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 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/15/south-australia-waits-on-results-as-labor-clings-to-life-in-close-race
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| South Australia waits on results as Labor clings to life in close race | South Australia waits on results as Labor clings to life in close race |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| South Australia waits on a knife-edge tonight with election results too close to call.Primary votes suggest Labor may have defied the odds in South Australia but definitive results may not be known for days because there was a record number of pre-polling and postal votes made this year, numbering at about 160,000, or 14% of the vote. | South Australia waits on a knife-edge tonight with election results too close to call.Primary votes suggest Labor may have defied the odds in South Australia but definitive results may not be known for days because there was a record number of pre-polling and postal votes made this year, numbering at about 160,000, or 14% of the vote. |
| Pre-polling and postal votes do not get counted on polling day in SA, but with 64% of the vote counted and Labor on 23 seats verses the Liberal Party’s 22, according to the ABC’s election software, Labor’s ultra-marginal electorates hang in the balance. | |
| This includes Mitchell where Labor sits on 49.5% of the vote (two-party preferred) and Liberal at 50.5% with 68.7% counted, and Elder, where Labor sits on 58.8% verses Liberal at 48.2%, with 68% counted. | |
| The Liberal party needs to win six seats to form a majority government but at this stage the government appears to have only lost two seats to the Liberals (Bright, Hartley and Mitchell), holding onto nine of its 11 marginal seats. | |
| This includes Piccolo and Mawson where two-party preferred margins were less than 5%, but most importantly, it also includes three of five metropolitan electorates where the margin was less than 3%, Ashford, Elder and Newland - although postal votes could change this result. | This includes Piccolo and Mawson where two-party preferred margins were less than 5%, but most importantly, it also includes three of five metropolitan electorates where the margin was less than 3%, Ashford, Elder and Newland - although postal votes could change this result. |
| The Liberal party too only managed to unseat one of three independents, Don Peglar, in the electorate of Mount Gambier, meaning its total pick-up of four new seats is well below what is required. | |
| This gives Labor a chance to come from behind in the polls to win government just as it did in 2010 when it only won 37.47% of the statewide vote, or 48.4% two-party preferred, but still managed to win 26 seats because it held onto marginal seats. | This gives Labor a chance to come from behind in the polls to win government just as it did in 2010 when it only won 37.47% of the statewide vote, or 48.4% two-party preferred, but still managed to win 26 seats because it held onto marginal seats. |
| In the upper house it seems candidate John Darley from Independent Nick Xenophon Team may have won a seat. | In the upper house it seems candidate John Darley from Independent Nick Xenophon Team may have won a seat. |
| Federal independent senator Nick Xenophon says with about 120,000 votes accounted for, Darly is on about 12.9%, while the Liberal party is looking to win four seats, Labor four, the Greens one, Family First one, with one more seat up for grabs. | |
| Both the premier, Jay Weatherill, and the opposition leader, Steven Marshall, have reportedly already began making pitches to lower house independents Geoff Brock and Bob Such, who have both retained their seats, with the possibility of a hung parliament on the books. | Both the premier, Jay Weatherill, and the opposition leader, Steven Marshall, have reportedly already began making pitches to lower house independents Geoff Brock and Bob Such, who have both retained their seats, with the possibility of a hung parliament on the books. |
| At a televised address tonight, a clearly jubilant Weatherill said it was too early to call the election but was hopeful of retaining government. “We may need to do this with the support of the independents so we will be having some discussions in the next couple of days,” he said. He said the people of SA had responded to the government’s focus on building a “positive program in front of them for their future”, and who had perceived their future as being “under threat from an Abbott-led federal government”. | |
| “Many of them understood the difference between genuine independent representation, compared to someone who was prepared to simply stand aside and be governed from Canberra.” | |
| With 44.3% of the statewide first preference vote compared to Labor’s 36.8%, Marshall said there had been a swing towards Liberal across the State. | |
| “Clearly the people of SA want a liberal government to turn this state around and get SA back on track,” he said. | |
| “There are over 160,000 pre-polls and postal votes to be counted, so we are still in the hunt to form government and I have no doubt about it. | |
| “I think we stand a good chance in a range of seats, including Mitchell, including Elder, Ashford, and including Light. | |
| “We’re not in a position to claim victory tonight, despite increasing our vote and our two-party preferred. | |
| “If we need to, we will work with those people, the independents who hold the balance of power at this stage, and do everything we can to form government.” |