Counting Underway In South Australian Election

The polling booths have closed in South Australia's 50th State election since self-government. Results will start arriving over the next few hours. The opinion polls and so-called informed commentators predict a close result with the Liberal government of Rob Kerin tipped to survive.

The South Australian government is the last remaining State or Territory Liberal government. If Labor were to win tonight, the nation would face an historic and unprecedented situation with a coalition government in Canberra and 8 Labor governments everywhere else.

There are 47 electorates being contested in today's election. Either side needs to win 24 seats to govern in their own right.

In recent times, the South Australian lower house numbers have fluctuated wildly. In 1989, the Bannon Labor government and the Liberal Party each won 22 seats and Bannon hung on with the support of two independent Labor members. By 1993, Bannon's successor, Lynn Arnold, was decimated and the ALP was reduced to 10 seats, compared to 37 for the Liberals.

In 1997, following a change of Liberal leader from Dean Brown to John Olsen, the Liberals lost 14 seats to finish with 23, whilst the ALP went from 10 to 21. The Liberals remained in office as a minority government, supported by the National Party member, Karlene Maywald.

Since the 1997 election, one Liberal member has resigned, another has been expelled, and one of the independents has joined the Liberals, reducing the government to a net 22 seats. Late last year, the then Premier, John Olsen, resigned over the Motorola contract scandal, and was replaced by John Kerin.

There have been similar ructions in the ALP. Two sitting members have resigned following their defeat in pre-selections, although they have pledged their support to the ALP if needed.

In summary, the ALP needs to hold all its 19 seats and win 5 more to secure a majority, whereas the Liberal Party needs to two seats to have an outright majority.

This table shows the state of the parties at the 1997 election and the current numbers:

S.A. House of Assembly - 1997 Results
Party	1997	Now
Liberal	23	22
National	1	1
ALP	21	19
Independent ALP	-	2
Independent	2	3
Total	47	47

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