What's happening in South Australia this federal election?

The Federal Election is now just over a week away, on Saturday 3 May. Mark your calendar!

In the lead-up, The Daily Aus will break down the tightest races in each state and territory.

In this piece, we’ll focus on South Australia – home to 1.8 million people.

Background

Let’s first take a step back. This election, you’re voting for who you want to represent your:

Local area in the House of Representatives.
State or territory in the Senate.

For this piece, we’re going to focus on the House of Representatives, because that’s the house that determines which party will be in government.

Across the country, there are 150 seats up for grabs in the House of Representatives. South Australia has 10 of those seats.

Marginal seats

Elections are normally won and lost in marginal seats.

These are the seats where the leaders spend most of their time on the campaign trails, because voters in these areas tend to switch their party allegiance from election to election.

In this piece, we are breaking down the two closest contests in South Australia.

A quick note: In each seat there are multiple candidates, but we have focused on the top contenders based on current polling.

Sturt

Sturt is based around Adelaide’s east, taking in the suburbs of Maylands, Hillcrest, and Rose Park.

You have read 0 articles this year.

Your contribution ensures The Daily Aus can continue doing the work you love.

The seat has become increasingly marginal over the years, and is now the most marginal in the state of South Australia.

Sturt overlaps with parts of Adelaide that the Liberal Party lost at a state by-election recently. Labor has eyed off the seat as one of its potential gains at the election.

Boothby

Boothby is based around Adelaide’s southern suburbs, including the suburbs of Ascot Park, Pasadena, and Brighton.

Labor won Boothby off the Liberal Party in 2022 after targeting it at multiple elections.

Former Liberal MP Nicolle Flint held the seat for six years, before deciding to retire at the last election. But after the seat fell to Labor, she’s decided to come back.