South Australian general election campaign, 2006

Main article: South Australian general election, 2006

Election campaign, 2006
	Government	Opposition
Party	Labor	Liberals
		File:Rob Kerin.jpg
Leader	Rann	Kerin
Leader since	1994	2001
Leader rating	63%	21%
2PP rating	57%	43%
2PP 2002 result	49.1%	50.9%
Seats held	23	20
Seats needed	1	4
On +5% swing	↑7	↑9
On 0% swing	↑1	0
On -5% swing	↓7	↓6

Election campaigning in the Australian state of South Australia was conducted between February 20 and March 17 2006. A general election was conducted on Saturday March 18 2006, and won by the incumbent Australian Labor Party.

Background

For previous results, see South Australian legislative elections.

In the 2002 election, Labor won 23 seats, the Liberals 20, Nationals 1, and conservative Independents won three. As 24 seats are required to govern, the Liberal Party was expected to retain government with the support of all four independents. However, in a surprise decision, one of the conservative independents, Peter Lewis, decided to support Labor in exchange for holding a constitutional convention, making him speaker of the House of Assembly, and concessions for his electorate including the phasing out of commercial fishing in the River Murray, prioritising the eradication of the branched broomrape weed, changing water rates for irrigation, fast-tracking a feasibility study for a weir and lock at Wellington, and improving rural roads. Lewis resigned as speaker in 2005 after controversy over paedophile allegations he had made about a serving MP. However, by this time, Labor had already gained the support of independents Bob Such and Rory McEwen in 2002, as well as Nationals SA member Karlene Maywald in 2004. Such was given the position of speaker for the remainder of the government's term.

Campaign

Labor website header during the election campaign. Similar designs were used on ALP stationery and posters

The Labor campaign was heavily based around Premier Mike Rann with Labor's advertising swapping between the mottos "Building South Australia" and, to a greater extent, "RANN Gets Results". Commentators also argued that the "presidential" style of campaign could be seen in Labor's formal campaign launch at the Norwood Town Hall the Sunday before the election, which had some similarities to the nomination conventions that the major parties hold in the United States.

Another facet of the Labor campaign was extensive negative campaigning against Liberal leader Rob Kerin, including an advertisement featuring an excerpt of an interview that Kerin had with FIVEaa presenter Keith Conlon where Conlon asked Kerin why he wanted to be leader of the Liberal Party. Kerin stammered for a few seconds and gave the impression that he was uncertain. The advertisement concluded with the question, "Does Rob Want The Job?". Conlon complained that the advertisement gave the false impression that he was endorsing Labor, but Labor campaign director David Feeney dismissed his concerns. Other negative advertisements run by Labor revolved around the actions of the previous Liberal government - one advertisement and leaflet reminded voters that while in power, the previous Liberal government closed 65 schools, closed hospital wards, and privatised the Electricity Trust of South Australia.

File:SA06posters.PNG

Election posters usually found on stobie poles in the lead-up to the election.

Considered "strapped for cash", the Liberal Party ran a very limited television and radio campaign. Businessman Robert Gerard was forced to resign from his Federal Liberal Party-appointed position on the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia due to the party appointing him to the position despite the known fact that he had outstanding tax avoidance issues being dealt with by the Australian Taxation Office, and had thus subsequently pulled out of his traditional role of bankrolling the state division of the party, leaving the party with "only enough funds for the most basic campaign". Kerin indicated people would have to "wait and see" if there would be any campaign, even asking trade unions for donations, no matter how small. The advertisements that did run argued that Labor was wasting record tax receipts from the GST. A number of embarrassments for the Liberal Party surrounded their television advertisement - in an early version released to journalists, Labor was spelt "Labour" (Labor cabinet minister King O'Malley dropped the 'u' in 1912 to "modernise" it as per American English) and the advertisement alleged that South Australia's hospital waiting lists were the worst in the nation, which Labor successfully disputed to the Electoral Commissioner. During the election campaign, David Pisoni, the Liberal candidate for Unley, made allegations in his advertising that Labor and the Labor candidate Michael Keenan supported controversial urban infill programmes, which Labor flatly denied. Electoral Commissioner Kay Mousley investigated and ordered that the advertisements be withdrawn and corrections be run at Pisoni's expense.

Labor sought to win a majority in the House of Assembly to avoid having to rely on the support of independents. Opinion polls indicated that this was likely and ABC elections expert Antony Green said that the "Labor government looks set to be returned with an increased majority". Centrebet had Labor at $1.01 AUD and the Liberals at $12.00 AUD for a majority government.

Most commentators agreed that the Liberal Party had little chance of winning government, and that Kerin would step down from the leadership after the election, a suspicion confirmed in Kerin's concession speech. Martin Hamilton-Smith was considering mounting a leadership challenge, however, he withdrew on 14 October 2005 (probably for the sake of the impression of party unity) and subsequently resigned or was pushed from the opposition frontbench.

Issues

Preferred premier ratings^
Oct - Dec 2006	61%		*14%
15 - 16 Mar 2006	63%		21%
Jan - Feb 2006	59%		19%
Oct - Dec 2005	60%		16%
Jul - Sep 2005	60%		16%
Apr - Jun 2005	60%		17%
Jan - Mar 2005	61%		15%
Pre 2002 election	30%		50%
Source: Newspoll/The Australian ^ Remainder were "uncommitted" to either leader. *Iain Evans

One of the most publicised issues prior to the election was the tram extension from Victoria Square to the Adelaide Railway Station which the Liberals, despite having proposed the idea in their previous transport plan, now opposed. Construction is expected to begin in April 2007 and operational by September 2007. The Adelaide Airport expansion suffered fuel delivery related delays that Labor was criticised for. Continued delays by Labor to improve the safety of the Britannia roundabout were focused on by the Norwood Liberal candidate. Land and payroll tax cuts worth $1.5 billion were announced by Labor, the largest in the state's history. The tax cuts coincided with South Australia achieving an economic "Triple A" rating under the current Labor government.

The construction of two bridges over Port River as part of the Port Expressway project had come under criticism, which the Government promised would be open-span to allow passage of tugboats and tall ships, thereby preserving the inner harbour's dwindling port functions. Despite criticism coming from the electorate, the media, federal Labor, and road organisations including the RAA, The Advertiser revealed details of "the biggest project of its kind in South Australia's history", a $1.5 billion redevelopment on the western bank of the inner harbour. The development will include 2000 new homes on government-owned land and new buildings as high as 12 storeys. This followed the awarding of a $6 billion air warfare destroyer contract to the Australian Submarine Corporation, based in the electorate at Osborne.

The future of the River Murray has come under threat due to falling water levels, and in an unprecedented move, Nationals MP Karlene Maywald was given a cabinet position as Minister for the River Murray in 2004. Possible nuclear waste dumps were of concern to many Adelaide residents; Premier Rann successfully lobbied against any federal government proposals.

Law and order was another key issue, with Labor promising extra police. Tough drink and drug driving laws had also been introduced which included zero tolerance roadside testing for Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Methamphetamine, and later Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).

Allegations were made over the condition of the state's health system and the capacity to deal with mental health issues. Labor pledged to buy back Modbury Hospital located in the district of Florey, privatised under the Liberal government to alleviate the effect of the State Bank collapse.

The need for homosexual law reform was acknowledged by both major parties; however, there was disquiet within the Labor Party over delays. December 2006 saw the Domestic Partners bill pass which provides greater recognition to same sex relationships on a range of issues such as superannuation. The bill was supported by all parties after much negotiation, but in the end was voted against by both members of Family First, as well as Liberal Terry Stephens.

Electoral reform policies received little attention, as has the Rann-Government proposed 2010 referendum to abolish or reform the Legislative Council. WorkCover underfunded liability increases have also received little attention, despite the fact that the liability has climbed from a disputed $67-$85 million to $700 million since Labor came in to government in 2002 due to a more generous compensation scheme. Labor have since looked in to reform for the scheme including cutting payments to injured workers.

There were claims that federal industrial relations reform, WorkChoices, was an influential issue in the election. The Liberals announced 4,000 public service job cuts to pay for election promises.

Polling

Newspoll polling is conducted via random telephone number selection in city and country areas. Roy Morgan polling is conducted face-to-face Australia-wide. Sampling sizes consist of 500-1000 electors, Roy Morgan has a sampling tolerance (the margin of error) of ±3.2 percent for a 40 percent to 60 percent rating in a sample size of 1000 electors, and ±4.5 for 500 electors. The sampling tolerance rate is lower for high and low percentages.

File:RMR.JPG	South Australian state voting intention
	Political parties							Two party preferred
	Labor	Liberal	Democrats	Family First	SA Greens	One Nation	Other	Labor	Liberal
December 2006	55.5%	27.0%	3%	4%	4%	0.5%	6%	66%	34%
March 2006 ¹	50.5%	30.5%	2%	2%	8%	0.5%	6.5%	61.5%	38.5%
February 2006 ²	50.5%	31.5%	5%	3.5%	4%	0%	5.5%	61.5%	38.5%
January 2006	50.5%	33%	3%	3.5%	4.5%	0.5%	5%	60.5%	39.5%
December 2005	49%	32%	4%	5.5%	4%	1%	4.5%	60.5%	39.5%
October 2005	50%	33%	3.5%	3.5%	4.5%	0.5%	5%	62.5%	37.5%
August 2005	53%	32%	3%	4%	3.5%	1%	3.5%	62%	38%
June 2005	54%	33%	1%	4%	4%	0.5%	3.5%	62%	38%
2002 Election	36.3%	40%	7.5%	2.6%	2.4%	2.4%	8.8%	49.1%	50.9%
Source: Roy Morgan Research - ¹ Post-election announcement - ² Pre-election announcement

Newspoll Market Research	South Australian state voting intention
	Political parties								Two party preferred
	Labor	Liberal	National	Democrats	Family First	SA Greens	One Nation	Other	Labor	Liberal
Oct - Dec 2006	47%	33%	1%	2%	3%	4%	0%	10%	58%	42%
15 - 16 Mar 2006	46%	33%	1.5%	1.5%	3%	4%	0%	11%	57%	43%
Jan - Feb 2006	44%	37%	2%	2%	2%	3%	0%	10%	54%	46%
Oct - Dec 2005	46%	35%	2%	1%	2%	4%	0%	10%	56%	44%
Jul - Sep 2005	45%	38%	2%	1%	1%	4%	0%	10%	54%	46%
2002 Election	36.3%	40%	1.5%	7.5%	2.6%	2.4%	2.4%	7.3%	49.1%	50.9%
Source: Newspoll/The Australian