Dunstan by-election: Labor set to snare seat; Rob Simms buoyed by shift in Greens favour

The Greens will immediately turn their attention to taking the seat of Sturt from the Liberals after a surge in their vote at the Dunstan by-election, as Labor stops short of declaring victory.

• Labor set to snare historic win in Dunstan

The Greens will immediately turn their attention to taking the seat of Sturt from the Liberals following a surge in their vote at the Dunstan by-election.

At the end of counting on Saturday, Greens candidate Katie McCusker had polled 22.4 per cent of first preference votes – a rise of about nine per cent from the party’s Dunstan result at the 2022 state election.

In contrast, the Liberal primary in the seat, which had been held by former premier Steven Marshall, had dropped from 46.7 per cent to 40 per cent.

The Labor vote had dropped about three per cent to 32.3 per cent, but candidate Cressida O’Hanlon had polled 53.8 per cent over the Liberals’ Anna Finizio in the two-party preferred count – a swing of 4.4 per cent.

Labor looks set to clinch the seat, but Greens SA co-parliamentary leader Rob Simms said the result has energised his party.

“If we can replicate the results that we saw in Dunstan last night, we will win the seat of Sturt at the next federal election,” he said.

“I think (current Liberal Sturt MP) James Stevens should be very, very nervous indeed today.”

Katie McCusker, Greens candidate for Dunstan and Robert Simms, Greens MLC at the Norwood Rotunda on Sunday. Picture: Dean Martin

The federal electorate of Sturt includes the same suburbs as the state electorate of Dunstan.

Responding to the comments, Mr Stevens said “the contest in Sturt will be very tight”.

“The Greens plans to scrap the AUKUS submarine program, increase housing taxes and cut private school funding will be significant issues in the campaign,” he said.

“I am looking forward to working hard over the next 12 months to engage and communicate the Liberal Party’s positive plans for our local community and our country.”

Mr Simms said, if the swing was replicated, the state seat of Heysen would also fall to the Greens at the next state election.

The seats of Unley and Adelaide are among others that are “in the mix”.

“I’m really excited about the next state election, where we could also win a swag of seats off the Liberal Party,” he said.

“Their vote is going backwards and the Greens are on the rise.”

Labor is poised to snare the seat from the Liberals – the first time a SA government has taken a seat from an opposition at a by-election in 116 years – after both major parties lost ground to the Greens.

Labor has stopped short of declaring victory in Dunstan before a sizable number of outstanding votes are counted this week.

So far, 13,008 of 27,108 votes have been counted.

Under the South Australian electoral system, pre-poll and postal votes are not counted until next week.

Originally published as Dunstan by-election: Labor set to snare seat; Rob Simms buoyed by shift in Greens favour