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Research Note no. 32 2001-02
South Australia Election 2002
Scott Bennett
Politics and Public Administration Group
19 March 2002
The 2002 South Australian election
was held on 9 February. The Liberal Party had held office since 1993,
led successively by Dean Brown, John Olsen and Rob Kerin. Since the 1997
election, party defections had left the Government dependent upon five
independents and a National Party member. One defector had been Liberal,
Peter Lewis. Kerin had replaced Premier Olsen, who resigned on 19 October
2001 over the 'Motorola affair'. To gain a majority, the Labor Party under
Mike Rann needed to win five seats, but three seats and the support of
others might see it come to power.
The Government's record
Apart from the declining popularity of Premier Olsen,
several controversies had severely weakened the Government's standing:
- despite promises to the contrary, the Government had
privatised the electricity supply. Unfortunately this had been followed
by periods in which an ageing infrastructure had brought about a number
of blackouts. Power bills had also risen substantially
- the 'Motorola affair' inquiry had found Olsen had given
'misleading, inaccurate and dishonest evidence' to an earlier inquiry(1)
- the sale of the South Australian TAB had caused substantial
losses for the State
- the upgrade of the Hindmarsh Soccer Stadium for Olympic
soccer games had suffered an enormous blowout in costs; and
- within two months of the National Wine Centre's opening
in October 2001, the new tourist facility was being bailed out by the
Government.
It was clear that former Premier Olsen had been determined
to delay the election date as long as possible. In the event, Kerin's
announced date was earlier than it need have been-though the Opposition
pointed out that this was still four years and 121 days since the
1997 election.
The contest
Kerin hoped to take advantage of a remarkable Liberal
improvement in the opinion polls since the resignation of Olsen.(2)
Polls taken throughout the campaign, however, began to suggest that the
final margin would be close, leading observers to speak of a probable
hung parliament.
The Liberal Party made play of differences in the leadership
of Kerin and Rann. The Prime Minister summed up the approach when he contrasted
the 'quintessential good bloke' with the 'apparatchik of a political machine'.(3)
Kerin was often seen tieless and in shirtsleeves.
In policy terms, there was little between the two parties.
They were concerned to keep the Budget tight, they spoke of the need to
reinvigorate the Murray River, they expressed their concerns over law
and order, they promised more schoolteachers for State schools. In noting
the similarities between them, an observer noted that most policies on
both sides were re-cycled, labelling it a 'second-hand election'.(4)
To a marked extent, the election fitted the typical Australian
State campaign. The incumbent promised more of the same, the Opposition
was accused of promising more than it could deliver and of threatening
to bankrupt the State; both accused each other of playing fast and loose
with their policies' figures. The Government still used the State Bank
collapse of 1992 as a warning to voters to avoid the Labor Party, while
the Opposition claimed that re-election of the Government would mean a
continuation of the selling-off of the State's assets.
Each party worked hard to gain an advantage. As in the
Commonwealth election, the Premier refused to have more than one public
debate with his opposite number. Labor meanwhile launched its campaign
only six days before polling day, and was accused by the Liberals of issuing
policies too late for voters to be able to check them.
At the conclusion of the campaign, Adelaide's Advertiser
was critical of Kerin for promising 'more of the same', and recommended
the Rann team to voters, as it held 'some promise of imagination coupled
with financial responsibility'.(5)
The outcome
In the House of Assembly election there was a small
shift in votes, giving the Labor Party 23 seats and the Liberal Party
20 seats. There was a single National victory, and three independents
were successful. Neither major party gained an absolute majority.
In 1997 the Australian Democrats gained a record vote
of 16.4 per cent and had nearly won an Assembly seat. In 2002
they spoke of winning Heysen, and more Legislative Council seats, but
their vote fell by 8.9 per cent, they challenged in no Assembly seat,
and won no new positions in the upper house.
The losers included the ALP deputy leader, Annette Hurley,
who had left her safe seat to contest the marginal seat of Light. Ralph
Clarke MHA, who had been expelled by the Labor Party, was also defeated.
Jane Lomax-Smith, former Lord Mayor of Adelaide, whose candidacy had received
much publicity, narrowly won the seat of Adelaide.
At first, the three independents and the National Party
MP seemed likely to keep the Kerin Government in power, but after a highly
emotional few days' discussion, the Independent MP for Hammond, Peter
Lewis, announced his support for Labor. Labor had already signed a compact
with Lewis promising to work towards significant changes to the State's
government and parliament. The compact also promised to address 'the urgent
needs of rural South Australia'. Ironically, the Liberal Government had
earlier signed the same compact with Lewis.
The Legislative Council ballot paper was large,
due to the nomination of a multitude of minor party and independent candidates.
The Liberals won five seats, Labor won four, and the Australian Democrats
and the Family First Party each won a single seat. With only seven of
22 seats, the Government will need assistance to pass legislation.
The Lewis Compact
Much of Peter Lewis' Compact for Good Government,
was taken from the Independents' Charter Victoria 1999 signed by
Victorian independents and the Labor Party.
Lewis said he was willing to support a government which
undertook to promote 'open and accountable government', improve 'the democratic
operation of Parliament', establish plans and strategies to deal with
'the urgent needs of rural South Australia', 'co-operate meaningfully'
with independent MPs, and 'improve Ministers' and MPs' codes of conduct'.
As part of the reform of Parliament, Lewis will be seeking
the establishment of a Constitutional Convention that will consider various
matters, including citizen initiated referenda, removal of Ministers from
the Legislative Council, removal of most committees from the House of
Assembly, reduction of the size of Parliament, removal of parties from
the upper house, and establishing a different mode of selection for the
position of Governor.(6)
Lewis believes independents are best placed to achieve
parliamentary reform-a theme of the conference of independents from the
different parliaments, held in August 2001.
Final uncertainty
The Liberal Party refused to accept the Lewis decision
without a fight. Premier Kerin remained in office, and the Labor-Lewis
alliance was tested on the floor of the House. On 5 March, a parliamentary
vote of no confidence in the Kerin Government (23-22) resulted in Mike
Rann becoming Labor's 12th South Australian Premier. Peter Lewis was elected
Speaker.
In the Hammond electorate, opponents of Lewis worked to
gain public support to force a Court of Disputed Returns challenge to
Lewis' victory. The grounds were that he had spoken during the campaign
of not supporting Labor if he later held the balance of power. This move
was supported by the Liberal Party. Such an appeal would have to be lodged
within 40 days of the declaration of the polls (5 April) but had not occurred
by the time of writing this paper.(7)
South Australian election 2002
First preferences (%) and seats-House of Assembly
| |
ALP
|
LIB
|
AD
|
NP
|
Other
|
|
Seats won 1997
|
21
|
23
|
-
|
1
|
2
|
|
Votes won 2002
|
36.3 (+1.1)
|
40.0(-0.4)
|
7.5(-8.9)
|
1.5(-0.2)
|
14.7(+8.5)
|
|
Seats won 2002
|
23
|
20
|
-
|
1
|
3
|
Source: SA Electoral Office
Endnotes
- 'Argument for the defence', Advertiser, 20 October 2001.
- K. Tilbrook, 'Poll shows Libs lead race', Advertiser, 12 January
2002.
- G. Kelton, 'Work until you drop, Howard tells the faithful', Advertiser,
28 January 2002.
- G. Kelton, 'Nothing new in second hand election', Advertiser,
22 January 2002.
- 'Labor deserves opportunity to govern', editorial, Advertiser,
8 February 2002.
- Peter Lewis', Compact for Good Government, 2002.
- For further discussion, see 'The South Australian election and its
aftermath', DPL Audio Brief, vol. 1, March 2002.
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