SOUTH AUSTRALIAN ELECTION 2010

CHELTENHAM Labor 25.3%
Region: Western Suburbs Federal division: Port Adelaide
	JAY WEATHERILL Labor (top) WALTER SHIGROV Family First HENRIETTA CHILD Independent PAUL DOWNTON Greens JAMES BOURKE Liberal (bottom)
Electoral District Boundaries Commission map

Cheltenham was called Price until the 2002 election, one of a number of irritating name changes following amendments to nomenclature guidelines. From its Grand Junction Road boundary with Port Adelaide in the north, the electorate extends through the suburb of Cheltenham to Woodville and Findon in the south-east and Royal Park in the west. The redistribution has adjusted its southern boundary with Colton, from which it gains part of Findon while losing part of Seaton.

Labor's member is Jay Weatherill, the son of former upper house MP George Weatherill and a senior figure in the Left. Weatherill emerged as an industrial advocate with the Australian Workers Union at a time when its state branch was anomalously aligned with the Left. He subsequently worked with industrial law firm Duncan Hannon before becoming a partner in his own practice. Henrik Gout of the Independent Weekly recounts his role as a “soldier” in Senator Nick Bolkus's ultimately successful campaign to seize dominance of the faction from former state and federal MP Peter Duncan. This led to the prize of the Cheltenham preselection in 2002 at the expense of incumbent Murray DeLaine, who unsuccessfully attempted to retain the seat as an independent.

Weatherill went straight into the senior urban planning and development portfolio when Mike Rann's government came to office, and was further promoted to families and communities, housing, ageing and disability. Despite maintaining his rising star status, Weatherill was demoted when the widely criticised July 2008 reshuffle saw him move to environment and conservation and early childhood development, retaining only the Aboriginal affairs portfolio he gained after the 2006 election. The Independent Weekly reported a common belief that Rann had demoted Weatherill to “neuter a high-profile potential challenger”.

Shortly after independent Geoff Brock's shock win in the Frome by-election of January 2009, Matthew Abraham of the Sunday Mail reported fond hopes in the Liberal camp that Labor might come under pressure in Cheltenham and surrounding safe seats if strong independents came forward. A possible catalyst for such a challenge would be the government's decision to allow the South Australian Jockey Club to sell Cheltenham Racecourse for housing and open space, thereby funding upgrades to tracks elsewhere. Weatherill had campaigned to keep the track open in 2002, but the government has come to argue its demise was inevitable. Abraham advised to “watch any involvement from former federal Labor MP (for Port Adelaide) Rod Sawford”, with whom Weatherill had clashed over the issue in the previous term. Also mentioned as possible independent candidates have been the aforementioned Murray DeLaine and former champion jockey Johnny Letts.

The electorate is also the site of a controversial land swap that will make a residential development of St Clair Reserve in Woodville, which was the subject of allegations raised under parliamentary privilege in December 2009 by Democrats-turned-independent MLC David Winderlich against Attorney-General Michael Atkinson. The government argues the land swap is essential for a planned light rail extension from the city through West Lakes and Semaphore to Port Adelaide, which will feed the “transport-oriented development” at St Clair. Weatherill conceded in November 2009 that the government had failed to sell the message that the land swap was an integral part of the tram plan.

PREDICTION: Labor retain