THE POLL BLUDGER
South Australian House of Assembly Election 2006

PLAYFORD
Labor 13.1%

Playford is a safe Labor seat north-east of the city, bordered along the north-west by Main North Road and centred on the suburb of Ingle Farm. Current member Jack Snelling (left), a former union organiser and staffer to federal MP Martyn Evans, is associated with the religious branch of the party's Right headed by Michael Atkinson. He entered parliament at the tender age of 24 in 1997, becoming the third Labor member for the seat since its creation in 1970.

Snelling kept a fairly low profile until he secured the Deputy Speaker position when it was vacated by Bob Such, who replaced Peter Lewis as Speaker in April 2005. Lewis once threatened to impeach a magistrate who moved to force Snelling to appear in court in 2003, which The Advertiser said was "understood to relate to a political row between Mr Snelling and unnamed lawyers who are alleged to be campaigning against the State Government's strict law and order policy". The objective of the alleged campaigners was to remove Atkinson as Attorney-General, a move advocated by unions on either side of the factional divide. Snelling had sent the lawyers a letter threatening to reveal their names in parliament, and Lewis ruled that privilege would be breached if a court compelled him to disclose his source.

Tom Javor (right), listed as a self-employed investigations officer, is taking his second shot at the thankless role of Liberal candidate.

ASSESSMENT: Labor retain

No grey area in the electorate's verdict here – Jack Snelling won all 12 booths by margins of between 21.4 per cent and 30.2 per cent. His primary vote was up from 51.7 per cent to 64.0 per cent while Tom Javor's was down from 29.0 per cent to 19.2 per cent. The Greens polled 5.0 per cent after failing to contest in 2002, while Family First were up from 5.5 per cent to 8.2 per cent.

OUTCOME: Labor retain (25.8%)