Attack ad signals start of Labor fight for marginal seat of Boothby

Labor has kickstarted its campaign in the marginal SA seat of Boothby by attacking incumbent MP Nicolle Flint.

Liberal MP Nicolle Flint. Picture: Roy Vandervegt

Labor has kickstarted its campaign in the marginal South Australian seat of Boothby by attacking incumbent MP Nicolle Flint over her support of last year’s leadership spill that saw Scott Morrison become Prime Minister.

Labor this week distributed a flyer to every household in the suburban Adelaide electorate, which stretches from Glenelg in the west to the foothills in the east.

A black and white photo of Ms Flint, a first-term MP and Right faction member, is accompanied by an image of the petition Malcolm Turnbull called for as justification of a leadership spill.

“Nicolle Flint signed the petition to tear down the prime minister,” the ad says.

“She was the ninth person to sign off on Turnbull’s fate, even beating his challenger, Peter Dutton. She followed Tony Abbott and Kevin Andrews and threw the country into chaos.”

A redraw has reduced Ms Flint’s margin from 3.5 per cent to a notional 2.7 per cent.

Ms Flint described the ad as “desperate” and said it was no surprise Labor had “resorted to personal attacks”.

Labor has preselected staffer Nadia Clancy. Some insiders are confident Boothby can be claimed for the first time in 70 years. Alongside Penny Wong and Don Farrell, Ms Clancy, a left-wing faction member and former ABC producer, this week announced $5 million for redevelopment of a sports precinct in Brighton.

Labor senator Alex Gallacher authorised the Boothby attack ads. He said Ms Flint was targeted because she “led with her chin” during the Liberal leadership turmoil.

“If Nicolle voted to get rid of Malcolm Turnbull, fine, I don’t give a rats. But don’t tell the electorate no one is going to know how you voted. We’ve exploited an opportunity Nicolle gave us,” he said.

Senator Gallacher played down Labor’s chances in Boothby because “every single vote needed to be fought for”.

“It’s going to be a really tough fight and we’ve just fired our first shot in the campaign … now other people have to follow it up and double it up,” Senator Gallacher said.

A poll by progressive think tank, The Australia Institute, in Boothby in December found Ms Flint marginally ahead on a two-party basis, 51 per cent to 49 per cent.