Liberals set for historic defeat
The Liberals are headed for a historic defeat in the Dunstan by-election after early polls favour Labor.
South Australian Liberal Party leader David Speirs has admitted retaining the seat in Adelaide’s inner east will be “exceptionally difficult”, with support for Labor and Greens swelling in the electorate.
Labor candidate Cressida O’Hanlon is set to claim the seat, an electorate that has not been lost to an incumbent government by the opposition for 116 years.
A massive surge has also been recorded in first-preference support for Greens candidate Katie McCusker.
While the Liberals have not yet officially conceded defeat, Mr Speirs has spoken to supporters about preparing for a disappointing outcome.
“Both major parties have seen a fairly significant fall in their primary votes, there’s been a big shift towards the Greens,” he said.
“That’s going to make our pathway to holding this seat exceptionally difficult going forward.
“There is a pathway to holding this seat, but it is a pathway which has a lot of barriers in it and so that’s going to be challenging.
“For that result, I apologise. I am really sorry that it is as difficult as it might be.”
However, he said he was still holding onto a sliver of hope, given pre-poll votes had not yet been counted, and there was still a chance they “might get over the line in this election”.
The by-election was triggered by the retirement of former premier Steven Marshall, leaving about 27,000 people eligible to vote.
Mr Marshall only just scraped through in the state’s most marginal seat in the last election with a minuscule margin of 0.5 per cent, with a mere 260 votes dividing the frontrunners on a two-party-preferred basis.
Premier Peter Malinauskas said the reason for his party’s impending success was due to teamwork.
“The only reason why we’re in a position to defy 116 years of history isn’t because of one individual effort – it’s because of a genuine team effort,” he said.
“Cressida and I are both quite taken aback to be in this extraordinary position.
“History tells us governments just do not win seats off oppositions at by-elections.
“It hasn’t happened in South Australia since 1908.”
Liberal candidate Anna Finizio shared her pride in her campaign and said they had a “huge crack” at retaining the state’s most marginal seat.
More than 7000 pre-poll and postal votes will be counted on Monday, but a 4 per cent swing still favours Labor on the two-party-preferred result.
The Greens also secured a hefty 8.8 per cent swing their way.
