South Australian Labor leader Peter Malinauskas aims to be a state-based version of popular former Labor prime minister Bob Hawke, and wants unions and business to work closely together to expand the economy.

Mr Malinauskas, who is favourite in opinion polls to end Premier Steven Marshall’s hold on power after just one term in an election on March 19, also boasted that the SA Labor Party was the most disciplined and stable of any state-based party around Australia.