Seat of the week: Barker

A conservative rural seat since the dawn of federation, Barker is under new management after Tony Pasin defeated incumbent Patrick Secker for Liberal preselection ahead of the 2013 election.

Blue and red numbers respectively indicate booths with two-party majorities for Liberal and Labor. Click for larger image. Map boundaries courtesy of Ben Raue at The Tally Room.

Barker encompasses South Australia along the Victorian border from Mount Gambier north to the Riverland and its population centres of Renmark, Loxton, Berri and Waikerie, extending westwards to the mouth of the Murray River and the towns of Angaston and Murray Bridge 75 kilometres to the east of Adelaide. It has existed since South Australia was first divided into single-member electorates in 1903, at all times encompassing the state’s south-eastern corner including Mount Gambier, Bordertown and Keith. From there it has generally extended either westwards to the Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island or, as at present, northwards to the Riverland. The former territories were lost when Mayo was created with the expansion of parliament in 1984, but recovered from 1993 to 2004 as Mayo was drawn into Adelaide’s outskirts. The Riverland was accommodated by Angas prior to its abolition in 1977, and by Wakefield from 1993 to 2004. Barker’s present dimensions were established when South Australia’s representation was cut from twelve seats to eleven at the 2004 election, causing Barker to take back the Riverland from a radically redrawn Wakefield, while Mayo recovered the Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island.

The areas covered by Barker presently and in the past have long been safe for the conservatives, the Riverland last having had Labor representation when Albert Smith held Wakefield for a term after the 1943 landslide. Barker has never been in Labor hands, nor come close to doing so since territory in southern Adelaide was ceded to the new seat of Kingston in 1949. Archie Cameron held the seat for the Country Party from 1934 to 1940, having been effectively granted it after helping facilitate a merger of the state’s conservative forces as the Liberal Country League while serving as the Country Party’s state parliamentary leader. Cameron succeeded Earle Page as federal parliamentary leader in 1939 but was deposed after the election the following year, causing him to quit the party and align himself with the United Australia Party and then the Liberal Party, which has held Barker ever since. He was succeeded in Barker on his retirement in 1956 by Jim Forbes, who was in turn succeeded in 1975 by James Porter.

Porter was defeated for preselection in 1990 by Ian McLachlan, a former high-profile National Farmers Federation president whom some were touting as a future prime minister. He would instead serve only a single term as a cabinet minister, holding the defence portfolio in the first term of the Howard government, before retiring at the 1998 election. McLachlan’s successor was Patrick Secker, who led a generally low-profile parliamentary career before being unseated for preselection before the 2013 election. Despite endorsement from Tony Abbott and moderate factional powerbroker Christopher Pyne, Secker reportedly lost a local ballot to Mount Gambier lawyer Tony Pasin by 164 votes to 78, with a further 40 recorded for Millicent real estate agent and Wattle Range councillor Ben Treloar. Pasin picked up a 3.5% swing at the election and holds the seat with a margin of 16.5%.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

3,554 comments on “Seat of the week: Barker”

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  1. [we’re only going to get this one country at a time, and we have to start somewhere.]

    True. The country that we really need though is Indonesia, only the Coalition are doing everything they can to ensure Indonesia won’t support us.

  2. Here’s Bernard Keane on the Coaltion’s rejection of the Malaysia deal a couple of years ago. It is worth repeating: http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/06/26/time-to-call-the-asylum-seeker-impasse-what-it-really-is/

    “…But, having paid close or not-so-close attention to federal politics since the early 1980s, I can’t do anything but conclude that the Coalition’s current stance on asylum seekers is the clearest example of outright evil that I’ve ever seen from a political party at the federal level.”

    Now Mr Keane is not given to intemperate language and some here think he’s biased in favourr of the Coalition. But he calls things as he sees them.

    Is Tony Abbott wicked or stupid? There is a lot of evidence for both propositions.

  4. lizzie

    Yesterday, out of curiousity, I looked at some of the articles relating to Simpson and the reasons behind not awarding him a VC.

    There was reference there to textbooks prepared in the 1920s, which glorified Simpson, attributing to him actions that had no documentary evidence behind them whatsoever, and appeared to have been made up by the author of the textbook (apparently a dodgy character) to make the story more thrilling.

    Of course, if you were brought up with that textbook as a standard class text, and taught to accept it uncritically (which happens particularly if you have teachers who have limited education themselves and are put into classrooms with fifty students without training, which was certainly common right up to the early sixties)it’s hard to fathom why more isn’t made of his story and – of course – leads to irate letters to local MPs etc.

    I came across an Encyclopedia for Children recently, published in the 1950s. I was interested in it because (way back when I had a bookshop) one customer was particularly anxious to get hold of a copy, because she remembered using it as a standard resource at school.

    ‘Aborigines’ was a fairly early entry. Apparently they were a bit discontented with white settlement to start with, but now they were happily living out in the wild, roaming free.

    Again, you can see if this was the sort of stuff you were being encouraged to believe in school, Mabo and the Stolen Generation would come as a complete shock.

    (Disclaimer: one of the delights of teaching is that one is continually having to re evaluate what you yourself were taught. I’m sure members of my own generation have as many fixed false beliefs as members of generations before mine — and I’m sure the present generation will be guilty of the same!)

  7. Zoomster,

    That’s why I was so curious Psephos believes the current “policy” is the correct one when it leaves us less able to deal with the problem he foresees in the future, with global politics being as it is.

    As sardonic as his suggestion that it might come to “bomb the boats”, I thought the and solution was certainly the most humane and efficient way to deal with the problem. Frankly, Mann scored a rather nasty Pyrrhic victory.

  8. Bugler

    the really scary thing will be when we start getting the climate change refugees.

    Within twenty years or so, it’s perfectly possible that millions – if not billions – of people will be finding their present country simply uninhabitable.

    Really good incentive to get it right now.

  9. z

    I did get into a bit of difficulty once when I binned (literally) the school’s class history text.

    It was full of outright lies, arrogance and racism.

  10. The Malaysian 5 for 1 swap was a joke… and a poor one at that, on the Australian people.

    It allowed only for 800 illegals to be transported to Malaysia, which just happened to be about 1 1/2 weeks worth under Gillard. What happens after the week and a half??

    And how come the document said we had to pay for the living costs of both the ones sent to Australia and the ones sent to Malaysia??

    A sick sick joke on the Australian people by Gillard. All this is irrelevant now anyways because as we all know the Coalition have now stopped the boats so any claims on what might have happened are silly speculation compared to the absolute Gold Winning Medal effort by Morrison and Abbott that have now reduced arrivals 100%.

  12. Zoomster

    [The failure of the Greens to support these amendments is why we’re looking at Nauru and Manus today – another example of how ‘sticking to principles’ in the short term leads to long term damage.]

    Sticking to principles is a starting point for ethical conduct. Nobody sensible says that being ethical is always a cost-free exercise. Often people (including the intended beneficiaries of the ethical conduct) are for a time worse off. Yet if the principles are sound and he ethical conduct one implements in honour of the principles maps as closely as the existing setting permits, then in the long run, people stand better. We humans have an obligation not merely to other individual humans but to humanity as a whole, including of course, those yet to be born.

    We could if we wished, throw all regulations on the environment out of the window. Doubtless some people, including here and there, some we might find deserving would benefit. We could allow child labour and look the other way as police decided for themselves who was and wasn’t a threat to “Laura Norder” allowing them to dispense their own brand of justice. Sometimes, the results would be pleasing. Yet in the long run, and perhaps even in the medium term, we would begin to see the costs of such policies, and wonder why we’d gone there. We’d realise worthy things we’d taken for granted were now being torn asunder. We’d have tossed aside a part of our humanity in exchange for some momentary benefit and handed our successors a wicked problem that might be impossible to remedy.

    Brutalising anyone, and especially vulnerable people, is wrong as a matter of principle. There isn’t boon that could lend such action adequate warrant. Punitive detention and coercive rendition is brutal no matter how it’s packaged. I’m glad that my party saw that and honoured our humanitarian obligations as best we could with the resources we had.

    I regret that we were unable to prevent the ALP devising new means to brutalise the vulnerableand that the LNP have, predictably, embraced the policy, with he consequence that the suffering of the vulnerable (both those deterred from IMP and those now imprisoned) is probably greater in scale than was the case 2 years ago. We lacked the resources to craft and implement a humane policy, but we played he cards we held as best we could. Responsibility for the suffering one hears of now lies at the feet of the governing parties rather than us.

  13. Sean,

    I’m probably going to regret responding, but what about the global refugee situation. Millions from Syria, the Sudan, Libya, the CAE (which there is news on, Djotodia and Tiangaye have resigned).

    Your solution is to presumably dump the problem on developing and third world countries such as Turkey, Pakistan, Chad, Indonesia and Malaysia?

  14. [ the absolute Gold Winning Medal effort by Morrison and Abbott that have now reduced arrivals 100%. ]

    I see ST’s grasp of mathematics is about as sound as his grasp of politics.

  15. Should post the link as well…

    [The interim president of the Central African Republic (CAR) has resigned after a disastrous nine-month rule, prompting celebrations on the streets but fresh anxiety about a power vacuum and revenge attacks against Muslims.

    The fate of Michel Djotodia, a rebel who became the country’s first Muslim leader only to preside over its descent towards civil war, was sealed at a regional summit in neighbouring Chad. The prime minister, Nicolas Tiangaye, with whom he had a fractious relationship, also stepped down.]

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/10/central-african-republic-president-resignation-djotodia

  16. The sick joke is the secrecy Abbott and Morrison have placed on the refugee issue.

    They claim that any press release or press conference is only providing information to the people smugglers.

    Yet for all those years in Opposition they provided information to the smugglers.

    The hypocrisy of the Liberal knows no boundaries.

  17. deblonay@3050

    Bemused why does Confessions indulge in this silly ageist stuff…deride the older posters..as if they had nothing to contribute

    How about we do someting silly like deriding West Australians ?
    similar ??

    Hope you are around deblonay, I missed this last night.

    I have no idea what drives the numpty, but maybe she gives us a clue when she states @ 3046 “After all, I know how to look after senior citizens.”

    Is she giving us a clue? Does she have the same tendencies as Sophie Mirabella? She does seem to focus on men.

    Anyway, I have nothing against the other West Australians. She is not their fault.

  18. Hmm … The text input on this iPad continues to prove a little random in its application of soft returns and the character “t”.

  20. Boer

    don’t use textbooks much myself — one I was forced to use recently (taking someone else’s class) pontificated that morality was in decline in the early 1900s because – when births had to be registered for the first time – 25% of them didn’t name a father.

    Given that there was no benchmark to test it against, 25% might have been a sign of improved morality!

    I had great fun last year – I was given two days a week with a Year 9 class specifically to teach them the history of the settlement of Australia through to the start of the goldrushes (it was part of a General Studies class, and the regular teacher was Maths based).

    We looked at family history – so students had to find out where their family came from? why did they move here? where did they settle? — as a springboard.

    One boy (about 14 years old, one of the hardest ages to motivate, and from a family which values sporting ability more than anything) did some fantastic research, starting with his father’s memories, the ledgers of an old cemetery (on line), and the truly wonderful data bases on line (anything on record about any convict, and ships’ passenger lists).

    It was really interesting exercise, and what really pleased me was how we were able to draw all the threads together at the end.

  23. One of the excuses Abbott provided for not supporting the Malaysia “Solution” was that Malaysia was not a signatory to the UN Convention.

    Yet from 2001 onwards Abbott supported, when in Govt under Howard and then as LOTO, the dumping of refugees on Nauru.

    For 10 years he supported that policy, for those 10 years Nauru was not a signatory to the UN Convention.

    Abbott is a stupid lying hypocrite who is using the suffering of others for political advantage. He disgusts me and I feel ashamed that he is our PM.

  24. “@jarvis001: After nearly 6 months in office, must concern Abbott & his backers that the government has not had a single policy or political victory.”

  25. [“@jarvis001: After nearly 6 months in office, must concern Abbott & his backers that the government has not had a single policy or political victory.”]

    6 months? It’s barely been 4.

  27. AA,

    What was Gillard and Labors objection to sending boatpeople to Nauru after they signed the UNHCR Refugee Convention? Afterall they made a song and dance about how they were going to send them to East Timor because it was a signatory(another Labor Epic FAIL) but Nauru was not.

    Yet when Nauru had finished signing up, they still refused to send them there?

    Well I’ll tell you why… POLITICS. Labor wanted to play political games and not use Nauru because Howard did it and Labor is so swept up in it’s ideological rubbish that they couldn’t bring themselves to admit he got it right and they got it wrong.

    Even after the Houston Panel told them that Howard was right, Labor and Gillard persisted by only sending token amounts of people to Nauru and PNG… less than 5% of new arrivals from memory actually were sent under Gillard.

  32. What Labor did or didn’t do is not the issue and no amount of pathetic finger pointing excuses or ranting justifies the lies and hypocrisy being displayed, for all the world to see, by the current inept, stupid morons that you lovingly support.

    Abbott put his hypocrisy on display by supporting Nauru when it wasn’t a signatory but using the excuse Malaysia wasn’t to block it.

    Abbott and Morrison have shown what liars and hypocrites they are by placing a veil of secrecy over refugees after having stood on every soap box yelling to all and sundry about the arrivals when they were in Opposition…..based on their own standard they aided and abetted the smugglers…a pox on them and there supporters for the low standards they are achieving

  35. fran

    [Hmm … The text input on this iPad continues to prove a little random in its application of soft returns and the character “t”.]

    ‘The text input’ or the text inputer?

    👿 but fun.

  36. A great article on the Death of Long Term Thinking in finance. His brother Political Strategy died in the 1990s.
    [Fifty years ago, the average US stock was held for more than eight years, according to LPL Financial. By 2010, the average stock was owned for five days. Fifteen years ago, S&P 500 companies spent more than 40 per cent of available cash flow on capital investments.
    That fell to just over 25 per cent by 2007, with the difference going mostly to share buybacks, likely to boost option-based compensation.]
    http://www.smh.com.au/business/motley-fool/rip-longterm-thinking-18002014-20140110-30ld7.html#ixzz2q2t2aSsT

    The general point of the article is very true. These days private financiers and investors think just as selfishly, stupidly and short term as politicians and their spin doctors.

  37. [confessions
    Posted Saturday, January 11, 2014 at 12:28 am | PERMALINK
    DN:

    Mod Lib never criticised the coalition’s boat policies.]

    YIKES!

    confessions STILL talking about me when I am not here.

    Looks like me pointing out the hypocrisy of claiming credit for the reduction in boats (claiming it for Rudd of course LOL 🙂 ) but running a mile when asked whether Howard should be given credit for the reduction in his term (let alone whether the ALP should be given the blame for the increase in 2008).

    I see others have highlighted your hypocrisy too:

    [daretotread
    Posted Saturday, January 11, 2014 at 9:15 am | PERMALINK
    Confessions

    I will make my position on boats clear and unlike you will not be hypocritical about it.]

    OUCH! :devil:

  40. Hey! Well done zoidlord….no apostrophe in sight in that post :)*

    *I am just joshing with these comments, please don’t take offence :devil:

  41. Reading the article linked earlier:

    [The National Curriculum already largely does this. What Pyne seemingly wants is that the word “happy” is put into the syllabus. That we people are taught the “benefits” of Western Civilisation – and then students will leave every history class, thinking of the greatness of the Menzies era and singing this:

    But it’s hard to see where the curriculum documents actually say that Western Civilisation has been a disaster – rather, it outlines that there are facts of our history and they have made our nation what it is today. The document also shows that we study the civilisation of other nations, which is a crucial part of what we should be doing. Otherwise, we would start resembling the United States, with their narrow focus on their own history. But back to the interview, where the next question is a good one.]

    I have to agree. In 2008 I was in the Beijing Olympic Orchestra, where there were quite a number of Americans, and they seemed particularly ignorant of world affairs, even to me, then 15. The most insightful (and frankly likable) Americans were from Vancouver, Washington, near the Canadian-American border, who seemed more aware. They said the focus of American history classes went County-State-National and (virtually?) nothing on global history. Which is someone ironic, I think, for a nation with so many cities named after the great cities of antiquity.

  42. [zoomster
    Posted Saturday, January 11, 2014 at 10:19 am | PERMALINK
    Steve

    someone (on twitter? here? not sure…) wondered the other day where all the lawyers who rushed the Malaysian solution to the courts are now.

    I don’t agree with the Manus/Nauru solution at all – classic case of a bandaid solution. Labor should make it very clear that the Malaysian solution (or something approximating it) is still the preferred option.]

    zoomster:

    Are you saying that you support the ALP policy of sending AS to Malaysia?

  43. While I am no Oz/Old Empire centric when it comes to history, I was very surprised when a well-dressed, articulate 30 something bloke “did not have a clue” who Sir Thomas Blamey was on a quiz program I was watching yesterday.

    Schools may or may not be overdoing the ANZAC thing but looks like other bits of Oz history are certainly AWOL.

  44. [no apostrophe in sight in that post ]

    You’re just ‘joshing’.

    Get a life, tr@ll.

    You delight in trying to tease other posters to exceed.

  45. @Zoomster – how is Malaysia not a bandaid but Manus and Nauru are?

    In my view resettling to other countries is always a bandaid fix.

  46. Tricot,

    That statue in Kings Domain. 😛

    Though you’re right, from my history classes (though not under National Curriculum, obviously), didn’t mention him that much. It was all Monash (who the German lecturer at Monash Uni likes because his name was originally “Monasch” and was of Jewish-German extraction (though from Poland)).

  49. ModLib

    given that dtt was basing her opinion on a total ignorance of the actual facts invovled, I don’t know if I’d be trotting her out as part of your defence team.

  50. Bet if the Greens had supported the Malaysian solution, and it was now working as expected, posters like fran would be talking about the Greens ‘forcing” Labor to come up with it.

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