Electorate profile — Cheltenham: Will Jay Weatherill’s seat remain a Labor heartland?

JAY Weatherill may be a household name in the Labor bastion of Cheltenham. But could that all change?

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PEOPLE living in the suburbs covered by the electorate of Cheltenham have been voting for Labor for the best part of five decades.

Cheltenham — and the seat of Price that it replaced in 2002 — has been in Labor’s hands through good and bad since 1970.

Since 2002, the local MP has been former lawyer and unionist Jay Weatherill, who became Premier in October 2011.

Mr Weatherill has since gone on to lead the Labor Party to electoral victory in 2014, after he struck a deal to form government with independent Frome MP Geoff Brock when his party failed to win as many seats as the Liberal Party.

Cheltenham is seen as one of the safest Labor seats in the state.

Jay Weatherill has a beer with his father George at the Lockleys Hotel after filing election writs with the Governor last month.

But the introduction of a third political force — Nick Xenophon’s SA Best — has thrown a spanner in the works for both Labor and the Liberals across the state.

Energy consultant John Noonan is contesting the seat for the new party formed by the former senator.

If there is a swing against Labor and the Premier’s vote softens, Mr Noonan could secure the seat from second place with the help of prefer­ences.

Baker Allan Davies owns and runs Swiss Cheesecakes, a wholesale and retail bakery that has operated on Findon Rd for 18 years, a stone’s throw from Mr Weatherill’s office.

Under the shop’s till, Mr Davies has a picture of himself shaking the Premier’s hand.

He even baked the Premier a birthday cake for his 50th birthday and had it delivered to his office.

But despite seemingly ­having a soft spot for the Labor leader — whom he describes as “a people person” — he suggests that Mr Weatherill may no longer be the flavour of the month (or el

ectoral term).

“A lot of people are talking about Xenophon,” Mr Davies said. “Although this is mostly a Labor area because we have the top head honcho (Jay Weatherill) here.

“I am leaning toward him. He is a people person. However, I have told him I think he should get out more, get down the streets and talk to people.

“He then asked me ‘How is business going?’ and I said ‘How long have you got?’ ”

Mr Davies said the big issue is that of power prices.

“For businesses, power has gone up and up and up but you can’t keep putting your prices up,” he said.

“I am interested in Xenophon as an alternative but I don’t like (Liberal leader Steven) Marshall at all. He whinges about the other lot but he never seems to come up with any ideas of his own.”

Asked if he was aware of the Liberal policies for small business — including cuts to payroll tax — Mr Davies said he had not heard about them.

The seat of Cheltenham — which takes in the working-class suburbs of Woodville, ­Albert Park, Beverley, Cheltenham, Findon, Hendon, Pennington Queenstown — is a mix of light industrial and residential. An estimated 9700-plus families live in the electorate.

Cheltenham is also home to an above-average number of people with Vietnamese, Indian and Italian heritage. Woodville and Findon boast some of Adelaide’s best Indian and Vietnamese restaurants.

Golden India Supermarket owner Matthew Kuruvilla. Picture:: TAIT SCHMAAL.

Matthew Kuruvilla, owner of the Golden India Supermarket on the city side of Findon Rd, agrees power prices are a major issues for his customers.

“Power prices are far too high,” the father of two adult children said.

“Even with solar panels and the rebates, there are not great enough benefits.”

A 13-minute walk from Mr Kuruvilla’s shop is the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

The major hospital in Adelaide’s western suburbs was set for a budget scalpel before a State Government rethink last year. But fears that it is being neglected in favour of the city’s shiny $2.3 billion Royal Adelaide Hospital on North Tce has some Cheltenham locals worried.

Mr Kuruvilla said health was a concern for families in the area.

“Our healthcare system is good but sometimes we have to wait far too long to get attention,” he said.

And his tip for the election?

“I think the Liberals will secure government even though Labor is spending a lot of money.”

THE BIGGEST RISK FOR LABOR

ANALYSIS

By Matt Smith

BEING Premier provides an MP with recognition and a public profile that no amount of money or campaigning could ever replicate. But it also restricts how much time you can spend in your electorate.

With a 14.4 per cent margin and a reputation as a Labor stronghold, Jay Weatherill should be feeling super-confident of retaining the seat of Cheltenham.

Premier Jay Weatherill at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Mr Weatherill may have not seen the need to spend too much time in Cheltenham. An issue for the Premier could be whether or not this has been noticed.

In the past week a media event in the electorate highlighted how being the head honcho can also leave you with a target on back. Standing outside the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Mr Weatherill was hoping to spruik infrastructure upgrades for hospitals around SA. But the media event was instead hijacked by a heckler protesting at cuts under the State Government’s Transforming Health measures.

Services at the QEH continue to make headlines. Despite a Government backflip ensuring cardiac, respiratory and cancer services will ­remain at the hospital, there still appears to be a raft of issues, from alleged turf wars to orders for ambulances to bypass the emergency department and instead head to the city.

If the Transforming Health project is to play a part in this election, Cheltenham voters will probably drive past a reminder of the plan a few times a week at least. It may just be the thing that turns the electorate from Labor red to a hue of orange.

FOCUS ON CHELTENHAM

WHERE: A mostly residential district that includes some light industry in the western suburbs. Port Rd runs diagonally northwest across the centre of the ­district and its northern boundary is formed by Grand Junction Rd.

HELD BY: Premier Jay Weatherill.

MARGIN: 14.4 per cent ALP

HISTORY: The district, ­formerly named Price, was created at the 1998 redistribution and first contested and represented in 2002. Following key boundary changes after the 2014 election, Cheltenham gained the suburbs of Beverley and Woodville Park. But Cheltenham lost Athol Park and Royal Park and the remainder of Port Adelaide.

KEY CANDIDATES:

Labor Premier Jay Weatherill, who has held the seat since 2002.

Liberal Penny Pratt, who previously ran in Ashford, was a late candidate.

SA Best’s electrical engineer John Noonan is running on a platform of concern over the politicisation of the public service. Other candidates include Vincent Scali (Independent) and Madeline McCaul (Dignity).

THREE BIG ISSUES

Premier: Being Premier provides an MP with a level of public profile no amount of money or campaigning could replicate. But it also restricts the time in your electorate.

Queen Elizabeth Hospital: Services, or lack thereof, continue to make headlines.

Planning: A controversial deal to build 400 homes on St Clair Oval collapsed in 2016 but not before community angst was levelled at both the local council and the State Government that had brokered a land swap.