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Liberal leader Steven Marshall (right), SA Best leader Nick Xenophon and Labor premier Jay Weatherill fighting for every last vote in the South Australian election.
Liberal leader Steven Marshall (right), SA Best leader Nick Xenophon and Labor premier Jay Weatherill fighting for every last vote in the South Australian election. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/AAP
Liberal leader Steven Marshall (right), SA Best leader Nick Xenophon and Labor premier Jay Weatherill fighting for every last vote in the South Australian election. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/AAP

South Australia heads to the polls for unpredictable election

This article is more than 6 years old

With Nick Xenophon’s SA Best party running an open ticket, pollsters can only guess at whether Labor or the Liberals will get enough preferences to win

More than 1.2 million South Australians head to the polls on Saturday for one of the most unpredictable elections in the state’s history.

Few pundits are sticking their necks out in an election featuring two evenly-matched major parties and the unique influence of Nick Xenophon’s SA Best, who, by running an open ticket, have left pollsters guessing as to where preferences might go.

The state’s 693 polling places across 47 districts will be open from 8am to 6pm, although a record number of early votes have been recorded for the election. Those ballots won’t be counted until next week, potentially leading to significant delays unless there is a decisive result on the night.

The surge of pre-election-day votes could be an encouraging sign for the Liberal leader, Steven Marshall, who took the unusual step of voting early himself and urged others to do so too, while the Icac report into the Oakden aged care scandal was still fresh in the minds of voters.

Marshall also has the backing of the Murdoch media empire, including the influential daily newspaper, the Adelaide Advertiser, which this week endorsed a change in government after 16 years of Labor.

On Friday the premier, Jay Weatherill, began his last day of the campaign at the West Beach property where he famously ambushed the federal energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, a year ago to the day.

Weatherill promoted his government’s efforts to stand up for South Australians on energy security, unveiling a $10m loan for UK billionaire Sanjeev Gupta’s Port Augusta battery storage project, which would be the largest in the world, superseding the Tesla battery built in South Australia last year.

“This is the single biggest issue facing South Australians,” he said. “We can’t turn back now. The momentum is growing.”

This time however, it was Weatherill who was ambushed, his message interrupted by protester Tadhg Porter, who confronted the Labor leader over allowing exploration for oil and gas in the Great Australian Bight, before being escorted away by security.

Marshall spent the day campaigning at a series of small businesses including an Unley mechanic, spruiking his plan to cut taxes on businesses and deregulate shop trading hours.

He promised the Liberals would fix South Australia’s high electricity costs, despite the independent arbiter finding his party had misled voters over a promise to cut bills by $302.

Marshall also reaffirmed his pledge not to make a deal with Xenophon to form government.

Xenophon spent Friday campaigning the only way he knows how, unleashing what might be his final political stunt in the seat of Hartley, where he is narrowly behind Liberal incumbent Vincent Tarzia.

Xenophon, who did not release costings for his policies, waved a giant plastic bull’s head around in front of reporters, in reference to his election-eve advertisement depicting him in Pamplona fleeing the “bull” coming from the two major parties and the pokies lobby.

“For the first time, in most seats, South Australians have a genuine choice between the major parties,” he said.

“This has been a bit like an ultra-marathon, and we’re going to get across the line, we believe, in a number of seats to make a difference after Saturday.”

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