Relentless pursuit of votes: the Ashton Hurn campaign story
Another day, another polling body blow for the state Liberals. But SA Liberal Leader Ashton Hurn is keeping her cool in an exclusive sit-down interview with InDaily. Watch the video interview.
Ashton Hurn is in the relentless pursuit of visiting all 47 electorates in the state before the March state election, having been propelled into the SA Liberal Party leadership seat in December last year.
After the official Liberal Party state election launch on Sunday and with less than 50 days left until polling day, Hurn reiterates she will keep fighting every day despite a series of devastating polls showing flailing voter support.
InDaily caught up for coffee with the sixth-generation Barossan at 78 On Rundle in Kent Town, where the SA Liberals recently announced a $10 million community safety fund after the café was targeted by vandals.
As her iced latte arrives, Hurn begins to explain her no-fuss style of leadership.
“I think I’m pretty down the middle (politically) to be honest. I mean, I’m a very practical person … I’m just focused on my community and getting the best results for our state,” she said.
The first-term MP was elevated to SA Liberal leader in December 2025 following the shock resignation of Vincent Tarzia.
Hurn and her brother Shannon grew up on their parents’ farm in the Barossa Valley, a winegrowing region where she and her husband, Adam Howard, are currently raising their one-year-old son Rupert.
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She said giving back to the local community motivated her to become involved in politics, and the Liberal Party’s focus on the regions and “broad church” mindset appealed.
“My family were always having conversations about politics around the kitchen table and in the ute on the family farm, so it was always pretty clear to me that the Liberal Party was the party for me,” she said.
“I think it’s one of the best things about the Liberal Party, that we can have different ideas on different topics.”
Hurn lists affordability, healthcare and tackling crime as her top priorities, with policies such as 50-cent bus fares, reforming stamp duty, “break bail, face jail” laws and keeping the former Women’s and Children’s Hospital as a health precinct.
At its official campaign launch at on the weekend, the SA Liberals also promised a $15,000 discount on stamp duty for homeowners wanting to downsize. The party said it would reveal policy costings during the campaign period.
“I mean, everywhere I go, people are talking to me about affordability, whether that’s about struggling to get into the housing market or people struggling to pay their bills, businesses that are struggling with payroll tax and the like,” Hurn said.
“You can speak to everyone, and they’ve had an experience with the health system in one way, shape or form, whether they’re waiting too long to see their local GP, whether they’ve been ramped, or they’re waiting in our emergency departments.
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“I do think that crime is an issue that is simmering away across our community, whether you’re seeing in Henley Beach the home invasion that we’ve seen recently, or businesses like the one that we’re sitting at that have had terrible vandalism that’s costing a lot of money.”
| SA Liberal Policies |
|---|
| Abolish stamp duty for first home buyers on existing homes up to $1 million |
| $15,000 discount on stamp duty for downsizers |
| Keep the old Women’s and Children’s Hospital as a health precinct |
| Establish a tax reform commission |
| Break bail, face jail laws |
| 50-cent public transport fares |
| $173 million health and workforce package |
| $120 million upgrade to infrastructure at schools, preschools and childcare centres |
| After-hour GPs/GP payroll tax exemption |
| Increase payroll tax threshold |
Other policies include repealing the state-based First Nations’ Voice to Parliament and dumping SA’s net-zero targets.
Instead, a Hurn-Liberal government would focus on “practical” solutions to address climate change and to “close the gap” for Indigenous South Australians, who face lower health, education and living standards.
For the climate, this includes solar panel incentives, “greening our suburbs”, and “making sure we plant more trees”.
“The outcomes for Indigenous South Australians and Australians more broadly are clearly not acceptable … we’ve got a package that we’ll be announcing about some of those practical things to help turn the dial, but particularly around education, health and obviously around that crime as well,” Hurn said.
Talking about the algal bloom devastating coastal communities, Hurn says the Malinauskas Labor government took its eye off the ball, saying that more support for struggling businesses and the restoration of marine habitats should be happening, and sooner.
“I think part of the challenge with how the government’s handled it is that they were slow off the mark – that’s been part of the criticism, not only from local communities, but from scientists and from industry as well,” she said.
Hurn is not one to get bogged down in outside distractions, saying she is putting all her energy into the March state election.
She isn’t concerned about the lingering shadow of former SA Liberal leader David Speirs, who was convicted for supplying cocaine to two people last year.
And she also says she is not concerned about the leak of old policy documents to journalists by the anonymous Ashton’s Circus email or leadership drama in the federal Liberal Party.
“I’m just focused on doing the job at hand … because you’ve got an opportunity to really shape what the future of our state looks like, to get some real outcomes at that local, grassroots level, which is my big motivator,” she said.
