The Malinauskas Labor government has seized more voter support since a record landslide March election victory and One Nation continues to outpace the Liberals, a statewide opinion poll finds.
Labor has jumped 3.5 points since the March 21 election to snare 41 per cent primary vote support, the RedBridge poll finds, while One Nation and Liberal support was unchanged at 23 per cent and 18 per cent respectively.
Spearheaded by Premier Peter Malinauskas, Labor scored a record 34-seat haul at the election, with a primary vote of 37.5 per cent.
The poll of 862 people, which has been supplied to The Advertiser, was taken from July 8-13 and is the first significant insight since the election.
Labor’s support jump comes despite Mr Malinauskas being accused of arrogance by parklands campaigners targeting him over tree axing for the North Adelaide Golf Course redevelopment.
RedBridge director corporate affairs and communications Tony Barry, a former adviser to Liberals Christopher Pyne and Malcolm Turnbull, said the Premier was a proven vote winner.
“South Australian Labor’s two greatest political assets are (Premier) Peter Malinauskas and (Liberal Senator) Alex Antic,” he said.
“Malinauskas is a generational political talent and Antic is a vote-losing machine for the Liberal Party.”
Labor’s poll gain has come at the expense of independent/other candidates, which is at seven per cent primary support, down three points since the election. The Greens 11 per cent primary support compares to 10.4 per cent at the election.
The poll was commissioned by an advisory firm representing Brisbane-based M Resources, one of two short-listed bidders for the Whyalla steelworks.
It finds Labor leading across all age cohorts, including Boomers, while One Nation is strongest with Gen X and men, consistent with RedBridge’s federal polling.
Labor is also performing well in the regions, with the struggling Liberals ahead of One Nation only in Adelaide’s inner and middle suburbs.
A two-party preferred vote puts Labor ahead of One Nation by 62.5 per cent to 37.5 per cent – no similar comparison is issued for the third-placed Liberals and the ALP.
Cost-of-living dominates voter concerns, with 44 per cent nominating this as the most important issue and 77 per cent putting it in their top three.
Healthcare was put in the top three by half of respondents, followed by housing (36 per cent) and the cost and reliability of electricity (33 per cent).
The poll found overwhelming support for an Australian steel industry to supply local industries including construction, rail and defence, with 83 per cent agreeing with a statement that this was important.
Another 80 per cent agreed with a statement that it was important for Australian strategic capabilities that the steel making industry is Australian-owned.
Mr Malinauskas in late May revealed M Resources and India’s Jindal Steel had been short-listed to take over the Whyalla steelworks in a multibillion-dollar sales process.
At the time, Mr Malinauskas said both firms were “high quality” and “well resourced” to deliver “a long-term, modern, low-emission sovereign steelmaking business”.
A successful bidder is expected to be announced later this year, with Mr Malinauskas last week saying the decision was not imminent.