Malinauskas on the cusp of victory as One Nation hit by scandal
Updated ,first published
Labor recorded a significant election victory in South Australia, where a significant surge in One Nation had a negative impact on the incumbent government’s primary vote; The Liberals will also fall to just a handful of seats.
Prime Minister Peter Malinauskas secured his second term as president with a resounding victory after just two hours of counting on Saturday evening, driven by strong voting and a fragmented opposition. The party has now won five of the last six state elections and has been in power for 20 of the last 24 years.
Labor had a swing of around 38 per cent to around 2.5 per cent in the primary vote, while One Nation’s vote rose to almost 21 per cent. The Liberals were underdogs at around 19 per cent at 10.30pm (AEST), with an almost 16 per cent swing against them compared to four years ago.
Malinauskas said he is “overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude” to be able to continue to serve the state and deliver results.
“Although this is a historic result and the best our party has ever achieved, it is very important that no one confuses tonight’s result with praise,” he said in a stern message to colleagues. “Instead, we should simply see this as an invitation to continue building our courage over the next four years.”
Malinauskas confirmed he had received concession calls from both Liberal leader Ashton Hurn and One Nation’s Cory Bernardi.
“Cory Bernardi and One Nation also deserve credit, not only for the way they contacted me this evening, but also for achieving such an important result at the ballot box,” he said.
“I say to both Ashton and Cory, and the leaders of the other political parties elected tonight, that my government is prepared to work with each of you as long as it is in the interests of South Australians.”
Queensland senator Pauline Hanson’s right-wing populist party has destroyed much of the Liberals’ traditional vote in regional areas; Strong support for One Nation was also noted in working-class areas of Labour’s heartland; This created a national threat to the major parties due to the rise of grievance politics.
Predictions were that Labor would hold about 34 of the 47 seats in the lower house, with the Liberals holding between five and six, a handful of independents and at least one in Hammond, a rural electorate south-east of Adelaide. The party is expected to win two seats in the upper house, including state leader Cory Bernardi, who said the “earthquake has shaken the major parties.”
Complex preference flows are expected to ensure counting in a few narrow seats takes several days, with more than 35 per cent of South Australians also voting in the days before the election.
Hanson said the strong change in his party was “just the beginning” and that his party would use the result as a springboard for the Farrer byelection and state elections in Victoria in November.
“This is not just a protest vote… You have no idea what’s going on in this country, there’s a movement and there’s an undercurrent and people instinctively say we want our country back,” he told reporters.
“I feel like I’ve been vindicated in a lot of ways, having been in this game for 30 years to give people their voices back. I’m excited, but in a lot of ways I’m keeping my cards close to my chest because I’ve been in this position before and things fall apart because of preferences and other things.”
Labor, which held 29 of the 47 seats in the state’s lower house in the election, polled strongly in suburban Adelaide, gaining a few seats from the Liberals. 33 of the state’s seats are in the metro area.
The Liberals, led by Ashton Hurn, have struggled to make headway in regional centres, where the party is grappling with a collapse of the primary vote and competition from One Nation for conservative support.
The party’s primary vote was in single digits in many seats, including Kaurna, Reynell, Cheltenham, Ramsay, Florey, Elizabeth, Port Adelaide, Playford, Black, Giles and Hurtle Vale.
It has endured several scandals over the past four years, including the cocaine scandal surrounding former leader David Speirs, who left parliament following the publication of a leaked video. Advertiser It shows him snorting white powder from a plate. Speirs pleaded guilty to two counts of drug supply last year.
“There are a lot of lessons. There are a lot of things we need to think about,” Hurn said.
“We need to dig deep into the things we talked about for 100 days of my leadership. These are bread-and-butter issues, back to basics. We will continue to fight.”
“Voters never get it wrong. It’s up to us to heed their advice. Now is the time to come together as a party. It’s been my pleasure to be your leader during this campaign.”
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Rob Harris is a national correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Canberra. He is a former European correspondent.Connect via email.
