THE POLL BLUDGER
South Australian House of Assembly Election 2006

TAYLOR
Labor 17.9%

Taylor is a coastal seat north of the Port River mouth, and is neatly bisected by the Gawler River. The coastal end runs from St Kilda north to Middle Beach, and it extends inland to Boundary Road and Andrews Farm. Labor scores majorities throughout but they are notably smaller in the semi-rural Two Wells and Angle Vale booths. The inaugural member on the seat's creation in 1993 was soon-to-be ex-Premier Lynn Arnold, who came from Ramsay where Mike Rann moved in. Arnold remained in the leadership after his election defeat on the understanding that it would be a temporary arrangement, and he quit parliament in September 1994. The ensuing by-election was won by Trish White (left), who worked as an electronics engineer with the Defence Science and Technology Organisation and is linked with the Right faction. She rose to the position of Shadow Education Minister in opposition and kept the portfolio after Labor came to power in 2002, later moving to Transport and Planning. In March 2005 she tearfully resigned from cabinet saying she wished to spend more time with her family, which was taken at face value by informed observers and may actually be true for a change. The Liberal candidate is Linda Caruso (right), a Salisbury councillor who runs a golf course with her splendidly named husband, Rock Caruso.

On February 23, The Advertiser reported speculation that either Trish White or Lea Stevens – who also quit the front bench last year – might make a last-minute decision to retire to make way for Salisbury mayor Tony Zappia. Zappia was Labor's unsuccessful candidate for Makin at the 2004 federal election, having secured the nomination after complicated factional wranglings similar to those that controversially cost him preselection in 2001 (the winner being Gail Gago, who is now in the state upper house). Only with the closure of nominations the following week was it clear that this had not come to pass.

ASSESSMENT: Labor retain

Trish White's 9.5 per cent swing gives her the second highest Labor margin in the state, behind only Mike Rann in Ramsay. Her best swings of all came in the aforementioned hold-out booths of Angle Vale (18.7 per cent) and Two Wells (13.7 per cent). Family First and the Greens both contested the seat after sitting it out in 2006, and Family First had by far the better of the contest, polling 8.5 per cent to 3.9 per cent for the Greens.

OUTCOME: Labor retain (27.4%)