“Housing is in crisis as is health but it barely gets a mention.
“Better housing outcomes drastically reduce health costs (evidence based research) but this state no longer leads the nation in outcomes even though housing costs are lower.
“It is time for our leaders to allow the Housing Trust to solve our housing crisis rather than slash and burn policies of past governments.”
The Opposition last week pledged to build 400 new public housing homes, upgrade another 350 and “improve” a further 3000 in what it called a “maintenance blitz”.
But it also has committed to seek budget savings through an efficiency drive in “non-essential” public sector agencies.
The party’s Human Services spokeswoman Nat Cook chimed in with a comment on her own in response.
“I’m very sorry to hear you have been told this by Treasury as it is both baseless and a breach of caretaker conventions,” she told Storkey.
“The shadow treasurer has been clear that public sector savings will not come from critical frontline service delivery staff.
“Labor is acutely aware of the housing crisis and will be spending $177.5mill on building new homes and repairing/upgrading existing properties in dire need.
“I look forward to meeting with you to discuss further as soon as our new government is in place.”
Who forms that government could be known tonight, but with upwards of 200,000 early votes to be counted next week a result may not be clear.
4.45pm: It’s just over an hour until voting closes. While there’s been a huge increase in pre-poll voting this year, ABC election analyst Antony Green believes he should be able to call many seats tonight. “Most urban electorates should record a 50-60% vote count on election night which should be enough to call most seats,” he says on his blog.
Girl power! 💪🏽💙
Fantastic to have Liberal stalwart and former Minister for Foreign Affairs @HonJulieBishop supporting me in #Adelaide today. #SAVotes #SAStrong pic.twitter.com/NnyFaCpuuP
— Rachexjmtzywl Sanderson MP (@AdelaideMP) March 18, 2022
Green says the seat with the lowest vote to be counted today is Finniss, based in the southern Fleurieu with Victor Harbor its biggest town. There is some interest in this seat, despite primary industries minister David Basham holding it for the Liberals with a comfortable margin. He’s being challenged by all of the usual suspects – Labor, Family First, the Greens, the Nationals and One Nation. Also in the mix is a well-organised independent, Lou Nicholson, who looks very much in the mold of independent women who have made inroads across the nation.
1.50pm: Spotted in Hawthorndene: the Liberal candidate for Waite living up to his name.
The seat is one of the election’s most interesting to watch, with the Libs trying to win it back from their former member, Sam Duluk, and Labor and local mayor Heather Holmes-Ross also figuring in calculations.
12:55pm: After long queues were reported in some seats this morning, it looks like wait times have settled down. At the central Mt Barker polling place mid-morning, voters were waiting 30 minutes to vote in the seat of Kavel, where former Liberal Dan Cregan is hoping to hold onto his seat as an independent.
You can find your local booth and wait times (for some of them, at least) on this page from the Electoral Commission.
12.30pm: It’s been a busy morning of voting as South Australians who haven’t yet cast their ballot come out in force to select the state’s government. About one million people will vote today, while 300,000 have cast an early ballot or applied for a postal vote.
Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas and Premier Steven Marshall have both voted in their electorates – directly across town from each other – with the knowledge that a final poll has Labor as warm favourites to win the popular vote.
Whether that translates into marginal seat gains for Labor is the key question.
Malinauskas was out early on Saturday to cast his own ballot and greet voters at a school in his safe seat of Croydon.
Peter Malinauskas greets a vocal supporter as he casts his ballot. Photo: Matt Turner / AAP
“You only get one chance to rebuild from the global pandemic,” he said.
“South Australia has a really clear choice today. A choice between a government that seems to be at war with itself or a fresh united team with a clear vision for the future of our state.”
Huge queue of voters as polls open at Prospect Primary in crucial marginal seat of Adelaide. @10NewsFirstAdl pic.twitter.com/KoQX4ocwn8
— Alan Murrell (@AlanMurrell10) March 18, 2022
The premier voted mid-morning in his eastern suburbs seat of Dunstan and said the poll was about who people trusted to give them certainty.
“I’m very confident that the people of South Australia will vote in their own interests and have a continuing Liberal government,” he said.
Marshall said he wasn’t concerned about opinion polls and expected to have a clear indication of the result before the night was out.
