Peter Malinauskas, a former part-time trolley collector at Woolworths who is trying to end South Australian Premier Steven Marshall’s stint running the state after one term, is convinced voters will transfer their frustrations about the past three months of pandemic management in the state to the ballot box on March 19.

The state Labor leader expects South Australia will be a bellwether for a national shift in mindset. For most of the first two years of the pandemic, incumbent governments had a distinct advantage. But not any more.