THE POLL BLUDGER
South Australian House of Assembly Election 2006

FISHER
Independent 12.1% vs Liberal

Fisher is based around the outer suburbs of Happy Valley and Aberfoyle Park due south of the city. It was won by Labor on its creation in 1985, but Bob Such (right) gained it for the Liberals in 1989 and subsequently strengthened his grip. Such became Employment and Training Minister upon the election of the Brown government in 1993, but was dumped when John Olsen deposed Dean Brown as leader in November 1996. He quit the Liberal Party in early 2002 citing general disillusionment over the Olsen government's style, but he had also been put out by a lack of party support following a preselection challenge from Susan Jeanes, the former federal member for Kingston. Such became a troublesome cross-bencher for the precarious minority Liberal government, being regarded as more likely to side with Labor than Mount Gambier MP Rory McEwen or Chaffey MP Karlene Maywald.

Such easily prevailed over Jeanes at the 2002 election with a 34.6 per cent to 30.9 per cent lead on the primary vote, a gap that widened to 13.1 per cent after preferences. In what may have proved a costly mistake, the Liberals had issued a punitive preference ticket that had Such in fifth place – behind even Labor – whereas Labor had him second. When the election left the three independents holding the balance of power, Such won favour with his constituents by issuing questionnaires seeking advice on how he should handle the situation. Given that Peter Lewis had decided to back Labor, voters overwhelmingly favoured Such lining up behind the Rann government for the sake of stability. The Kerin government was ultimately brought down by Such's decision to abstain from a confidence motion when parliament resumed in March 2002, which prevented the need for Peter Lewis to exercise his casting vote as the newly appointed Speaker.

Rann proved keenly sensitive to the importance of good relations with Such, sending him on a "trade mission" to Paris shortly after the election and eventually securing him the Deputy Speaker's position (and accompanying pay rise). Prostate cancer surgery in July 2004 led to speculation that he might bow out, but he instead powered on to the Speaker's chair that was left vacant by the antics of Peter Lewis. Like Lewis, Such had long coveted the job as a Liberal MP, and accepted Labor's nomination when the Olsen government lost its majority at the 1997 election (the government's nominee, John Oswald, prevailed by one vote in a secret ballot). When the prospect was raised of Lewis being removed from parliament altogether, Such declared that he would not back a change of government if the Liberals recovered Lewis's seat at a by-election. That did not win him quite enough points with the government to secure a guarantee that he would remain Speaker after the election, in contrast to the commitments given to Rory McEwen and Karlene Maywald regarding their cabinet posts.

Liberal Party state president Chris Moriarty has pursued an aggressive tactic of attempting to recover seats from Such and other collaborationist independents, by characterising them as "Labor MPs". The party's candidate in Fisher is Andy Minnis (left), who was the 2004 Police Officer of the Year. Labor candidate Amanda Rishworth (right) is an organiser for the Right faction Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association, and has served as president of Young Labor and the Flinders University Students Association.

ASSESSMENT: Independent retain

A very good result for Bob Such and a disaster for the Liberals, who were reduced to third place after plummeting from 31.3 per cent to 18.5 per cent. Such had by far the best outcome of the state's three ex-Liberal independents, his primary vote increasing from 33.5 per cent to 45.2 per cent, while the Labor vote was up from 22.1 per cent to 26.4 per cent.

OUTCOME: Independent retain (16.7% vs Labor)