This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2018/mar/17/south-australian-election-plus-batman-byelection-results-live

The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 6 Version 7
Liberals to win South Australian election as Labor triumphs in Batman byelection – live Liberals triumph in South Australian election – live
(35 minutes later)
And to the strains of the Killers ‘The Man’ Steven Marshall takes the stage.
Not the most humble of tracks.
Bill Shorten and Ged Kearney have claimed victory in Batman in two rousing speeches, frequently interrupted by the crowd interrupting into chant or song.
Shorten promised voters that Labor would not take victory in Batman to mean that they could ignore the demands of progressive voters or those who had turned away from Labor.
“Tonight I want to make a promise to all of the voters of Batman, the ones who voted for Labor and the ones who voted for other candidates... that Labor hears the lesson and the message of Batman,” he said.
Shorten said he knew many voters were “disillusioned with politics as usual.”
“Tonight in this venue we celebrate a victory for Labor, but beyond this room into the lounge rooms of Batman more broadly in Australia, I promise that we do not treat this election campaign as a triumph and an end in itself, but as another step in the way to giving Australians the sort of government they want with the policies that make a difference to everyday Australians.”
Kearney, speaking over chants of “Ged! Ged! Ged!” said: “Oh, they said we’d never do it. But we did.”She thanked Bhathal for a “hard-fought campaign,” then addressed the voters of Batman:”I want the people of Batman to know that I have listened, that Bill Shorten has listened, and we are going to take everything you have said to Canberra.”Kearney is the first woman elected to the seat of Batman in its 110 year history, and brings the proportion of women in the federal Labor caucus to 48%.
Walking in to his election party, SA Liberal leader Steven Marshall told the ABC his plan was to “make a speech and then start partying”.
Calla Wahlquist will have more for you in just a moment but as a taster from Ged Kearney’s speech:
Ooh, they said we’d never do it, but we did. Bill has already said it all, our future PM, I might add … but what I just want to say is this is a victory for true Labor values.
Because, our campaign spoke to everyone from the ring road to the river. We spoke to local issues … and we spoke to national progressive values. Workers’ rights, climate change, social justice and a better Australia.
Kearney also thanked Alex Bhathal for a “hard-fought campaign”.
"I want the people of Batman to know that I have listened, that Bill Shorten has listened, and we are going to take everything you have said to Canberra. Thank you."
We’ll bring you some of Ged’s speech as soon as we can.
Ged has arrived. @AmyRemeikis pic.twitter.com/VjbVuJvegl
Jay Weatherill:
I suppose the other thing that as I’ve got another role, it’s leader of the Labor party. And this great party, and all of its supporters, has sustained me and our government throughout the whole of this period, this 16-year period. It’s the strength of the Labor party and the Labor movement more generally. That’s allowed us to continue to really replicate these Labor governments, it’s also the reason why we remain strong now. As we leave government, we leave government united, strong and with a real sense of purpose. So ensure that all of you keep your heads high, because you have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of in a loss, losses occur.
And what we always were seeking to do was to fight to win, we never at any stage in this process sought to save the furniture or sought to somehow just limit the loss, we were always fighting for victory. And we’ll return to that quest at some stage in the future.
That was, you have to say, a very warm and gracious concession speech. A true class act.
About a quarter of votes for the SA Legislative Council have now been counted.
The Liberal party leads with 31.5%, down from 36% in 2014. Labor’s vote has dropped from 31% to 30%. This would give each party at least three seats, with both parties in with a good shot of winning a fourth seat.
SA Best is on 19%, which would give them two seats with an outside chance of a third.
This compares with 12% for the Nick Xenophon-endorsed team in 2014.
The Greens vote has dropped from 6.5% to 5.6%. This amounts to about two-thirds of a quota.
Cory Bernardi’s Australian Conservatives are on 3.5%, compared with 4.4% for their predecessor Family First in 2014. This is less than half of a quota.
The Dignity party, which is running the sitting MLC Kelly Vincent, has doubled its vote from 0.9% to 1.9%, but that won’t be enough to win a seat.
On these numbers, which could change, you’d expect to see four Liberals, four Labor, two SA Best and one Green. This would mean that Dignity’s Kelly Vincent and Conservatives’ Robert Brokenshire would both lose their seats to SA Best’s Connie Bonaros and Frank Pangallo.
This would give a total result of eight Labor, eight Liberal, two SA Best, two Greens, one Conservative and one seat for independent John Darley, a former Xenophon ally.
Weatherill said he had called the Liberal leader, Steven Marshall, to concede not so long ago, and, well, I’ll let him tell you:
I called Steven Marshall and conceded that he had won this state election. Now, I’m so sorry that we couldn’t bring home another one to you. But I passed on to Steven Marshall my congratulations from our party, on his personal achievement, and also the achievement of his candidates, in winning their seats, and forming a government for the state of South Australia. It’s an enormous privilege to be premier of South Australia. And I wished him all the best on his endeavours to really take that role and make it his own role. One of the things we both agree on is this is a great state and he has all of our support to take on this most important role.
South Australia’s Labor leader, Jay Weatherill, has taken to the stage in Adelaide to concede defeat after 16 years of ALP rule:
I am sorry I could not bring home another victory, but I do feel like one of those horses who has won four Melbourne Cups and I think the handicap has caught up to us on this occasion.
“Friends, I want to thank in particular though, our outstanding candidate Ged Kearney.”
The crowd chants “Ged, Ged, Ged” as Shorten goes on to thank the Labor campaign director, and various Labor peeps, and then asks for a moment’s reflection to “thank the people of Batman”.
And tonight I want to make a promise to all of the voters of Batman, the ones who voted for Labor and the ones that voted for other candidates, I want to make this promise, that Labor hears the message and lesson of Batman …
Many voters are disillusioned with politics as usual … they have a sense that the system is not working for ordinary people.
The cheers loud and the smiles are broad as the Labor faithful welcome Ged Kearney to the stage as the incoming MP for Batman.
I haven’t seen Bill Shorten look this happy since Kristina Keneally lost Bennelong.
He raises Kearney’s hand high and the crowd goes wild.
“Friends, I said in 2016 that Labor was back, I can now say in 2017 that Labor is back in Batman. (Except it is 2018.)
“From the bookmakers to the commentators they wrote Labor off in Batman, but you have proved them wrong – thank you!”
Oh look - turns out quotas work.
When @gedkearney joins us in Federal Parliament, 48% of Labor parliamentarians will be women. #proud
Congratulations Ged! You’ve been an outstanding candidate - and you’ll be an even better MP.Congratulations Ged! You’ve been an outstanding candidate - and you’ll be an even better MP.
Jay Weatherill looks almost ready to address his election party, where he will be conceding the night to the Liberals.Jay Weatherill looks almost ready to address his election party, where he will be conceding the night to the Liberals.
For a quick recap of the night in Batman, head here.For a quick recap of the night in Batman, head here.
A few of you have pointed out this tweet from earlier in the day.A few of you have pointed out this tweet from earlier in the day.
It’s clear that if Labor loses Batman, Shorten will have to dump his rotten retirees tax. #auspol https://t.co/uOfO2GnLR9It’s clear that if Labor loses Batman, Shorten will have to dump his rotten retirees tax. #auspol https://t.co/uOfO2GnLR9
So, does the opposite also prove true, or …So, does the opposite also prove true, or …
The Liberal party soiree has just greeted the call of the election for their team with a huge roar.The Liberal party soiree has just greeted the call of the election for their team with a huge roar.
Here at the Hackney hotel in the leafy inner east of Adelaide, the atmosphere is of course considerably more lively than at the SA Best HQ.Here at the Hackney hotel in the leafy inner east of Adelaide, the atmosphere is of course considerably more lively than at the SA Best HQ.
After winning the popular vote at three of the past four elections, only to remain in opposition for 16 years, even the most confident Liberals harboured doubts that tonight would be their night.After winning the popular vote at three of the past four elections, only to remain in opposition for 16 years, even the most confident Liberals harboured doubts that tonight would be their night.
Most candidates are still at their local events but will be pouring in shortly. The federal senator David Fawcett told Guardian Australia: “You could feel it over the final couple of weeks, there was a real mood for change and with the of scrutiny SA Best, people saw they weren’t the saviour, therefore it had to be us.”Most candidates are still at their local events but will be pouring in shortly. The federal senator David Fawcett told Guardian Australia: “You could feel it over the final couple of weeks, there was a real mood for change and with the of scrutiny SA Best, people saw they weren’t the saviour, therefore it had to be us.”
Christopher Pyne says the SA result is part of a wider trend towards the Liberal party, pointing to its win in Tasmania as well (Queensland would be the outlier there, given that Labor was returned with a majority).
But Pyne tells Sky that elections are decided “on the economy” which is why he believes Malcolm Turnbull will win the next election.
That might be a little too simplistic. There was a swing against the Liberals in Bennelong (on the primary vote) and there has been a swing against the Liberals in South Australia (on the primary vote).
South Australia had the same party in power for 16 years and saw some pretty big boundary changes. Tasmania is always a crap shoot and Turnbull is coming up to his 30th Newspoll loss in a row.
The longtime Greens candidate Alex Bhathal has given a gracious concession speech, congratulating Ged Kearney on her win, and saying: “I’ve always said regardless of the result we would have a strong woman member from a caring profession.”
Bhathal said the result was “obviously” not what the Greens wanted but said it had been an “honour” to run against Kearney.
According to Ben Eltham, who is at the Greens event, Bhathal thanked her campaign team, the Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, Adam Bandt, Janet Rice, the state MP Lidia Thorpe, and the parents of Thornbury primary school, saying: “I know this has been a difficult night.”
Kearney and Bhathal have been cordial throughout the campaign, admitting to being similar candidates: professional, progressive women who have very similar personal political opinions. The difference has been their party policies.
Commentators have already put the blame for the unexpected Greens loss on toxic infighting but Di Natale reportedly told the crowd it was due to Labor doing a preference deal with rightwing parties.
Both Labor and the Greens preferenced each other over other parties, and Kearney is leading on primary votes.
Conceding loss, @RichardDiNatale tells @Greens party it’s because of Labor’s deals with hard right parties. #batmanvotes
The last time the Liberals held a majority government in South Australia, Paul Keating was prime minister.
We are now waiting on Ged Kearney to address her party in Batman.
We’ve received results from the first pre-poll booth. It’s come from the Labor heartland of Bundoora at the northern end of the seat. The Greens gained swings in both election-day booths in Bundoora, but has gone backwards by 2.7% in Bundoora’s pre-poll booth.
This is a small booth, but it seems clear that the Greens will not pick up the vote they need in the pre-poll, which confirms that Labor’s Ged Kearney will win the Batman byelection.
We don’t know precisely how many votes are yet to report in Batman, but my rough count suggests the Greens would need at least 57% of the remaining votes to win. That’s not going to happen.
There are a lot of very disappointed faces at the Greens party, not counting Alex Bhathal and Richard Di Natale’s.
Given what we saw come out internally within the Greens during the byelection (with a pretty big fight between an increasingly factionally divided party) and the fight over what the Greens should be standing for, expect to see more fallout over the next couple of months, and not just in Victoria.
Di Natale just predicted Bhathal would come back and win Batman (or whatever it is renamed) at the next federal election, but I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Ged Kearney was chosen for a reason. Labor has also just proven its taxation policies are not the election poison, as has been predicted, and has earmarked inequality as the foundation of its campaign heading into the next election – which has already begun.
Bhathal has now lost Batman six times.
Some readers may be confused about how the Liberal party is on track for a majority despite pretty much no seats changing hands.
This is because the recent electoral redistribution radically redraw the map to turn a number of Labor seats into notional Liberal seats.
The Liberal party managed a majority of the statewide two-party-preferred vote in 2010 and 2014, winning 53% in 2014, but couldn’t manage to form government at either election.
South Australian law required the electoral commission to draw boundaries which would give a majority of seats to a party who has won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote.
The commission threw up its hands after the 2010 election and insisted it couldn’t achieve this outcome, but did do so after the 2014 election. It looks as though the Liberal party has mostly won those redrawn seats, without winning much more.
Adam Bandt has taken the stage at Alex Bhathal’s party and says preferences went against the Greens.
But he is claiming victory in making climate change an issue across Australia.
The party leader, Richard Di Natale, said it was a very “tight-run race” but “because of all the preferences of all the hard-right parties … that we are just going to fall short tonight”.
So for the first time in 16 years, South Australia will have a new government, with the Liberals all but having claimed victory.
Christopher Pyne is having a VERY good night –a not only has Steven Marshall got across the line, but Cory Bernardi’s Australian Conservatives have not had the showing that they may have expected to have, with SA Best taking AC’s portion of the vote.
The Liberal party will form a majority government in South Australia.
Ben Raue is ready to call it:
We have been waiting for votes from Liberal leader Steven Marshall’s seat, and we’ve now received these, confirming his re-election, with votes firming up in some other close races.
The current count has the Liberal party on 25 seats, Labor on 18, independents on three, with Heysen remaining in doubt.