Sturt result ‘days away’ with Liberal MP James Stevens expected to secure a second term

It’s looking like Liberal MP James Stevens will hold on to Sturt – but with a huge swing against him in the usually safe Liberal seat.

Liberal MP James Stevens says he won’t “jump the gun” on the election result in the seat of Sturt, despite edging further ahead in the two party-preferred vote.

With 75 per cent of the votes counted, Mr Stevens extended his lead over Labor's Sonja Baram by around 300 votes on Tuesday.

He leads by 1261 votes with about 8000 postal and 4000 absentee votes still to be counted.

Mr Stevens said he is “probably on track to win” barring a catastrophic result in the absentee votes.

“I expect the absentee votes to go against me, but the current trends show the postals going in my favour,” he said.

“I don’t want to jump the gun … Wednesday or Thursday we should be nearing a result.”

He told The Advertiser on Tuesday that a close count was exactly what he was expecting.

“I’m not surprised, it is very similar to Christopher Pyne’s numbers in 2007 when we saw a change in government,” he said.

Incumbent Liberal MP for Sturt James Stevens at the Robin Hood Hotel. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

James Stevens casts his vote at Burnside Primary School. Picture: Dean Martin

“I was slightly nervous I would lose.”

More than 16 per cent of Sturt electors backed Greens at the ballot boxes amid a wave of new support for the party across the country that has been described as a “Greenslide”.

The high Greens vote helped Labor’s Sonja Baram to 49.3 per cent of the two party-preferred tally via preferences on Tuesday.

“A lot of Liberals voted for the Greens, so the message has been heard loud and clear that they were not happy with our position on climate change,” he said.

“Sturt may end up being one of the last metropolitan seats around the country that we now hold and I’m sure my colleagues who have lost their seat would share the same views as to why.”

Sonja Baram (right) at East Torrens Primary School in Hectorville. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

He said the policy on climate change had to be addressed.

“It shouldn’t become a fight within the party because obviously there are more issues than just climate change,” he said.

“However, I don’t believe we can win Government if we don’t win back some of those (metropolitan) seats.”

There were suggestions throughout the campaign that the Liberal Party’s stronghold on the seat of Sturt might fall for the first time since 1972.

The seat was formerly held by frontbencher Christopher Pyne before Mr Stevens was elected in 2019 with a 6.9 per cent margin.

He soared to victory over Cressida O’Hanlon by more than 15,000 votes.

Pre-polling data suggested Labor challenger Sonja Baram had closed the gap on Mr Stevens.

According to a YouGov poll, Mr Stevens was locked in a dead heat with Labor candidate Sonja Baram, sharing 50 per cent of two-party preferred support.

It prompted Anthony Albanese to make an eleventh-hour push on the final day of the campaign by visiting the electorate alongside former prime minister Julia Gillard in a bid to win over undecided voters.

Boothby winner’s hospital priority

Louise Miller-Frost is eager to “hit the ground running” and deliver on key election promises that helped seal her historic victory in the seat of Boothby.

Ms Miller-Frost, pictured, became the first Labor candidate to win the southern suburban Adelaide seat since 1946.

She said she was eager to make her mark to ensure it was not a flash in the pan result.

“I’m going to be a backbencher but my values and the party’s values are aligned and I am keen to start delivering on the commitments we made,” Ms Miller-Frost said.

“I plan to continue to engage and consult people within my electorate on key issues and infrastructure projects to ensure they know they are being heard.”

She said addressing the health system was high on her agenda, starting with the Flinders Medical Centre upgrade.

The $400m joint project between the state and federal governments is expected to deliver more than 100 beds to the facility and include an expansion of the hospital’s intensive care unit. “It’s obviously a key piece of infrastructure and we want the upgrade sooner rather than later,” she said.

“We are going to be rebuilding at the same time the medical centre needs to continue to operate its services, so it will require careful planning alongside the state government.”

Among Labor’s other promises in Boothby was a $200m commitment to remove the Marion Rd level crossing and upgrade intersections with both Anzac Highway and Cross Rd.

She said upgrades to reduce congestion on Marion Rd also would be delivered swiftly.

Ms Miller-Frost was under no illusions that her victory was helped by preferences from the Greens and Climate 200-backed independent Jo Dyer. She said addressing climate change was a top priority for voters in the electorate.