Labor will continue as the party of government in South Australia, with Premier Peter Malinauskas taking on a second term.
The election has been called by many media outlets with Labor on track to pick up additional seats, while the Liberals are falling far behind. The One Nation vote is remarkably high, polling in second place in many seats – noting these are very early counts.
A record 388 candidates contested House of Assembly seats, significantly more than the 240 at the 2022 election.
New SA One Nation leader, former federal Liberal senator and founder of the short-lived Australian Conservatives party Cory Bernardi is expected to be voted in to the state’s upper house.
Earlier this month, Bernardi reaffirmed he stood by comments made more than a decade ago, conflating legislating for same-sex marriage with acceptance of bestiality.
Under Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Bernardi was appointed to several junior roles including Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate. He was forced to resign from these roles following those comments.
Malinauskas opened the 2025 Better Together conference hosted in Adelaide, reflecting on 50 years since decriminalisation of homosexuality in the state. The Premier also recently found himself under fire for his vocal opposition to Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah’s inclusion in Adelaide Writer’s Week.
More to come.