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In a sweeping triumph, the Labor Party celebrated a historic victory, while Pauline Hanson’s party harnessed widespread discontent with established political norms. This led to One Nation achieving its most significant electoral success in Australia in decades, leaving the Liberal Party in disarray.
Pauline Hanson, the leader of One Nation, expressed optimism about the future, stating, “This marks a new beginning for South Australia and for Australia as a whole.” She further declared her intent to expand the party’s influence, adding, “This will send a clear message. I’m not stopping at South Australia; I’m setting my sights on the seat of Farrer in the upcoming New South Wales by-election, and then on to Victoria.”
In the lower house of South Australia, the Labor Party is set to significantly bolster its majority, securing at least 32 seats and possibly expanding to 35. In stark contrast, the Liberals are left holding only four seats, with limited prospects of retaining up to three more.
In South Australia’s lower house, the Labor Party will increase its majority to at least 32 and could gain as many as 35 seats.
The Liberals have only four with slim hope that they could hold another three.
One Nation’s David Payton, the Adelaide Plains Council deputy mayor, won the seat of Ngadjuri, the party’s first lower house seat won at an election outside of Queensland.
The party is on track for at least two seats in the lower house and at least another in the upper house, where SA One Nation leader Cory Bernardi is its lead candidate.
The votes are still being counted and the results won’t be known for days in some elections.
“We can and should wave our flag with pride knowing that Aussie patriotism sometimes means sitting with a stranger and sharing a cuppa or a frothy,” he said.
While most of the state went to the polls supporting Labor, more than one in five South Australians backed One Nation, which overtook the Liberals as the second most popular in the state.
One Nation leads the Liberal Party in two-thirds of lower house seats and outside of Adelaide, they lead all parties in total vote, figures that will likely scare the major parties in other states and in Canberra.
“I think the lesson from that not just in South Australia but federally is that people are angry,” former opposition leader David Littleproud said.
As the results became clear, the Liberals were baying for blood, not blaming current leader Ashton Hurn but demanding an apology from former leader David Speirs.
