‘Historic milestone’: SA Greens jubilant as key seat down to wire
The SA Greens are celebrating their best South Australian state election result in history, results looking like they would land a 12 per cent first preference vote.
SA Greens Leader Robert Simms was welcoming results tracking at around 12 per cent of South Australian voters preferencing the SA Greens first in the lower house, the party looking at its best-ever result in state election history.
The SA Greens – which took a platform of cost-of-living measures and public transport policy to the state election – finished the evening still bullish on their target seat: Heysen.
At the time of writing, the Adelaide Hills seat was in a three-party race, with the Greens landing 23 per cent of first preference votes, just behind Labor (24.4 per cent) and trailing the Liberals, led by MP Josh Teague at 33.4 per cent
“Heysen is really down to the wire,” SA Greens leader and Upper House member Robert Simms told InDaily.
“We’re locked in a three-way contest there. We’re feeling really optimistic.”
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While acknowledging it was still early days in the count for the Upper House, Simms was confident that Melanie Selwood would be “joining me in the Legislative Council”.
“There’s a potential that we might get Katie McCusker over the line too.”
He said the SA Greens first preference vote was “very encouraging”.
“We’ve achieved that at a time when there’s been big swings against Labor and the Liberals,” Simms said.
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“It’s really a historic milestone for the Greens in South Australia.”
Asked why Greens policy resonated with more South Australians than ever before, Simms said “I think we ran a really strong campaign”.
“We focused on the issues that are important for people,” he said.
“And we ran a very clear message around wanting to hold the next government to account, and we rejected the politics of hate and division and campaigned on a positive message.
“I think we’ve been rewarded. It’s our strongest-ever result in a South Australian election.”
Asked whether he was concerned about the Labor party’s domination of the lower house, he said he was more concerned with the “Liberal party’s decision to preference One Nation”.
“They’ve failed in their responsibility to the people of South Australia,” he said.
He hoped the party would be a “very strong team in the Upper House, holding the Malinauskas government to account”.
“I think people of South Australia have given the Greens a very clear mandate to do that,” he said.
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