn managed to hang on with a margin smaller than 0.2%. It is widely suspected that he will retire at the 2010 election after surpassing four continuous decades.
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 high profile former Adelaide Crows footballer Nigel Smart, but Ciccarello was reelected with a 3.4% 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 an almost 10% swing to Labor on the two party preferred vote.
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, faced a very 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 0.5% of the vote.Neighbouring the district of Mitchell is the district of Fisher which was held by independent MP Dr Bob Such. Late in the campaign, there was some speculation that Fisher may be a closer contest than commentators initially expected, but in the end Dr Such comfortably defeated both Labor candidate Amanda Rishworth and Liberal candidate Andy Minnis.
The Riverland based district of Chaffey was held by South Australia's only National Party member and River Murray Minister Karlene Maywald comfortably against a challenge by Liberal Anna Baric. Maywald received a 3% swing to her 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. He subsequently resigned from the position of Speaker after a controversy in which he alleged that an unnamed member of Parliament was a pedophile. 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.
Finally, 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, but had a 20% swing against him on the two party preferred vote.
Post-election Pendulum
- For previous pendulums and maps, see South Australian legislative elections.
| LIBERAL SEATS (15) | |||
|
| |||
| Marginal | |||
| Stuart | Graham Gunn | LIB | 0.6% |
| Unley | David Pisoni | LIB | 1.1% |
| Heysen | Isobel Redmond | LIB | 3.0% |
| Frome | Rob Kerin | LIB | 3.4% |
| Waite | Martin Hamilton-Smith | LIB | 4.0% |
| Fairly safe | |||
| Morphett | Duncan McFetridge | LIB | 5.4% |
| Schubert | Ivan Venning | LIB | 6.4% |
| Davenport | Iain Evans | LIB | 6.4% |
| Finniss | Michael Pengilly | LIB | 6.5% |
| Goyder | Steven Griffiths | LIB | 9.1% |
| Kavel | Mark Goldsworthy | LIB | 9.4% |
| Safe | |||
| Flinders | Liz Penfold | LIB | 10.1% v NAT |
| Hammond | Adrian Pederick | LIB | 12.0% |
| Bragg | Vickie Chapman | LIB | 12.8% |
| Very safe | |||
| MacKillop | Mitch Williams | LIB | 22.2% |
| 2006 Legislative Council Result | |||
| Party | Seats | ||
| Australian Labor Party | 36.6% | 4 | |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 26.0% | 3 | |
| No Pokies | 20.5% | 2 | |
| Family First Party | 5.0% | 1 | |
| SA Greens | 4.3% | 1 | |
| Australian Democrats | 1.8% | ||
| One Nation Party | 0.8% | ||
| Nationals SA | 0.7% | ||
| Shooters Party | 0.6% | ||
| Dignity for Disabled | 0.6% | ||
| 2006-2010 Legislative Council | |||
| Party | Seats | ||
| Australian Labor Party | 8 | ||
| Liberal Party of Australia | 8 | ||
| No Pokies | 2 | ||
| Family First Party | 2 | ||
| SA Greens | 1 | ||
| Australian Democrats | 1 | ||
Labor received a 3.7% swing with 340,632 votes in its Legislative Council vote and received four councillors as in the previous election. Carmel Zollo, Bob Sneath, Russell Wortley and Ian Hunter were all elected, on a quota of 4.39.
On the other hand, the Liberal vote in the Legislative Council collapsed, with a 14.1% swing against the Liberal Party. Having received five councillors in 2002, at this election the Liberal Party had just 3 councillors elected: Rob Lucas, John Dawkins and Michelle Lensink, with 241,740 votes on a quota of 3.12.
Before the election, No Pokies MLC 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 along with the fact that the Government had tried to absorb his single issue into its own election platform. However, he received an unprecedented 20.5% (190,958 votes) on a quota of 2.46, which translated into a seat for both Xenophon and his running mate Bressington. Having been elected at the 1997 election with 2.9% of the vote, Xenophon received a swing of 17.6%.
The election was an interesting test for the Family First party, which made its national debut in South Australia at the 2002 election. Andrew Evans MLC, who narrowly beat Green candidate Brian Noone for the final seat, was its sole representative, but the party's recent Federal success in electing Victorian Senator Steve Fielding suggested that the party may expect more. Family First received 46,328 votes with only a small swing of 0.98%, but their candidate Dennis Hood was elected on preferences. Evans will not face re-election until 2010.
The SA Greens won 4.3% (39852 votes) of the upper house vote meaning a swing of 1.5%, narrowly securing Mark Parnell for the last upper house seat. This is the first time The Greens have won a seat in South Australia.
The Australian Democrats have fallen to just one seat in the Legislative Council held by Sandra Kanck, after Kate Reynolds was defeated in her bid for re-election. They won 1.8% (16412 votes) of the upper house vote with a 5.5% swing against them and won none of the lower house seats they contested. Sandra Kanck has since announced that she will not recontest her seat in the 2010 election, placing serious clouds over the future of the party in the state. [link]
Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party won 0.8% (7559 votes) of the upper house vote and won none of the six lower house seats they contested. Their highest vote was 4.1% in the district of Hammond, 2.7% in Goyder, with the other four hovering around 1%.
Dignity for Disabled ran for the first time and won 0.6% (5615 votes) of the upper house vote and won none of the 10 lower house seats they contested. Their best results were Wright as well as Bright, with 2.4% in each (506 and 492 votes respectively).
Independents Terry Cameron and Peter Lewis both failed in their bids for re-election.
References
See also
- South Australian legislative elections
- Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 2006-2010
- Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 2006-2010
External links
- General information
- [Australian Labor Party]
- [Liberal Party of Australia]
- [Australian Greens]
- [Australian Democrats]
- [Family First Party]
- [The Nationals]
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