NXT could gain its second Lower House berth in seat of Grey

THE once-safe Liberal seat of Grey hung in the balance last night as the Nick Xenophon Team inched closer to gaining its second Lower House seat.

LONG ROAD: Andrea Broadfoot prepares to cast her ballot in Port Lincoln. Picture: ROB LANG

• The voting as it happened in South Australia
• The voting as it happened across the nation

THE once-safe Liberal seat of Grey hung in the balance last night as the Nick Xenophon Team inched closer to gaining its second Lower House seat.

The Australian Electoral Commission notified candidates around 8.30pm that the seat had been put under an “exception” because the two-party-preferred tally for the seat had been geared to be between Liberal and Labor – not the Nick Xenophon Team – and the virtual tally room could not calculate a figure.

The delay came after NXT candidate Andrea Broadfoot drove hundreds of kilometres across the state yesterday in a bid to win the blue-ribbon seat from Liberal Rowan Ramsey, who has held it for nine years.

Mr Ramsey said the counts – which would start again in the next few days – will be close, with a split of ALP preferences to decide the result.

“Of course (I’m) not very confident tonight, but I’m still optimistic,” Mr Ramsey told Sunday Mail last night.

Big booths yet to be counted include Whyalla and Roxby Downs, which Mr Ramsey said “will be difficult” to win.

Ms Broadfoot said she had remained calm and was happy to go to bed last night knowing she hadn’t lost.

Malcolm Turnbull in Whyalla, with Rowan Ramsey, who’s struggling to keep his seat.

“I’d really like to do the job,” she said. “Our goal is to win the seat and ensure that people get the proper representation.”

Ms Broadfoot began the day at polling booths on the Yorke Peninsula before heading to Port Pirie, Port Augusta, Whyalla and, finally, Port Lincoln, where she cast her own vote.

She said people had raised many issues with her that they felt had been ignored by Mr Ramsey and she had been upbeat about her chances.

Jobs and industry growth in the upper Spencer Gulf will remain the major issues facing the member for Grey, because of the precarious position of steelmaker Arrium.

The future of the Whyalla steelworks, which employs 3500 people, attracted national attention during the campaign, with both major parties making multimillion-dollar promises to secure its future. Labor committed $100 million and theCoalition pledged $49.2 million.

It has been in voluntary administration since April after struggling to compete with cheap imports and following a slump in commodity prices.

It was one of a series of blows to the Iron Triangle, following the closure of the Leigh Creek coal mine and the Port Augusta power stations, totalling more than 400 jobs.

Originally published as NXT could gain its second Lower House berth in seat of Grey