Seat of the week: Boothby

Another trip through a South Australian federal electorate to mark the looming state election – this time the southern coastal suburbs seat of Boothby, a nut Labor is never quite able to crack.

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.

The southern Adelaide electorate of Boothby covers coastal suburbs from Brighton south to Marino, extending inland to the edge of the coastal plain at Myrtle Bank and the hills at Belair, Eden Hills, Bellevue Heights and Flagstaff Hill. The seat’s Liberal lean is softened by the area around the defunct Tonsley Park Mitsubishi plant, the only part of the electorate with below average incomes and above average ethnic diversity. It has existed without interruption since South Australia was first divided into electorates in 1903, at which time it was landlocked and extended north into the eastern suburbs. Coastal areas were acquired when the neighbouring electorate of Hawker was abolished in 1993.

Boothby was held by Labor for the first eight years of its existence, and it remained a contested seat until the Menzies government came to power in 1949. This began a long-term trend to the Liberals which peaked in the 1970s, when margins were consistently in double digits. The seat’s member from 1981 until 1996 was Steele Hall, former Premier and figurehead of the early 1970s breakaway Liberal Movement. A trend to Labor became evident after the election of the Howard government in 1996, with successive swings recorded over the next five elections. The swing that occurred amid the otherwise poor result of the 2004 election was particularly encouraging for Labor, and raised their hopes at both the 2007 and 2010 elections. On the former occasion, Right powerbrokers recruited what they imagined to be a star candidate in Nicole Cornes, a minor Adelaide celebrity and wife of local football legend Graham Cornes. However, Cornes was damaged by a series of disastrous and heavily publicised media performances, and was only able to manage a swing of 2.4% compared with a statewide result of 6.8%. Perhaps reflecting a suppressed vote for Labor, the seat swung 2.2% in their favour at the 2010 election, compared with a statewide result of 0.8%. However, that still Labor 0.8% short of a win they had desperately hoped for to buttress losses in Queensland and New South Wales. With the seat off Labor’s target list in 2013, Southcott enjoyed a comfortable victory on the back of a 6.5% swing, which was 1.0% above the statewide par. Labor’s candidate in both 2010 and 2013 was Annabel Digance, who is now running in the seat of Elder for the March 15 state election.

Boothby has been held since 1996 by Andrew Southcott, who first won preselection at the age of 26 ahead of Robert Hill, the leading factional moderate in the Senate. The Right had reportedly built up strength in local branches with a view to unseating its bitter rival Steele Hall, and turned its guns on Hill as a “surrogate” when denied by Hall’s retirement. Unlike Hill, who went on to become government leader in the Senate, Southcott has led a fairly low-key parliamentary career, taking until after the 2007 election defeat to win promotion to Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, Apprenticeships and Training. After standing by Malcolm Turnbull in the December 2009 leadership vote, Southcott was demoted by a victorious Tony Abbott to parliamentary secretary, a position he has retained in government. Southcott’s preselection at the 2010 election was challenged by former state party president Chris Moriarty, following disquiet in the party over his fundraising record. However, Moriarty was heavily defeated, his challenge reported losing steam when Kevin Rudd’s first bid to return to the Labor leadership came to a head in February 2012.

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.

1,687 comments on “Seat of the week: Boothby”

Comments Page 31 of 34
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  1. [Centre
    Posted Monday, February 24, 2014 at 9:37 pm | PERMALINK
    rummel

    You obviously support the torture, bashings and killings inflicted on AS by the Abbott government.]

    Obviously!

  2. ESJ

    I didn’t even know the opposition Heath ministers name until I looked her up just then. A lot of them aren’t landing any blows.

  6. I think that’s right Diogenes re the oppo shadows. A coup for shorten would be to get a safe seat holder to retire and get someone high profile in through a by election who could make an immediate impact.

  7. The lack of cricket or much else worth watching on TV these days, plus my aversion to paying Rupert the unbearable for Foxtel, has led me to discover just how many documentaries are now on Youtube. This one I just watched is excellent.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5Iu1QM2oeE

    It is by Al Jazheera on the Yom Kippur war in 1973. It did not seem too biased, with lots of historic footage and interviews with veterans on both sides. Those interested in mid east politics should find it fascinating. Some of the interviews are quite moving. The evident lack of knowledge of how many men they lost on the Egyptian side is striking.

  9. ESJ

    That defamation action was a big mistake. I think he was badly advised or there was lots of pressure to deny everything due to the hung parliament.

  10. Well I think it’s fair to say the coppers had as much enthusiasm for prosecuting thommo as most Australians have for a colonoscopy exam.

    His best bet was rapid obscurity – except thommo the moron chose the exact opposite.

  12. I deplore Thomson’s behavior.

    I deplore the behavior of corporations and individuals who take people’s life savings as an investment then do bankrupt destroying those people’s lives and their savings.

    Then the asrehole executives continue to live their millionaire lifestyles.

    Despite all that is wrong with what Thomson did, and all that is wrong with members of unions taking bribes….Never seen a Union declare bankrupt and ruin the lives of its membership (investors)

  13. Agree dio, thommos friends in the alp dun him no favours, that’s why I reckon he will rat some of these people out next month.

  17. Craig Thomson is no longer in Parliament, he has been convicted and will shortly be sentenced. Should there be issues of recoverey of losses, legal channels are available to adversely affected parties to follow these up. As for Labor, it needs to have a look at its presection processes. The HSU needs to look at their financial controls.

    But Mr Thomson’s misdeeds are no longer a matter of national importance, much as the Abbott Government and its apologists wants to keep it front and centre, along with boats and batts. They keep banging on about it to deflect attention from their lies, an upcoming harsh budget and their ongoing failures. The conversation should be about jobs, jobs, jobs, NBN, Medicare, education…

  18. Thommo should’ve been disendorsed at the 2010 election.

    Indeed he should have been disendorsed. There was enough information available at the time to indicate there was a problem there.

    More than Thomson thinking he could brazen it out, the NSW ALP thought they could brazen it out.

    They were clearly wrong.

    Of course the hung parliament amplified the issue in a way that was unforeseeable, but the NSW ALP has shown on too many occasions that they thought they could just sweep problems under the carpet, and this clearly caused many of the NSW ALP problems that see them in an ongoing world of pain.

    What’s that saying? When in doubt, ditch it?

    Being an MP and a candidate for a party is not something that one has an automatic right to. You don’t get a “presumption of innocence” – the ALP needed to be more proactive in checking up on what the SMH reported, and even if they only scratched the surface of the HSU mess, they should have realized that Thomson was a risk and shouldn’t have been endorsed.

  19. AA

    Who do you think were the ones left with all the money just before the start of the GFC?

    They can’t take it to hell with them and their kids all do drugs!

  21. [there’s something about people coming on boats that really riles people]

    I see it as a form of perverted denialism. Our modern society is based on boat people invading this country & destroying the endemic population.

  28. Re Rummel @1464: I did poo poo SHY’s call for a royal commission, but one could be argued for to see how things went from zero boats to 1101 deaths since the 07 election.

    The Coalition refused to support the Malaysia solution because they wanted the boats to keep coming in the runup to the coming Federal election. So if you’re going to argue the ‘blood on Labor’s hands’ thing, then Abbott and Morriscum can wear responsibility for drowning deaths since late 2011.

    Instead of playing politics with the asylum seeker issue, apparently now trying to out-nasty the Taliban, why don’t we try to actually address the problem with due regard for Australian and International law, our treaty obligations and common humanity. For a start,we’ll need to talk to the neighbours. There are no simple moral solutions.

  29. [but the NSW ALP has shown on too many occasions that they thought they could just sweep problems under the carpet]

    Just one name has come to illustrate the failure of the NSW ALP: Obeid.

    Thomson’s misdemeanors pale into insignificance when contrasted against the corruption allegedly wrought by this man.

  31. BK:

    If the Liberals are now allowing Briggs onto shows like Qanda it tells me they are well aware of their need to succession plan.

    The coalition has finally realised that Labor was on the money in pushing its younger members onto these platforms to hone their media skills in an environment which demands sharpness, yet allows them to sail under the radar of the wider electorate in the event they stuff up.

  33. @EDJ/1532

    In return for your post:

    Tony Windsor ‏@TonyHWindsor 5m

    #QandA Does this mean John Howard’s brother will return his Govts largesse

  35. [Instead of playing politics with the asylum seeker issue, apparently now trying to out-nasty the Taliban, ]

    I must have missed the news of the Government beheading people, shooting Girls, forcing children to wear suicide vests…

    Talk about blasting of the reservation.

  38. @EDJ/1537

    So how about an RC into Corporate donations then?

    Also, an inquiry into who was ordered to use National Heritage Trust Account into Pink Batts?

  39. BK, I see Briggs occasionally at the local cafe. All I can say in his favor is he is better than the last one windbag who represented us.

  44. @Mod Lib/1540

    Jamie Briggs?
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/fish-business-gets-a-federal-handout-but-fruit-is-on-the-nose-20140204-31zio.html

    “Within minutes of Treasurer Joe Hockey declaring an end to ”the age of entitlement” on Monday Assistant Infrastructure Minister Jamie Briggs stood on a highway on the outskirts of Hobart and announced a grant of $3.5 million to a Tasmanian seafood processor, Huon Aquaculture.”

    “As it happens the proportions are roughly similar to those asked for by SPC Ardmona to save its fruit canning plants in Victoria. SPC had suggested $25 million from the state government, $25 million from the Commonwealth and $90 million from itself. In fact, as a proportion of the total, SPC had asked the Commonwealth for less than Huon – $2 in every $10 rather than $3.”

    I’m sure he’s been fantastic with keeping his job?

  46. [Everything
    Posted Monday, February 24, 2014 at 10:18 pm | PERMALINK
    Its funny how different the perspectives can be, isn’t it? I think Briggs has been fantastic tonight.]

    I agree.. Also the two Labor people who would be both better as opposition leader then Shorten.

  48. [Everything
    Posted Monday, February 24, 2014 at 10:21 pm | PERMALINK
    What is it that Briggs said that has so enraged you all?]

    It just ‘rage against the right’ . It will be chronic for about ten years.

  50. rummel:

    You won’t have to wait long, Ged will be endorsed for a safe seat soon enough, its a well worn path:

    Union -> ALP candidate

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