Election 2018: Tight finish for ALP, Liberals as voters abandon SA Best party, says Sky News-ReachTEL poll

VOTERS have continued to abandon SA Best Leader Nick Xenophon ahead of a historic three-cornered state election set to go down to the wire.

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VOTERS have continued to abandon SA Best Leader Nick Xenophon ahead of a historic three-cornered state election set to go down to the wire.

An exclusive Sky News-ReachTEL poll, released to The Advertiser, shows a further collapse in public support for Mr Xenophon’s new third force, as the two major parties are neck and neck in the battle to form SA’s next government.

The poll of 1380 people was taken on Thursday night and finds an overwhelming mood for change after 16 years of Labor State Government.

However, it has Opposition Leader Steven Marshall only marginally ahead of Premier Jay Weatherill as the best person to lead SA and his Liberal party just a nose in front of Labor on primary support.

IT’S ALL ABOUT TODAY: Major party leaders Nick Xenophon (SA Best), Jay Weatherill (Labor) and Steven Marshall (Liberal) shake hands at the final debate on Wednesday night.

SA Best, led by Mr Xenophon as part of his bid to return to SA politics and become a state government kingmaker after a decade in the Senate, records 16 per cent of the primary vote. That is half the 32 per cent Mr Xenophon’s party achieved in a Christmas Newspoll, and a significant 5 per cent drop since another statewide survey taken this month.

The Liberals have the highest primary support, on 34 per cent. Labor is nipping at their heels on 31 per cent. A series of Advertiser-Galaxy polls have shown key seats are balanced on a knife-edge, with Mr Xenophon unlikely to win his own seat of Hartley in Adelaide’s inner eastern suburbs, Labor facing a serious challenge from SA Best in Whyalla and the northern suburbs and the Liberals with tight contests in the Adelaide Hills.

Among undecided voters, Labor has a slight 52-48 edge over the Liberals, suggesting the late swing back to the State Government witnessed in 2014 could be repeated today.

Voters are split on which party has the best plan to fix the state’s power price crisis, with 41 per cent backing the Liberal plan for new interconnection to other states and 39 supporting Labor’s ambition to “go it alone”. The Liberals are supported as the best to keep young professionals in SA.

Despite the close level of support for the two biggest parties, there is clear dissatisfaction with the path SA is currently on. Fifty-nine per cent of people agree that, after 16 years of Labor in office, SA needs a change of government.

A massive 47 per cent “strongly agree” with that idea.

Voters are also split on what Mr Xenophon should do if he becomes kingmaker.

Thirty-five per cent say he should back Labor, 32 per cent Liberal, and 33 per cent say he should support whichever major party gets the most votes today.

Labor’s push for more renewable energy appears to be resonating with voters, as 41 per cent back lifting the target.

That compares to 30 per cent opposed and 22 per cent undecided. Across the state, a small 4 per cent of people have not decided how they will vote.

However, they were slightly more likely to back Labor over the Liberals when asked.

Mr Weatherill’s final day of campaigning was derailed by a protester, who crashed his press conference with complaints about oil drilling and was led away by security staff.

He had returned to the scene of his infamous showdown with Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg, a suburban garage.

“Here we are, ending this campaign, (with) two billionaires duking it out about who’s going to have the biggest battery here in SA,” he said, referring to plans for a new energy storage at Port Augusta.

“We cannot turn back now. The momentum is growing.”

Mr Marshall said: “We’ve got a big decision to make. Do we want to continue with more dysfunctional Labor government, or hit the reset button?”