Federal election campaign kicks off in SA, with Frydenberg and Albanese in Adelaide and GetUp! targeting seat of Boothby

The federal election campaign kicks off in Adelaide today in everything but name, with two senior MPs in town and the start of a campaign targeting SA’s most marginal Liberal seat.

• Labor vows $95m to fast-track South Rd works
• GetUp! vows to target Boothby voters with thousands of calls
• Green announced candidate for Boothby

The federal election campaign kicks off in Adelaide today in everything but name, with a laser-sharp focus on the state’s most marginal seat.

With a poll date still undecided, Labor will announce fast-tracking the North-South Corridor upgrade, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will spruik the Budget and left-wing activists GetUp! will start the campaign to oust Liberal Nicolle Flint in Boothby.

Ms Flint holds Boothby by just 2.8 per cent, making it SA’s most vulnerable Liberal seat. The federal election is expected to be called on Sunday, with a likely date of May 18, but that hasn’t stopped Opposition infrastructure spokesman Anthony Albanese hitting the ground running.

Liberal MP Nicolle Flint. Picture: Roy Vandervegt

Labor Boothby candidate Nadia Clancy. Picture: AAP / Dean Martin

He will today reveal that construction on the next stage of South Rd — between the Glenelg tram overpass and Tonsley — will be fast-tracked under a Labor government.

The funding, a down payment on its $2.7 billion commitment to the project, would be available within its “first few months” of it winning office.

Labor also will pledge to slash waiting times for cancer treatment and surgery in public hospitals, with a $500 million boost.

Breast reconstructions, colonoscopies and appointments with oncologists and other medical specialists will become a reality sooner under the plan, part of the $2.3 billion funding announced in Bill Shorten’s Budget reply.

Mr Albanese will attend a fundraiser for Ms Flint’s opponent Nadia Clancy at the Wheatsheaf Hotel, Thebarton.

Mr Frydenberg, who has been buoyed by this week’s Newspoll which showed the Coalition closing the margin at 52-48 in the wake of a well-received Budget, will spruik his Government’s tax cuts and apprenticeship packages in Adelaide today.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

Anthony Albanese

Meanwhile, GetUp! will rally up to 200 troops at The Gov in Hindmarsh with a sole aim of unseating Ms Flint, who signed the petition to oust former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. GetUp! national director Paul Oosting said hundreds of locals were showing up to join calling parties, with tens of thousands of calls expected to be made to Boothby voters in the lead-up to the poll.

“Over the next six weeks, GetUp! volunteers will be out in full force to unseat Dutton’s key-backer Nicolle Flint and end the hard right’s hold on power,” Mr Oosting said.

“As long as Flint is in Parliament we can be guaranteed abysmal climate inaction.”

The Advertiser understands the lobby group is planning a media stunt tomorrow, before hosting a climate change debate for Boothby candidates on Thursday night.

Ms Flint has snubbed the event. Labor candidate Nadia Clancy, Greens candidate Stef Rozitis and independent Senator Tim Storer will take part.

Ms Flint said climate change was an important issue and that the Government was taking a “broad range of actions to address this” through its $3.5 billion climate solutions package.

But she would not attend the event because she did not support GetUp!’s “foreign-funded left-wing activist agenda”.

“This is yet another stunt by the group who are blatantly anti-Liberal masquerading as an independent non-political organisation,” Ms Flint said.

“I recently held an environmental forum with my local community groups to discuss local issues of importance with them.

BOOTHBY

Held by: Nicolle Flint (Lib)

Margin: 2.8 per cent

Candidates: Nicolle Flint (Lib), Nadia Clancy (ALP), Stef Rozitis (Greens), Peter Salerno (UAP).

Boundaries: The coast from Glenelg North to Marino, across to Bellevue Heights and Crafers West in the southeast corner and up to Leawood Gardens. Its northern electorate boundaries follow the Glenelg tram line across to Millswood, its most northern point, and traces the Belair train line to Cross Rd.

Flint still favourite to hold on to seat

Analysis — Matt Smith

It is no surprise Nicolle Flint is being targeted with vigour ahead of the federal election.

As the incumbent in the state’s most marginal seat — held by just 2.8 per cent — Ms Flint would have to be nervous.

An orchestrated campaign by Labor, unions and GetUp! to unseat the conservative Liberal is well under way (which also means it is little surprise she is snubbing a GetUp! organised debate on climate change).

The strategy will be two fold.

The first started months ago with flyers highlighting Ms Flint’s role — probably better defined as enthusiasm — in the ousting of former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

The second will be to have the “soft liberal” electorate thinking about Ms Flint’s right-wing views on issues like climate change and the ABC.

But at this point of the cycle, even with polling showing Labor in the box seat for a swing across the country (although the next Newspoll will be telling), it is hard to write off Ms Flint.

The seat has not been held by the Labor Party since 1949.

Ms Flint, a hard worker, also appears to have a two-pronged strategy.

The first is to continue her long-running grassroots campaign, meeting as many people in the electorate as possible, with some good old-fashioned pork barrelling thrown into the mix.

Her second weapon is messaging the so-called “retiree tax” and negative gearing changes under Labor that will have traction in the electorate.

At this point, the combination of these two things would likely be keeping Ms Flint in front. Just.