Liberal candidate for Adelaide describes part of electorate as ‘poor end of town’

THE Liberal candidate running for the seat of Adelaide at the upcoming federal election has described part of the electorate as “the poor end” of town.

new Liberal Candidate for Adelaide David Colovic at Norwood Town Hall after his selection. Picture Campbell Brodie.

• IN DEPTH: Meet the man who will take on Kate Ellis

THE Liberal candidate running for the seat of Adelaide at the upcoming federal election has described part of the electorate as “the poor end” of town.

Insolvency litigator David Colovic, 50, who was preselected on Saturday, made the gaffe this morning when asked whether he could relate to voters in all areas of the electorate, which includes suburbs such as Prospect, Kilburn, Blair Athol, Clearview, Northfield and Greenacres.

“I live just off Prospect Road, I often shop at the poor end,” Mr Colovic told 891 ABC Adelaide.

“I’ve ridden mornings through the barren streets of Kilburn, I’ve played and coached sport in Enfield, I’ve got a Costco membership card in my wallet.

“I know this electorate, particularly the northern aspect of it, as well as anyone.”

Mr Colovic, of Fitzroy, is a governing council member of St Peter’s College, where he attended before graduating from Adelaide and Melbourne Universities.

He has been married to Royal Adelaide Hospital radiographer, Dr Meredith Thomas, 52, for 23 years and has five children — Henry, 21, Angus, 18, Sam, 16, Charlie, 15, and Emma, 13.

The critical 75sq km seat of Adelaide, taking in the CBD and inner suburbs including Ashford, Parkside, Norwood, Prospect and Enfield, is held by Labor’s Kate Ellis with a 3.9 per cent margin.

Ms Ellis took to Twitter to criticise Mr Colovic’s comment.

“Lib candidate showing true colours already. The job is to promote & stand up for our wonderful community, not refer to is as ‘the poor area’” she tweeted.

When asked about Mr Colovic’s gaffe by The Advertiser, Ms Ellis said in a statement: “Other people can judge the Liberal candidate’s comments for themselves”.

“What I will say is that it is an absolute privilege to represent every part of the Adelaide community, and I’ll always strive to promote our great suburbs, support our local residents and stand up for our community,” she said.

Mr Colovic went on to say that he felt he would be able to “relate and communicate with all four corners of this diverse electorate”.

Mr Colovic is not the first Liberal candidate to find himself in hot water for insulting potential voters.

Ahead of the 2014 state election it was revealed that Anthony Antoniadis, the Liberal candidate for Ramsay — a safe Labor seat centred on Salisbury — had made a series of offensive comments about people living in the area in a series of Facebook posts between 2010 and 2014.

These included posts such as: “mmmm, yum!!! I love it when I can smell customers from 10 meters (sic) away!!!! #5108 #lynx #niveaformen #isle (sic) 14 #woolworths’’.

He also made fun of some of the customers who played the newsagency’s Keno gambling game and questioned whether some of his potential constituents wanted to work.