A poll in today’s Advertiser shows Labor maintaining its clear lead in the inner-city electorate of Norwood, one of the key seats for the Liberals if they are to win government (okay, stop laughing). After distribution of the undecided, Labor member Vini Ciccarello leads Liberal candidate and former Adelaide Crows star Nigel Smart 44 per cent to 40 per cent, showing little change on the three previous polls conducted by The Advertiser. However, the Liberals might take some encouragement from an apparent rise in the number of undecided voters, from 11 per cent to 15 per cent.
Also out today are Newspoll results showing a slight easing in Labor’s lead. Their primary vote of 44 per cent is the lowest since the last quarter of 2004 and 2 per cent down on the previous survey. This has been of direct benefit to the Liberals who are up from 35 per cent to 37 per cent, although Labor’s two-party lead of 54-46 suggests they are still heading towards a big win. Although the margin of error for minor party ratings means the figures are essentially meaningless, it is still interesting to note that the Democrats have risen to 2 per cent after being stuck on 1 per cent since the last poll of 2004, which has come at the expense of the Greens who are down to 3 per cent.
