South Australian legislative election, 2006

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2006 South Australian state election major party leaders
Labor		Liberal

Mike Rann Premier of South Australia		Rob Kerin Opposition Leader
Parliament	20 years	Parliament	12 years
Leader since	1994	Leader since	2001
District	Ramsay	District	Frome

Legislative elections for the 51st Parliament of South Australia were held in South Australia on March 18, 2006 and were conducted by the independent State Electoral Office of South Australia. The Australian Labor Party led by Mike Rann comprehensively defeated the Liberal Party of Australia led by Rob Kerin, gaining a 7.7 percent statewide swing^[1] to win a second four year term, resulting in the Liberal Party's worst election result, with only 31.9% of lower house seats (15 of 47).^[2] In the lower house, the House of Assembly, Labor's minority government won elections, with six seats changing hands from the Liberals to Labor. This resulted in a Labor majority government for the first time since 1989 with 28 of the 47 seats. All three independents and the Nationals SA member retained their seats. In the upper house, the Legislative Council, both major parties finished with a total of eight seats each, with Labor winning four, Liberals three, No Pokies independent Nick Xenophon polled an unprecedented 20.5 percent, returning himself as well as electing his running mate, Family First elected a second member, the Democrats vote collapsed leaving one remaining member, and the SA Greens won a seat for the first time.

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent and with a total land area of 984,377 square kilometres (380,070 sq mi), it is the third largest of Australia's states and territories. Containing 1.5 million people, the state comprises less than 10 per cent of the Australian population of 20 million, and ranks fifth in population among the six states and two territories. The majority of its people, 1.1 million reside in the state capital, Adelaide, with most of the remainder settled in fertile areas along the south-eastern coast and River Murray.

South Australia is governed according to the principles of the Westminister system, a form of parliamentary government based on the model of the United Kingdom. Legislative power rests with the Parliament of South Australia, which consists of the Crown, represented by the Governor of South Australia. Forty-seven members of the lower house which form the party that holds government represent a single-member electorate and are elected for fixed four-year terms. Eleven of the twenty-two upper house members are elected at the same time, for eight-year terms in a single state-wide electorate. Elections for both houses use preferential voting systems, IRV for the lower house, STV for the upper house. Whilst there have been many reforms during the course of the state's parliament, the basic form of government is prescribed in South Australia's Constitution which dates from 1856. Since 1901 South Australia has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Australian Constitution regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth. Under the Australian Constitution, South Australia ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas. Executive power rests formally with the Executive Council, which consists of the Governor and senior ministers. In practice executive power is exercised by the Premier of South Australia and the Cabinet, who are appointed by the Governor, but who hold office by virtue of their ability to command the support of a majority of members of the lower house.

[edit] Party backgrounds

[edit] Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is a social democratic party with close links to the trade union movement. It has been Australia's main centre-left party since 1904 and its ideology has greatly varied over time. The party has moved to the right economically after the economic reforms of the Hawke-Keating era (Prime Ministers of Australia in the 1980s and 1990s). Since the end of the electoral malapportionment of the Playmander in 1965, the South Australian ALP has been the dominant party in South Australian politics. Its leaders have ranged from the reformist Don Dunstan in the 1970s to the nonaligned and pragmatic Mike Rann today.^[3]

[edit] Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is a classical liberal party with a strong conservative bent (see Liberalism in Australia). It has close links to business and advocates economic liberalism and free markets. In South Australia, it is descended from the Liberal and Country League, the result of a merger of the Liberal Federation and the Country Party in 1936. While primarily a conservative party, there has always existed a more socially liberal wing, colloquially known as 'moderates', or small-l liberals. Leader Rob Kerin was factionally nonaligned.^[4]

[edit] SA Greens

The SA Greens, founded in 1995 are a sub-division of the left-wing Australian Greens. They are based on green politics and consider themselves a new politics party with strong beliefs in ecology, democracy, social justice, peace, an ecologically sustainable economy, global responsibility, a long-range future focus, meaningful employment, cultural diversity, and free access to independent information.^[5] Federally and locally they have seen a continued rise in primary votes in part due to the demise of the Australian Democrats.^[6]

[edit] Family First Party

The Family First Party was founded in time to field candidates in the 2002 state election, however the party now has candidates in federal elections as well. The party is considered centre-right, it's political ideology being based on Christian-influenced conservatism. Although officially a secular party, it has close links to the Pentecostal movement,^[7] in particular the Assemblies of God denomination,^[8]^[9] and its social policies generally mirror conservative Christian values (but not necessarily politically conservative values).

[edit] Australian Democrats

The Australian Democrats are a centrist party which originated in South Australia. Their policies are based on social liberalism. Federally, the party was founded by Don Chipp, a small-l liberal who left the Liberal Party of Australia to form the Democrats in 1977, disgruntled with the party's direction. At the state level it is descended from the New LM of Robin Millhouse, who held the Democrats' only lower house seats, Mitcham and its successor seat Waite.^[10] The Democrats have suffered internal problems and leadership scuffles since 1997.

[edit] Nationals SA

The Nationals SA are a sub-division of the conservative National Party of Australia (formerly the Country Party). They have only held two seats at alternating periods; Flinders and Chaffey.^[11] Their sole member, Karlene Maywald, representing the Riverland district of Chaffey, accepted a cabinet position in the Labor government, as Minister for the River Murray.^[12] As the Liberal Party in South Australia is descended from a historical merger from an earlier Country Party, the SA Nationals are not as dominant in rural areas as their interstate counterparts.

[edit] Election background

For previous results, see South Australian legislative elections.

The 2002 election outcome gave Labor 23 seats, the Liberals 20, Nationals 1, and 3 went to conservative independents. As 24 seats are required to govern, the Liberal Party was expected to retain government with the support of all four independents. However, in a surprise decision, one of the conservative independents, Peter Lewis, decided to support Labor in exchange for holding a constitutional convention, making him speaker,^[13] and concessions for his electorate including the phasing out of commercial fishing in the River Murray, prioritising the eradication of the weed branched broomrape, changing water rates for irrigation, fast-tracking a feasibility study for a weir and lock at Wellington, and improving rural roads.^[14] Lewis resigned as speaker in 2005^[15] after controversy over pedophile allegations he made,^[16] however by this time Labor had already gained the support of independents Bob Such^[17] and Rory McEwen^[18] in 2002 as well as National Karlene Maywald^[19] in 2004. Such was given the position of speaker for the remainder of the government's term.

[edit] Campaign

Labor website header during the election campaign. Similar designs were used on ALP stationery and posters

The Labor campaign was heavily based around the Premier Mike Rann with Labor advertising swapping between the mottos "Building South Australia" and more so, "RANN Gets Results".^[20] Commentators also argued that the "presidential" style of campaign could be seen in Labor's formal campaign launch at the Norwood Town Hall the Sunday before the election, which had some similarities to the nomination conventions that the major parties hold in the United States.^[21]

Another facet of the Labor campaign was extensive negative campaigning against Liberal leader Rob Kerin, including an advertisement featuring an excerpt of an interview that Kerin had with FIVEaa presenter Keith Conlon where Conlon asked Kerin why he wanted to be leader of the Liberal Party. Kerin stammered for a few seconds and gave the impression that he was uncertain. The advertisement concluded with the question, "Does Rob Want The Job?". Conlon complained that the advertisement gave the false impression that he was endorsing Labor, but Labor campaign director David Feeney dismissed his concerns.^[22] The other negative advertisements run by Labor revolved around the actions of the previous Liberal government, one advertisement and leaflet argued that Rob Kerin "just sat back" while the previous Liberal government closed 65 schools,^[23] closed hospital wards,^[24] and privatised the Electricity Trust of South Australia.^[25]

Election posters usually found on stobie poles in the lead-up to the election.

Considered "strapped for cash",^[26] the Liberal Party ran a very limited television and radio campaign against Labor. The advertisements that did run argued that Labor was wasting record tax receipts from the GST.^[27] A number of embarrassments for the Liberal Party surrounded their television advertisement - in an early version released to journalists, Labor was spelt "Labour" (the ALP dropped the 'u' in 1908)^[28] and the advertisement alleged that South Australia's hospital waiting lists were the worst in the nation, which Labor successfully disputed to the Electoral Commissioner.^[29] During the election campaign, David Pisoni, Liberal candidate for Unley made allegations in his advertising that Labor and the Labor candidate Michael Keenan supported controversial urban infill programmes which Labor flatly denied. Electoral Commissioner Kay Mousley investigated and ordered that the advertisements be withdrawn and corrections be run at Pisoni's expense.^[30]

Labor sought to win a majority in the House of Assembly in its own right to avoid having to rely on the support of independents. Opinion polls indicated that this was likely and ABC elections expert Antony Green said that the "Labor government looks set to be returned with an increased majority".^[31]

Most commentators agreed that the Liberal Party had little chance of winning government, and that Kerin would step down from the leadership after the election,^[32] a suspicion confirmed in Kerin's concession speech.^[33] Martin Hamilton-Smith was considering mounting a leadership challenge, however he withdrew on October 14, 2005 (probably for the sake of the impression of party unity) and subsequently resigned or was pushed from the opposition frontbench.^[34]

[edit] Issues

Newspoll Market Research	Preferred premier ratings^
Newspoll Market Research		Rann		Kerin
15/16 Mar 2006	63%		21%
Jan - Feb 2006	59%		19%
Oct - Dec 2005	60%		16%
Jul - Sep 2005	60%		16%
Apr - Jun 2005	60%		17%
Jan - Mar 2005	61%		15%
Pre 2002 election	30%		50%
Source: Newspoll/The Australian ^ Remainder were "uncommitted" to either leader.

One of the most publicised issues prior to the election was the tram extension from Victoria Square to the Adelaide Railway Station^[35] which the Liberals, despite having proposed the idea in their previous transport plan, now opposed.^[36] The Adelaide Airport expansion suffered fuel delivery related delays that Labor was criticised for.^[37] Continued delays by Labor to improve the safety of the Britannia roundabout were focused on by the Norwood Liberal candidate.^[38] Land and payroll tax cuts worth $1.5 billion were announced by Labor, the largest in the state's history.^[39]

The future of the River Murray has come under threat due to falling water levels, and in an unprecedented move, Nationals MP Karlene Maywald was given a cabinet position as Minister for the River Murray in 2004.^[40] Possible nuclear waste dumps were of concern to many Adelaide residents; Premier Rann successfully lobbied against any federal government proposals.^[41]

Law and order was another key issue, with Labor promising extra police.^[42] Tough drink and drug driving laws had also been introduced^[43] which included zero tolerance roadside testing for THC and methamphetamines, and later MDMA.^[44]

Allegations were made over the condition of the state's health system and the capacity to deal with mental health issues.^[45] Labor pledged to buy back Modbury Hospital located in the district of Florey, privatised under the Liberal government to alleviate the effect of the State Bank collapse.^[46]

The need for homosexual law reform was acknowledged by both major parties; however, there was disquiet within the Labor Party over delays.^[47]^[48]

Electoral reform policies received little attention,^[49] as has the 2010 referendum to abolish or reform the Legislative Council.^[50]

There were claims that federal industrial relations reform, WorkChoices, was an influential issue in the election.^[51] The Liberals announced 4,000 public service job cuts to pay for election promises.^[52]

[edit] Electoral procedures

Under its constitution, South Australia has fixed four year parliamentary terms.^[53] The election date of March 18 was known well ahead of time. The Electoral Act stipulates that the election campaign must run for a minimum of 25 days or a maximum of 55 days, therefore the Governor would have needed to issue writs for the election by 21 February 2006 at the latest.^[54] On February 20, Premier Mike Rann invited Governor Marjorie Jackson-Nelson to issue writs for the election.^[55] In accordance with electoral regulations, the Electoral Commissioner then advertised key dates for the election of the House of Assembly and half of the Legislative Council - close of rolls on 27 February 2006 at noon, nominations to be received by 2 March 2006 at noon, polling day on 18 March 2006, and the return of writs on or before 28 April 2006.

[edit] Voting intention

The surveys asked approximately 1000 voters each month: "If a state election were being held today — which party would receive your first preference?" The tables also include the two party preferred vote.

	South Australian state voting intention
	Political parties							Two party preferred
							Other parties/ independents
March 2006 ¹	50.5%	30.5%	2%	2%	8%	0.5%	6.5%	61.5%	38.5%
February 2006 ²	50.5%	31.5%	5%	3.5%	4%	0%	5.5%	61.5%	38.5%
January 2006	50.5%	33%	3%	3.5%	4.5%	0.5%	5%	60.5%	39.5%
December 2005	49%	32%	4%	5.5%	4%	1%	4.5%	60.5%	39.5%
October 2005	50%	33%	3.5%	3.5%	4.5%	0.5%	5%	62.5%	37.5%
August 2005	53%	32%	3%	4%	3.5%	1%	3.5%	62%	38%
June 2005	54%	33%	1%	4%	4%	0.5%	3.5%	62%	38%
2002 Election	36.3%	40%	7.5%	2.6%	2.4%	2.4%	8.8%	49.1%	50.9%
Source: Roy Morgan Research - ¹ Post-election announcement - ² Pre-election announcement

Newspoll Market Research	South Australian state voting intention
Newspoll Market Research	Political parties								Two party preferred
								Other parties/ independents
15-16 Mar 2006	46%	33%	1.5%	1.5%	3%	4%	0%	11%	57%	43%
Jan - Feb 2006	44%	37%	2%	2%	2%	3%	0%	10%	54%	46%
Oct - Dec 2005	46%	35%	2%	1%	2%	4%	0%	10%	56%	44%
Jul - Sep 2005	45%	38%	2%	1%	1%	4%	0%	10%	54%	46%
2002 Election	36.3%	40%	1.5%	7.5%	2.6%	2.4%	2.4%	7.3%	49.1%	50.9%
Source: Newspoll/The Australian

[edit] Results

[edit] House of Assembly

2006 House of Assembly Results^[1]
Enrolled Voters		1,055,347
Votes Cast		974,190		Turnout	92.3	-1.3
Informal Votes		35,029		Informal %	3.6	+0.5
Party		Primary Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Australian Labor Party	424,715	45.2	+8.9	28/47	+5
	Liberal Party of Australia	319,041	34.0	-6.0	15/47	-5
	SA Greens	60,949	6.5	+4.1	0/47	0
	Family First Party	55,192	5.9	+3.3	0/45	0
	Australian Democrats	27,179	2.9	-4.6	0/46	0
	Independents	25,884	2.8	-1.4	3/9	+1
	Nationals SA	19,636	2.1	+0.6	1/4	0
	Dignity for Disabled	3,974	0.4	+0.4	0/10	0
	One Nation Party	2,591	0.3	-2.1	0/6	0
	SA First			-1.8		0
	CLIC			-0.8		-1
	No Hoo Haa Party			-0.1		0
Total		939,161			47
Two-Party Preferred
	Australian Labor Party	533,290	56.8	+7.7	32	+8
	Liberal Party of Australia	405,871	43.2	-7.7	15	-8

The lower house which forms government uses IRV preferential voting.

For a list of candidates, see Candidates of the South Australian legislative election, 2006.

The final results for the House of Assembly seats were 28 Labor, 15 Liberal, three independents and one National. First preference and two party preferred statistics for each district are available through the South Australian House of Assembly electoral districts article.

Labor won six of eight key seats, the Liberals one of three key seats.^[56] Labor's wins included the previously marginal Liberal seats of Hartley, Light, Morialta, Mawson, Bright and Newland. The Liberals regained Peter Lewis' seat of Hammond.

National Karlene Maywald and Independents Bob Such, Rory McEwen and Kris Hanna were all re-elected. Hanna was elected at the 2002 election as a Labor candidate; this counted as a loss for Labor, giving Labor a net gain of five seats.

[edit] Key Liberal seats

The outer southern suburbs district of Mawson was first won by former Liberal Police Minister Robert Brokenshire in the 1993 state election. He was defeated by Labor candidate and former radio presenter Leon Bignell who received a 5.7 percent two party preferred swing.

The other outer suburbs district that fell to Labor was Bright, which was held since 1989 by former Liberal energy minister Wayne Matthew. Matthew decided to retire at this election; subsequently the seat was contested for the Liberals by Legislative Council member Angus Redford. Redford faced a tougher fight than expected^[57] and was defeated by Labor candidate Chloe Fox who received a huge 14.4 percent swing on a two party preferred basis, the largest in the state.

The inner southern suburbs district of Unley was won in 2002 by outspoken Liberal Mark Brindal who failed to win Liberal preselection for the seat in the lead up to the 2006 election and attempted to gain backing to contest the marginal Labor seat of Adelaide, but was shrouded in a controversy concerning a sexual relationship that Brindal had with a mentally ill man.^[58] The Liberal candidate was businessman David Pisoni, while the Labor candidate was Unley Mayor Michael Keenan, who received a 7.9 percent two party preferred swing, narrowly missing out on picking up the seat by 1.1 percent.

The inner north eastern suburbs district of Hartley had been won by Joe Scalzi in 1993 and held by a very narrow margin in each election since. The district has a very high proportion of Italian migrants and the ability to speak Italian is considered by many commentators as vital to win the seat^[59] and was a factor in Labor's preselection of political staffer Grace Portolesi. Portolesi defeated Scalzi with a 5.9 percent two party preferred swing.

The neighbouring district of Morialta was held before this election by former Liberal Tourism Minister Joan Hall since 1993. She was defeated by Labor candidate Lindsay Simmons. Simmons received a 12 percent two party preferred swing, with Labor winning the seat for the first time since 1975.

In the outer north-east, the district of Newland had been won by Liberal Dorothy Kotz since 1989, but after her decision to retire, the Liberal Party preselected police officer and local councillor Mark Osterstock. He was defeated by Labor candidate Tom Kenyon, who won the seat with a 12.5 percent two party preferred swing.

In Gawler and the outer northern suburbs, the district of Light was recontested by sitting Liberal member and former Education Minister Malcolm Buckby. He was defeated by Labor candidate and Gawler Mayor Tony Piccolo, who received a 4.9 percent two party preferred swing. This seat fell to Labor for the first time since 1944.

The rural and outback district of Stuart was first won in 1997 by Liberal Graham Gunn, a former Speaker and Australia's longest serving parliamentarian.^[60] As in 2002, he was challenged by Labor ministerial adviser Justin Jarvis. Unlike the Adelaide metropolitan area and the neighbouring seat of Giles, there was only a small swing of 0.7 percent to Labor, subsequently Gunn managed to hang on with a margin of 0.6 percent. It is widely suspected that he will retire at the 2010 election after surpassing four continuous decades.

[edit] Key Labor seats

The inner eastern suburbs district of Norwood, held for Labor by former Norwood mayor Vini Ciccarello, was expected to be a tough contest, particularly after the Liberal preselection of former Adelaide Crows footballer Nigel Smart. Ciccarello retained the seat picking up a 3.7 percent swing on the two party preferred vote.

The other Labor seat considered under possible threat was the neighbouring inner city district of Adelaide where high profile Education Minister and former Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith was challenged by Liberal Diana Carroll. Lomax-Smith comprehensively defeated Carroll with a 9.2 percent swing to Labor on the two party preferred vote.

[edit] Key Independent seats

The southern suburbs district of Mitchell was won at the 2002 election by Kris Hanna, who was a Labor member. After the election, Hanna left Labor to join the Greens and subsequently left the Greens to become an independent on 8 February 2006. Hanna faced a tough contest to hold his seat against a challenge by Labor's Rosemary Clancy. Despite expectations before the election of a safe Labor win, Hanna defeated the Labor candidate by 0.6 percent of the vote with the aid of Liberal preferences.

The district of Fisher, located in Adelaide's south, was held by independent MP Dr Bob Such. Late in the campaign, there was some speculation that Fisher may be a closer contest than commentators initially expected, but Such comfortably defeated both Labor candidate Amanda Rishworth and Liberal candidate Andy Minnis with an independent candidate election best 45.2 percent of the primary vote, picking up a 4.6 percent two party preferred swing. The election outcome saw Such facing the Labor candidate on the two party preferred vote as opposed to the Liberal candidate in 2002.

The Riverland based district of Chaffey is the only seat in South Australia's held by a Nationals SA member. River Murray Minister Karlene Maywald won comfortably against a challenge by Liberal Anna Baric. Maywald received a 3.2 percent swing on the two party preferred vote.

The Murray Bridge based district of Hammond was won in 2002 by independent MP Peter Lewis who cut a deal after the 2002 election which delivered government to Labor. Facing almost certain defeat in Hammond, he declined to recontest the district and failed in his attempt to win a seat in the Legislative Council. Hammond was won comfortably by Liberal Adrian Pederick.

The district of Mount Gambier (which also includes much of South Australia's south east) was a close contest between independent and Agriculture Minister Rory McEwen and Liberal Peter Gandolfi. McEwen prevailed despite a 20.4 percent swing against him on the two party preferred vote.

[edit] Post-election pendulum^[61]

For previous pendulums and maps, see South Australian legislative elections.

LABOR SEATS (32)

Marginal
Mitchell	Kris Hanna	IND	0.6% v ALP
Light	Tony Piccolo	ALP	2.1%
Mawson	Leon Bignell	ALP	2.2%
Norwood	Vini Ciccarello	ALP	4.2%
Hartley	Grace Portolesi	ALP	4.6%
Fairly safe
Mt Gambier	Rory McEwen	IND	6.2% v LIB
Newland	Tom Kenyon	ALP	6.8%
Morialta	Lindsay Simmons	ALP	7.9%
Bright	Chloe Fox	ALP	9.4%
Safe
Adelaide	Jane Lomax-Smith	ALP	10.2%
Florey	Frances Bedford	ALP	12.1%
Giles	Lyn Breuer	ALP	14.4%
Elder	Pat Conlon	ALP	14.9%
Wright	Jennifer Rankine	ALP	15.3%
Ashford	Stephanie Key	ALP	16.1%
Colton	Paul Caica	ALP	16.3%
Fisher	Bob Such	IND	16.7% v ALP
Little Para	Lea Stevens	ALP	16.7%
Chaffey	Karlene Maywald	NAT	17.2% v LIB
Reynell	Gay Thompson	ALP	17.6%
West Torrens	Tom Koutsantonis	ALP	18.3%
Torrens	Robyn Geraghty	ALP	19.1%
Lee	Michael Wright	ALP	19.3%
Very safe
Kaurna	John Hill	ALP	22.0%
Napier	Michael O'Brien	ALP	24.3%
Enfield	John Rau	ALP	24.5%
Cheltenham	Jay Weatherill	ALP	25.4%
Port Adelaide	Kevin Foley	ALP	25.7%
Playford	Jack Snelling	ALP	25.8%
Croydon	Michael Atkinson	ALP	26.0%
Taylor	Trish White	ALP	27.4%
Ramsay	Mike Rann	ALP	28.5%

LIBERAL SEATS (15)

Marginal
Stuart	Graham Gunn	LIB	0.6%
Unley	David Pisoni	LIB	1.1%
Heysen	Isobel Redmond	LIB	3.0%
Frome	Rob Kerin	LIB	3.4%
Waite	Martin Hamilton-Smith	LIB	4.0%
Morphett	Duncan McFetridge	LIB	5.4%
Fairly safe
Schubert	Ivan Venning	LIB	6.4%
Davenport	Iain Evans	LIB	6.4%
Finniss	Michael Pengilly	LIB	6.5%
Goyder	Steven Griffiths	LIB	9.1%
Kavel	Mark Goldsworthy	LIB	9.4%
Safe
Flinders	Liz Penfold	LIB	10.1% v NAT
Hammond	Adrian Pederick	LIB	12.0%
Bragg	Vickie Chapman	LIB	12.8%
Very safe
MacKillop	Mitch Williams	LIB	22.2%

Metro SA: Click here for boundary names.

Rural SA: Click here for boundary names.

Adelaide, located in the state of South Australia, Australia.

[edit] Legislative Council

2006 Legislative Council Results^[1]
Enrolled Voters		1,055,347
Votes Cast		981,658		Turnout	93.0	-1.1
Informal Votes		50,789		Informal %	5.2	-0.2
Party		Primary Votes	%	Swing	Seats Won qta	Seats Held
	Australian Labor Party	340,632	36.6	+3.7	4 (4.39)	8
	Liberal Party of Australia	241,740	26.0	-14.1	3 (3.12)	8
	No Pokies	190,958	20.5	+19.2	2 (2.46)	2
	Family First Party	46,328	5.0	+1.0	1 (0.60)	2
	SA Greens	39,852	4.3	+1.5	1 (0.51)	1
	Australian Democrats	16,412	1.8	-5.5	0	1
	One Nation Party	7,559	0.8	-1.0	0	0
	Nationals SA	6,237	0.7	+0.2	0	0
	Shooters Party	5,991	0.6	+0.6	0	0
	Dignity for Disabled	5,615	0.6	+0.6	0	0
Total		930,869			11	22

The upper house uses STV preferential voting. This STV ballot for the federal upper house illustrates group voting tickets.

For current members, see Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 2006-2010.

In the South Australian Legislative Council, Labor won 4 seats, the Liberals won 3 seats, both No Pokies MLC Nick Xenophon and his running mate Ann Bressington were elected and Family First and the Greens won a seat each. Almost 40 percent of voters deserted the major parties for Nick Xenophon and the minor parties; this percentage has been steadily increasing over time.^[62]

Labor received a 3.7 percent swing, electing four councillors as in the previous election. Carmel Zollo, Bob Sneath, Russell Wortley and Ian Hunter were all elected, with 4.39 quotas.

On the other hand, the Liberal vote collapsed with a 14.1 percent swing against the Liberal Party. Having received five councillors in 2002, at this election the Liberal Party had just 3 councillors elected. Rob Lucas, John Dawkins and Michelle Lensink were elected on 3.12 quotas.

Before the election, No Pokies MLC Nick Xenophon was popular with the media and in opinion polls, but he faced a tough campaign as a result of both major parties preferencing in favour of other independents and the minor parties along with the fact that the government had tried to absorb problem gambling into its own election platform. However, he received an unprecedented 20.5 percent of first preferences, yielding 2.46 quotas, which translated into seats for both Xenophon and his running mate Ann Bressington. Having been elected at the 1997 election with 2.9 percent of the vote and other independent candidates at the 2002 election on 1.3% of the vote (Xenophon being a sitting member at that election), the No Pokies ticket received a swing of 19.2 percent.

The Family First Party made its national debut in South Australia at the 2002 election. Andrew Evans MLC, who narrowly beat Green candidate Brian Noone for the final seat in 2002, was its sole representative, but the party's recent federal success in electing Victorian Senator Steve Fielding suggested that the party may expect more. Family First received only a small swing of 0.98 percent, but their candidate Dennis Hood was elected on preferences.

The SA Greens won 4.3 percent of the upper house vote meaning a swing of 1.5 percent, narrowly securing Mark Parnell for the last upper house seat on preferences. This is the first time The Greens have won a seat in South Australia.

The Australian Democrats fell to just one seat in the Legislative Council held by Sandra Kanck, after Kate Reynolds was defeated in her bid for re-election after being appointed in 2003. The Democrats gained only 1.8 percent of the upper house vote after a 5.5 percent swing against them. Kanck has since announced that she will not recontest her seat at the next election, placing serious clouds over the future of the party in the state.^[63]

Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party gained 0.8 percent of the upper house vote and won none of the six lower house seats they contested. Their highest vote was 4.1 percent in the district of Hammond, followed by 2.7 percent in Goyder, and the other four hovering around 1 percent.

Dignity for Disabled ran for the first time and won 0.6 percent of the upper house vote and won none of the 10 lower house seats they contested. Their best results were Wright as well as Bright, with 2.4 percent in each (506 and 492 votes respectively).

Labor-turned-independent Terry Cameron and Liberal-turned-independent Peter Lewis both failed in their bids for re-election.

[edit] Legacy

The aftermath of the election saw right faction heavy Iain Evans become the new opposition leader, with moderate Vickie Chapman as deputy leader. The only other contestant for opposition leader was Isobel Redmond who ran for the reason that she was unhappy that the Evans deal had already been allegedly stitched up by federal Liberal counterparts Christopher Pyne and Nick Minchin.^[64] Preferred premier ratings in July 2006 showed Rann on 71 percent with Evans on 15 percent. Only 27 percent of Liberal Party supporters see Evans as the preferred premier.^[65]

Treasurer Kevin Foley apologised to Nick Xenophon for a drunken altercation in July 2006.^[66] Previously unknown-quantity Ann Bressington who was elected on the back of Nick Xenophon's No Pokies popularity has displayed conservative policies, such as raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 21,^[67] zero tolerance of illicit drugs, mandatory twice-annual drug tests of every South Australian school student over the age of fourteen regardless of whether or not parents give their consent,^[68] making the sale of "drug-taking equipment" illegal,^[69] but she remains undecided on voluntary euthanasia calling it "a personal struggle".^[70]

Setting a precedent, Sandra Kanck's pro-euthanasia speech which contained suicide methods was censored from the internet version of Hansard in August 2006 as a result of an upper house motion, with Labor, Family First, Nick Xenophon and Anne Bressington voting for, and the Liberals and SA Greens member Mark Parnell voting against.^[71] Despite this, publication has gone ahead on a non-Australian website.^[72]

The state's budget was released on September 21, 2006.^[73] It included 1,600 public service job axings despite an election pledge of only 400, however none of the redundancies will be forced. It also included increases in some fees and charges such as victims of crime levies and TAFE charges. There were increases in funding for health, schools, police and prisons, and the Department of Public Prosecutions.^[74]^[75]^[76]