The electorate of Adelaide has existed without fundamental change since South Australia was first divided into electorates in 1903, currently stretching from the city centre to the Labor strongholds of Prospect, Enfield and Brompton to the north and an electorally mixed bag of areas to the east and south. There are sources of Liberal strength in Walkerville to the north-east of the city, Toorak Gardens to the west and Malvern to the south. The areas south of the city include Unley, home to the high school which Julia Gillard attended.
Labor first won Adelaide in 1908, and it was usually held by them from then until 1988. It was lost in that year at a by-election caused by the resignation of Chris Hurford, falling to Liberal candidate Mike Pratt with an 8.4% swing. Labor recovered the seat at the 1990 election, but an unfavourable redistribution together with a swing fuelled by hostility to the state government delivered it to Liberal candidate Trish Worth in 1993. Worth’s margin never rose above 3.5% in her 11 years as member, and she survived by just 343 votes in 2001. Labor finally toppled her in 2004 when inner-city seats across the land bucked the national shift to the Coalition, a decisive 1.9% swing delivering Adelaide to Labor’s 27-year-old candidate, Kate Ellis.
In keeping with statewide trends, Adelaide swung solidly to Labor in 2007, by 7.2%, and recorded little change in 2010, swinging 0.8% to the Liberals. The latest redistribution has added 1600 voters in Vale Park to bring the electorate into line with a municipal boundary, which has garnished the Labor margin from 7.7% to 7.5%. The area covered by the electorate swung resoundingly to the Liberals at the 2010 state election, with Education Minister Jane Lomax-Smith losing the Adelaide electorate with a swing of 14.8%, and the eight neighbouring electorates (all of which are partly within the federal electorate) swinging by between 8.5% and 14.3%.
Kate Ellis is associated with the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association, the mainstay of the “Catholic Right”, and its powerful state figurehead, Senator Don Farrell. After serving her apprenticeship as an adviser to state Industry Minister Rory McEwen and Treasurer Kevin Foley, Ellis won preselection following a three-way factional deal that secured Hindmarsh for Steve Georganas of the “soft Left” and Makin for Dana Wortley of the “hard Left” (who nevertheless lost the preselection to Tony Zappia, but was compensated with a Senate seat).
Her elevation to the position of Youth and Sport Minister after the 2007 election victory made her Labor’s youngest ever minister, at the age of 30 – the previous record holder being Paul Keating at 31. After the 2010 election she was reassigned to employment participation, childcare and the status of women. In common with the rest of her faction, Ellis emerged as a strong supporter of Julia Gillard’s leadership. Shortly before Kevin Rudd’s challenge in February 2012, she told Adelaide radio that Rudd had approached her and other SDA figures at a hotel to ask how they could reconcile their “conservative brand of Catholicism” with “a childless, atheist ex-communist as Labor leader”.
The preselected Liberal candidate for the next election is Carmen Garcia, director of Multicultural Youth SA and a daughter of Filipino migrants.
Leone, Waimea Bay is a wonderful spot.That, and Sunset really brought surfing into the mainstream [ thanks Gidget, Fabian and our own Murray Rose] oh, and Jan & Dean , and the Beach Boys
spur212
Posted Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 9:16 pm | Permalink
GD
Emerson has a very bad relationship with certain people from the union movement (I believe they threatened his preselection at one point). It’s more of a jump on the bandwagon thing with him. Top minister who’s gotten screwed by the system a lot of times
Either way, it invalidates Feeney’s allegation of supporting a former lover. From memory, he was, like Crean, pretty outspoken at the time of the February showdown.
Interestingly, he seems to have taken on a more public role in the last 6 months or so. He was among the first to take on Abbott over his nonsense assertions, which were getting a free pass from our media.
Rossmore@1891
If you have such a problem, find a good psychiatrist.
spur:
Then I think you need to apply a little more critical thinking to what you read in books.
In politics everyone has an agenda. I know it’s fashionable for young people like us to get behind the latest fad (your Rudd obsession for eg), but sometimes a critical eye can be useful in filtering out the bullshit from the reality. 🙂
Confessions
What you don’t seem to get is that there is a disconnect between the party and the public. It has been caused by many things but mostly the events of June 24th 2010. This is not something you can just wipe under the carpet and there’s not really an easy solution to it except for those involved to take responsibility for it which they simply have not done. In fact, they’ve gone so far as to blame Rudd for the disconnect with a fanatical zeal in order to consolidate their power which just makes the problem far worse.
Boerwar @ 1882
Will it help trigger the Big One? Maybe. There was a 5.3 quake a week ago in California.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/21/king-city-california-earthquake_n_1997633.html
Plus a whole heap of small ones which seems to be normal but the map is still pretty scary.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqscanv/
Bemused 1903 thanks for the advice…
“Proud people breed sad sorrows for themselves.”
― Emily Brontë
[bemused
Posted Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 9:27 pm | Permalink
frednk@1885
….
“How many members do you get along to your branch meetings?”]
Still don’t have an answer to the question: Is it true that Rudd can only manage 50 to his combined branch meeting? My question was first, how about you answer first.
My 10 year old son wanted to know if you people are really all on the same side.
I had to send him to bed without an answer.
@bemused/1903
We not the ones who are stuck in the past on certain subjects….
Doyley @ 1888
Sleep well, and sweet dreams.
Cheers.
Diogenes@1909
Your 10 year old son would probably be better at identifying “concern trolls” than most of the people on PB appear to be 🙂
Well, here I am back again after 24 hours and Feeney and Bemused are STILL trying to make out they’re the loyalest members of the ALP that ever attended a sub-branch meeting.
When challenged, one of them (forget who) tells us he’s not only a member of the party, but is ALSO a member of the party in Rudd’s electorate.
It’s a load of old cobblers, of course. If they were really Labor members they would trash-talk everything that Labor does under Gillard.
They’d knuckle under and work for the party they are members of.
It’s the oldest claim in the book, “I’m a party member, but…”
Was bollocks last night and is still bollocks tonight.
Spur212 June 24 2010 may live on in your’s Feeney’s and bemused’s memory, but the rest of Jo public has moved on. They rather like what they are seeing in the PM and this will start showing thru soon in the PV. Keep calm and carry on.
[(Reuters) – Weather forecasters warned on Sunday that Hurricane Sandy will affect a large area of the East Coast but said it was too early to pinpoint where the storm, which has the potential to be the biggest to hit the mainland, would make landfall.]
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/28/us-storm-sandy-hurricane-idUSBRE89N16J20121028
Confessions
I don’t think you’re aware of how many books I actually read. I have read pretty much everything published in the last three or so years as well as every major title I can find. I know both sides very well. What McKew has written is consistent with many internal accounts of the party. There’s no question she’s got an axe to grind, but in the end, so do the people attacking her
frednk
don’t worry, I have a long list of questions bemused has refused to answer.
I don’t know why it’s one rule for him and another for others, but there you go.
spur
really, make up your mind. At one point, you say the disconnect between the party and the public began back in 1996. Then it was whenever it was (decades ago) that the party adopted its present preselection practices. Now you’re saying that it began in 2010.
Actually, I can imagine that it began a lot earlier than that – that a group of blokes watching those gathered under the Barcaldine tree were saying to each other, “You know, this party’s doomed from the start. I mean, how are a group of shearers and unionists going to connect with the inner city elite?”
frednk@1908
That was the figure feeney reported so what is the question? I am not in his electorate so obviously cannot provide any further information.
Now, your answer?
Mixed review of the asian century.
http://theconversation.edu.au/asian-century-white-paper-experts-respond-10370
spur212 @ 1905
Well spoken. It’s been my ongoing criticism for a long time. You have summed it up far better than I could.
[I don’t think you’re aware of how many books I actually read. I have read pretty much everything published in the last three or so years as well as every major title I can find]
ROFL.
I think I’m pretty good averaging three books a week. To read almost every book published in the last three years is worthy of a mention in the Guinness Book of Records.
BB
You were asking about Ms Credlin’s partner:
http://www.thepowerindex.com.au/power-couples/brian-loughnane-and-peta-credlin/20111223890
Oscar
He likes Finns but is concerned that he thinks he is a dolphin.
z
I’m pretty sure spur means Australian political books.
At least we now know who actually buys them.
Forgot to add “on Australian politics”
I am only posting tonight bacause those feisty felines[ helooo c@t, fiona and kezza] are missing in action. When they fire up my testesterone goes missing, and I tend to cross my legs. Nice doing business with yous
[What you don’t seem to get is that there is a disconnect between the party and the public.]
Actually I understand that very well.
Voters can afford to be indulgent about party leadership when an election isn’t imminent.
At some point voters will have to choose.
Asia century starting now SBS
Ms Credlin is pregnant? Ooh, what will the faltering Tone do without his puppetmaster?
BB 1913 nailed it!
But what would PB be without the occasional outbreak of Ruddstoration, although its now more about who knived whom and when and who knew what, rather than any serious belief Rudd will be restored. Adds a certain frissance to the discourse, and I’ll probably miss it when it expires in the near future…
To be a little clearer think Asian Eurovision
[bemused
Posted Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 9:39 pm | Permalink
…
That was the figure feeney reported]
It wasn’t feeney who reported it, he claims to be a member of the branch, that is why I am asking.
If Rudd be the messirh it seems very low.
[“You know, this party’s doomed from the start. I mean, how are a group of shearers and unionists going to connect with the inner city elite?”]
😆
Brilliant!
spur212 @ 1916
You are obviously intelligent and well read. Please don’t let confessions mow you down.
She has a long history of bagging and slagging anyone with a contrary opinion, particularly as it relates to leadership and the ALP’s internal machine problems.
Good on you, mate.
Trying to influence our engagement with Asia in a positive way is excellent.
The reality will be a bit complicated but getting our stance, and state of mind, right is worth a bit of effort.
Look what happened to Mr Abbott…he managed to get clobbered publicly by the Secretary General of Asean.
Now, were he a bit more plugged in to the Asian century this probably would not have happened.
Diogenes@1923
I know how he feels. I am often concerned that some here on PB seem to think Tony Abbott is a potential prime minister.
It would be hard to pick who is the more deluded 🙂
“@SBSPopAsia: Time to take over the TV!! #NowPlaying on @SBS #ABUTVSongFestival with @JamaicadelaCruz @Perfume_Staff #TVXQ don’t sleep yet! :)”
Sort of half watching the ‘Mystery of the Hansom Cab’.
[@bemused/1866
William be more harsh than I would be allowed to on this blog (including any swearing).
Please address any comments to me in English.]
Bemused, zoidlord is putting his pirate’s voice on. You better look out.
I hold no antipathy for Kevin Rudd, but Julia Gillard is the PM. Right now, I couldn’t give a stuff how or why she got there.
I believe we are making steady progress in the reform agenda and the polls.
I am also enjoying it all at the moment. Hey, even the Rudd V Gillard flame war is interesting at times.
frednk @ 1931
I raised the issue of branch members in Rudd’s electorate meeting recently, and noted there were about 50-odd present.
Yes, it doesn’t seem many, but it was on a Saturday afternoon, and a lot of people have better things to do.
In any event, what is your point?
Diog
I always wondered. I tend to collect them from op shops – but even then, I don’t read them.
I was once in the amusing situation where a journalist I knew was writing a book about an issue I’d been involved in (so I knew all the players). She interviewed all the people involved, and of course the Labor people took great care to make sure she got the story they wanted.
My sister in law – her friend – had one of the first copies of the book. I flicked it open pretty randomly and very quickly found – stated as absolute fact – something I knew to be totally untrue.
As one of the party faithful interviewed said later, “Yes, but that’s history now – that’s the way people will think it all happened. It’s in the book.”
I take all political autobiographies with a huge pinch of salt. They’re all written with an agenda.
zoomster@1917
Either rhetorical questions or questions I don’t know the answer to and suggest you do your own research. Anything else?
Ah, a superstorm: hurricane plus Arctic jetstream…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/28/us-storm-sandy-hurricane-idUSBRE89N16J20121028
Oscar
[ I am often concerned that some here on PB seem to think Tony Abbott is a potential prime minister.]
The living will envy the dead.
@MediaMook: Trouble at t’Age?! ‘strong possibility that there will be NO production of @theage at all for the Monday edition.’ http://t.co/8KPOqBEt
[Rossmore
..frissance …]
It’s all over the internet but not in the oxford dictionary, what does it mean?
[If Rudd be the messirh it seems very low.]
feeney said it was a combined branches meeting, not just a single branch.
50 members across multiple branches is all Rudd can muster in his own electorate? That’s a FAIL for those out there who claim he has the popularity levels that he does.
Damn it, I meant to sort of half watch Mystery of the Hansom cab, but I forgot to. Is it any good? (Does that explain the cockatoo noises drifting down from the TV?)
Up now Asiavision Australia
z
I generally wasn’t interested in what politicians had to say when they were in power so I certainly aren’t interested in them once they are out of it.
One of my most horrible memories was walking into Howard almost literally when he was at a book signing. Every time I enter the shop now, I get flashbacks.