As a heated by-election campaign wrapped up for former South Australian Premier Steven Marshall's former seat, the SA Liberals converged on their scene of defeat at the last state election, writes state political reporter Stephanie Richards.
Two years and five days ago on a humid autumn night, a then South Australian Liberal premier, Steven Marshall, mounted a makeshift stage at the Robin Hood Hotel in Adelaide's inner east.
But on Saturday night, that's where they gathered once again as opposition leader David Speirs faced arguably the biggest test of his tenure thus far – viewing the results from the Dunstan by-election. Kay Moncrieff secured more than 13 per cent of the vote at the 2022 state election – a swing of over 4.5 per cent on the 2018 result.
"There's been a big shift towards the Greens, I think a lot of people predicted that in recent weeks," he said on Saturday night.In the lead up to polling day, Premier Peter Malinauskas said Labor would campaign "like we've got nothing to lose … because we don't have anything to lose".
Labor viewed the Dunstan by-election result as a litmus test, coming at the halfway point of the political term. That both sides pooled significant resources into such attacks was a sign of how important they viewed the by-election result.While a Labor win could bolster the government's confidence heading into the 2026 state election, a Liberal loss could further dent its prospects and cause some within the party to question Mr Speirs' future as leader.
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