Who do SA voters like most? Exclusive polling reveals top-rated pollie talent
The ratings are in for party leaders with some unexpected results – including for one seasoned pollie at the helm of Labor’s most public broken promise. Results also back the Lib decision to switch leaders. See who tops the pollies’ popularity contest.
One of the state’s most popular politicians holds Labor’s most controversial portfolio – but there is a lot of daylight between his results and the Premier’s massive following, according to a comprehensive DemosAU/Ace Strategies Poll revealed exclusively to InDaily.
While results showed the Liberal Party made the right decision swapping leaders from Vincent Tarzia to Ashton Hurn so close to the March state election.
Health Minister Chris Picton was the most popular Labor performer after Premier Peter Malinauskas, despite being at the helm as the state’s hospital system faces record ramping – an issue still front of voters’ minds.
Healthcare was listed as the third biggest issue facing South Australia today, according to the 1070 voters who were polled by independent pollster DemosAU from January 31 to February 16, 2025 via internet panels.
Data showed 55 per cent of voters polled said the Malinauskas government had done an unsatisfactory job of managing hospital ramping, 15 per cent said it was satisfactory and 30 per cent were neutral.
Nevertheless, health leader Picton was the second-highest-rated Labor performer of the five polled, with a net positive rating of two per cent and 24 per cent of voters saying they felt positive about him.
Malinauskas’ popularity is sixteen times higher than his closest Labor rival Picton, with a massive net positive rating of 33 per cent and the only politician polled who had less than 50 per cent of voters feeling ‘neutral’.
Following in his shadow are Education and Health Minister Blair Boyer, with Attorney-General Kyam Maher and Environment Minister Lucy Hood neck and neck in ratings.
“We see leaders who aren’t ‘embattled’ usually outperforming the rest of their front bench but not by the amount Peter Malinauskas is currently doing,” DemosAU head of research George Hasanakos said.
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“With only weeks out from the election, Labor is poised for a huge victory in South Australia on the back of a very popular Premier.”
Education Minister Blair Boyer was the only other Labor politician with a net positive rating, of one per cent.
Liberal leader Ashton Hurn is also outshining her colleagues, with the highest Liberal positivity rating of 24 per cent.
Hasanakos said compared to previous DemosAU polls, Hurn had “much higher preferred premier ratings and personal ratings compared to Vincent Tarzia”.
“Despite the peril the Liberals are in, these results vindicate the Liberals’ decision to replace Vincent Tarzia with Ashton Hurn in that she is seen more positively by voters than her predecessor,” Hasanakos said.
Compared to DemosAU October polling results, Hurn has rated three per cent higher than Tarzia on the question of who voters saw as preferred Premier.
Malinauskas is still listed as preferred premier by 56 per cent – compared to 58 per cent in October, but Hurn has claimed 22 per cent of the result, compared to Tarzia’s 19 per cent. Eighteen per cent of respondents said they did not know who their preferred premier was.
Hasanakos said given Hurn has a high neutral rating “there is definitely room to grow”.
“I wouldn’t condemn her at this point to the bad defeat that’s in the poll,” he said.
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“Ashton Hurn may run a good campaign. Usually, what happens is candidates or leaders with low expectations can shine in an election campaign, and they could save the furniture.
“It’s not out of the realm of possibility that we could have another large change again before election day.”
Tarzia was also predicted to lose his seat in October polling, whereas Hasanakos said it was unlikely Hurn would lose her Barossa seat of Schubert “because of her high profile”.
Liberal shadow education minister Jack Batty is the second most popular Liberal polled, with a net negative rating of 12 per cent.
Batty holds the eastern suburbs seat of Bragg, the safest Liberal seat with a margin of 7.2 per cent which Hasanakos said is “the best thing Batty has got going for him”.
“If he can turn on the charm and campaign well locally, then he can hold it,” Hasanakos said.
“I’ve heard of this fellow [Batty] in dispatches and how he’s a rising star, but people can only tell a rising star if they turn their attention to the sky.
“We need to be sober about state politics. Some people pay some attention to it, but many people don’t and I guess that’s another X factor into this election campaign, because people put their attention on the politics.”
Batty’s battle to keep Bragg is just one Liberal metro seat Hasanakos said is at risk to Labor.
“If the Liberals cannot resist the Labor tide in Adelaide then control of the Opposition benches will be decided in regional SA.”
Deputy Liberal Leader Josh Teague is facing a firm challenge from the SA Greens Genevieve Dawson-Scott in his Adelaide Hills seat of Heysen.
Teague, who has held the seat since 2018, has it on a Liberal margin of 2.6 per cent and Greens leader Robert Simms – who is not up for re-election this year – said Heysen is his party’s best shot at gaining a lower house member.
In the upper house, Liberal shadow treasurer Ben Hood is staring down a net negative rating of 13 per cent to keep him in parliament.
Polling showed that in the upper house, the Liberals would only gain one upper house seat and rely on party preferences for a second.
