SOUTH AUSTRALIAN ELECTION 2010

FISHER Independent 16.7% versus Labor*
Region: Southern Suburbs Federal divisions: Mayo/Kingston/Boothby * Labor 8.5% versus Liberal
	ADRIANA CHRISTOPOULOS Labor (centre) PENNY WRIGHT Greens BOB SUCH Independent (top) TRISH NOLAN Family First CHRISTOPHER MORIARTY Liberal (bottom)
Electoral District Boundaries Commission map

Fisher is based around the outer suburbs of Happy Valley and Aberfoyle Park due south of the city. The redistribution has added the hills area around Clarendon, Coromandel East and Cherry Gardens, more than doubling the size of the electorate but adding only 1361 new voters. Fisher was won by Labor on its creation in 1985, but Bob Such gained it for the Liberals in 1989 and strengthened his grip in 1993. 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. In early 2002 he quit the Liberal Party citing general disillusionment over the Olsen government's style, but he was said to have been particularly put out by a lack of party support when challenged for preselection by former federal Kingston MP Susan Jeanes, who went on to win the nomination in his absence. Such proved 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 with Labor preferences. In what may have proved a costly mistake, the Liberals had issued a punitive preference ticket which 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 Hammond MP 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, obviating 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 during the government's first term, 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 he might bow out, but he instead powered on to the Speaker's chair left vacant by the antics of Peter Lewis. Like Lewis, Such had long coveted the job as a Liberal MP, having accepted Labor's nomination when the Olsen government lost its majority at the 1997 election. When the prospect was raised of Lewis being removed from parliament altogether, Such declared 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 2006 election, and with a clear Labor majority in place the position passed to Playford MP Jack Snelling.

The Liberals have nominated Christopher Moriarty, a former state party president. Moriarty won preselection ahead of Alana Sparrow, a corporate lawyer and former adviser to defeated federal Kingston MP Kym Richardson, and Tim Blackamore, a former Mortgage Choice franchisee who ran in Colton in 2006. Moriarty's tenure as president was marked by conflict with Iain Evans, which was cited as one of the factors behind the latter's downfall as parliamentary leader in April 2007.

In the second last week of the campaign, Bob Such said told ABC Mornings presenters David Bevan and Matthew Abraham he would not be asking for specific commitments in his electorate in the event that he held a balance-of-power position, but would instead do as he did in 2002 and write to constitutents to gauge their views. However, he said he was not expecting the matter to emerge as he believed Labor would win.

PREDICTION: Independent retain