THE POLL BLUDGER
South Australian House of Assembly Election 2006

REYNELL
Labor 6.0%

Reynell is centred on Morphett Vale deep in the southern suburbs of Adelaide. A normally comfortable seat for Labor, it was nonetheless won by the Liberals on its creation at the 1993 election despite a 9.0 per cent notional Labor margin. The defeated Labor candidate was Arnold government Education Minister Susan Lenehan, who came here seeking refuge from certain defeat in Mawson. This result and others like it left Labor without a seat south of the Torrens. Liberal member Julie Greig was tipped out after one-term by a 6.2 per cent swing in 1997, losing to Public Sector Union state secretary Gay Thompson (left). Thompson strongly consolidated her position with a 5.1 per cent swing at the 2002 election, at which Greig again stood for the Liberals. The recent redistribution has shaved her margin by 0.6 per cent due to the addition of 1377 voters in Liberal-voting Onkaparinga Hills, formerly in Mawson to the south-west. The Liberal candidate is Gary Hennessy (right), a local real estate agent.

ASSESSMENT: Labor retain

Labor boosted their margin here with a big two-party swing of 11.6 per cent on the back of a 14.7 per cent increase on the primary vote. Excepting the 1.0 per cent swing in the Hackham East booth, which was influenced by the arrival of new voters from Mawson following the redistribution, swings to Labor ranged from 5.8 per cent to 18.7 per cent. Also a strong showing for Family First, up 2.0 per cent to 8.7 per cent.

OUTCOME: Labor retain (17.6%)