South Australian state election - 17th March 2018

[AustralianSwingVoter]

I figured with the election coming up I should start up it's own thread. I will (hopefully) profile each of the 47 seats individually over the coming weeks, to give you non-Aussies an insight into the weird and wonderful world that is South Australian politics, and more specifically the sensible centre that is Xenophon. This thread will (hopefully) include lots of hilarious photos of Nick's past and previous attention seeking stunts.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

SA Best (Xenophon) has currently announced candidates for 35/47 seats

[AustralianSwingVoter]

The horror, The horror, SA-BEST's new ad (apologies in advance)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZdl1o7eOyo

[AustralianSwingVoter]

The horror, The horror, SA-BEST's new ad (apologies in advance)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZdl1o7eOyo

I hate literally everything after watching that.

Now you are starting to understand what it feels like to be a croweater (South Australian)

[AustralianSwingVoter]

If you too want to feel undying hatred for Nick Xenophon then simply click on the link (It's google images search for his stunts) https://www.google.com.au/search?biw=1440&bih=803&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=XMWUWsCOAYmD8wX7kK_YDQ&q=nick+xenophon+stunts&oq=Nick+Xenophon+st&gs_l=psy-ab.3.0.0.2120.4100.0.5394.7.5.2.0.0.0.359.1049.0j4j0j1.5.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.4.531...0i67k1j0i24k1.0.6t4kSR37n3s#imgrc=_

[AustralianSwingVoter]

In more serious news nominations have closed and the candidate spreads are:
Labor, Liberals and Greens running in all 47 seats
SA Best running in 36/47
Conservatives 33/47
Dignity 30/47
as well as 5 Independents and 9 Minor party candidates.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Most is 9 candidates in Croydon, while only 3 are running in Kaurna and Stuart

[AustralianSwingVoter]

264 total candidates which works out to an average 5.6 candidates per seat.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

If you too want to feel undying hatred for Nick Xenophon then simply click on the link (It's google images search for his stunts) https://www.google.com.au/search?biw=1440&bih=803&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=XMWUWsCOAYmD8wX7kK_YDQ&q=nick+xenophon+stunts&oq=Nick+Xenophon+st&gs_l=psy-ab.3.0.0.2120.4100.0.5394.7.5.2.0.0.0.359.1049.0j4j0j1.5.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.4.531...0i67k1j0i24k1.0.6t4kSR37n3s#imgrc=_

I hope this man fails in everything he sets out to do for eternity.

He's currently the most popular politician in SA so, yeah.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

In more serious news nominations have closed and the candidate spreads are:
Labor, Liberals and Greens running in all 47 seats
SA Best running in 36/47
Conservatives 33/47
Dignity 30/47
as well as 5 Independents and 9 Minor party candidates.

Dignity obviously desperate to save Kelly Vincent there.

Any likelihood of John Darley's party winning a Senate seat?

He has a chance when his seat is up again in 2022 but a defector's party winning a seat when the defector isn't up for election is unheard of.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

The horror, The horror, SA-BEST's new ad (apologies in advance)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZdl1o7eOyo

Why does this feel straight out of the 90s (complete with youths skateboarding)? Was that their intention?

Even worse, WHY IS IT WORKING (courtesy TodayTonight, although I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them they're polls are generally surprisingly accurate):

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Also, why don't you peruse over the Danig Party Manifesto: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4jGoEdncIp8WFRINktnRlJnaTQ/view?ths=true
With policies such as 100% Renewables, Compulsory Military Service, a ban on farm foreclosures and compulsory marriage counselling before marriage.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

I have to admit, it is catchy. 

It's not catchy, it's an earworm (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earworm)

[AustralianSwingVoter]

For reference purposes, both for the election and for my electorate-by-electorate profiles.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Xenephon will never have the musical pipes of South Australia's original singing politician, Craig Emerson:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1pEt7bgY2U

Emerson was a Queenslander /pedant

even better: he came to SA to tribute to them his vocal gifts

Remember, we do have an actual Rock Star turned politician: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Garrett

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Flinders

Named for the famous explorer Matthew Flinders, the first person to circumnavigate Australia the seat hugs the Great Australian Bight. Flinders is currently the safest Liberal seat in the state. The seat covers the Eyre Peninsula, with the major towns of Port Lincoln and Ceduna. Port Lincoln is blessed with the deepest natural harbour in Australia, and is such the home of the Southern Australian fishing industry. The seat has always been held by right wing parties, and their are no signs of that stopping.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Giles

Giles takes its name from the explorer Ernest Giles, who led five major expeditions into Australia's interior. Giles is Labor's only seat outside of Adelaide, and has been since 1993, and that is all down to the Whyalla, the Western point of the Iron Triangle. Giles, and it's predecessor Whyalla, have always voted Labor since the establishment of Whyalla in 1956. Whyalla makes up over 70% of the electorate, vastly outvoting the conservative pastoralists. A galaxy opinion poll indicated that SA Best will likely beat the Liberals and giving this normally safe seat a tight race.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Stuart

Named for the famous explorer John McDouall Stuart, one of the most accomplished Australian explorers. Stuart led the first expedition to traverse Australia's interior, and his expedition is famed for not losing a single man. The route he established would later be used for the path of the Overland Telegraph and later the Ghan. Stuart is centred on Port Augusta, the midpoint of the Iron Triangle. Before 1993 Northern SA was divided between Eyre, which covered the rural areas, and Stuart, which covered Port Augusta and Port Pirie, however after 1993 the seats were realigned with Stuart now covering both Port Augusta and most of the rural areas, with Port Pirie getting it's own seat. The new Stuart became a safe Liberal seat, and since then has only grew more so, with Labor-voting Port Augusta being outvoted by the increasingly conservative bent of the rural communities. Normally a safe seat Xenophon performed very well here in 2016, so SA Best could pose a threat.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Frome

Named after Edward Charles Frome, the third surveyor-general of South Australia the seat was created in 1993. Frome is centred on Port Pirie, the eastern point of the Iron Triangle, combining the city with rural area to the southeast. Although theoretically marginal the Liberals have always over-performed here. After Premier Rob Kerin resigned in 2008 the ensuing by-election was a three-way nail-biter, ultimately won by Independent Port Pirie mayor Geoff Brock. Geoff Brock has easily won re-election both times since. After the 2014 election resulted in a hung parliament Brock ultimately supported Labor for a record fourth term. Despite his pitiful vote in the rural areas his unsurmontable advantage in Port Pirie (in 2014 he got 68% of the first preference vote in Port Pirie) means he is a shoo-in for re-election.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Flinders, of course, being the only seat ever won by the Single Tax kooks back in the day, with Edward Craigie being elected in 1930, '33 and '38 before being defeated in 1941 when the electorate realised that for the previous decade he'd spoken about nothing but the theory that replacing all taxes with a tax on the unimproved value of land would be a good idea. His speeches were reportedly quite boring.

The Eyre peninsula has a thing for third parties, be it the Single Tax League, or the SA Nationals (near-nonexistent in SA). It's just one of the many aspects that make SA politics so...... unique.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Narungga

Goyder has been renamed for the Narungga people, the traditional owners of most of the Yorke Peninsula. Goyder itself was a renamed Yorke Peninsula. Compromising entirely of the reliably conservative rural Yorke Peninsula the seat has never been held by Labor in any of its three incarnations, however Xenophon recorded a strong performance in 2016, so SA Best could pose a threat.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

SA Best don't have a candidate in Stuart, just fyi.

I keep forgetting about that, that Xenophon isn't putting up a candidate in their eighth best seat where they got 25.8% of the FPV senate vote.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Schubert

Named for Max Schubert, the winemaker who created Penfolds Grange, Schubert appropriately covers the picturesque Barossa Valley, Australia's premier wine-producing area. The seat loses rural territory in the east, replacing it with rural territory to the north and west of Gawler. In 1965 Barossa and Glenelg were the two seats which flipped to finally hand government to Labor, overcoming the Playmander. However since the establishment of Custance in 1985, renamed to Schubert in 1997, the seat has always been on of the safest Liberal seats. Although Xenophon performed reasonably well here in 2016 this seat shall remain a safe Liberal seat.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Chaffey

Named for the Chaffey brothers, who brought the innovation of large-scale irrigation to the Murray-Darling basin, The seat covers the fertile Riverlands the Chaffey brothers greatly helped. Extremely marginal through the 1960s the end of rural malapportionment and the introduction of one-person one-vote the seat gained significant, conservative, territory. The Nationals won it in 1997 and Karlene Maywald only lost in 2010 due to supporting the Labor government, earning her a swing of 20% against her. Although extremely safe for the Liberals on previous performance this was Xenophon's second best seat, getting more than 30% of the vote.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Hammond

Named for Ruby Hammond, the first indigenous women to stand for South Australian parliament. The seat is centred on Murray Bridge, stretching east to incorporate the Mallee. It, and it's predecessors Ridley and Murray-Mallee were represented between 1979 and 2006 by loose cannon Peter Lewis, who was finally expelled from the Liberals in 2000, although he was re-elected in 2002 in 2006 he realised the writing was on the wall and attempted, and failed miserably, to be elected into the Legislative Council. Although previously safe for the Liberals Xenophon performed well here in 2016, and is a definite threat.