First proclaimed for the 1949 Election , Sturt was named for Captain Charles Sturt , nineteenth century explorer and the first European to discover the Murray River . Stretching from Adelaide 's mortgage belt suburbs in the centre-east to the wealthy south-eastern suburbs, Sturt has traditionally been a Liberal Party constituency and has been home to the Wilson political dynasty of father Keith and son Ian .
The 1954 Election saw the Hon Norman Makin capture the marginal liberal seat, but before the 1955 Election shifted to the new, safe seat of Bonython . The 1969 Election saw a 16% swing against Ian Wilson temporarily unseating him, but he was returned at the 1972 Election against the flow of Gough Whitlam 's federal victory. Wilson was a key early member of the progressive Liberal Movement faction within the Liberal Party but refused to leave the Liberals when the Liberal Movement became a separate party. To show there was no love lost, the Liberal Movement ran a candidate in Sturt in the 1974 Election , polling a healthy 7.2%, much of which derived from Wilson’s vote.
The Liberal Movement's successor party, the Australian Democrats , have traditionally polled well in Sturt, highlighted by 13.5% at their first showing in the 1977 Election and 15% in the 1990 Election , the best result by a minor party in Sturt. The Democrats vote has dropped sharply in recent years, they gained only 2.26% in the 2004 Election . Additionally, an independent Liberal contested Sturt at the 1993 Election , polling a respectable 14.6%. The seat is currently the safest for the Liberal party in metropolitan Adelaide on a two-party preferred vote of 56.8 percent.
Despite a redistribution for the 2004 election (losing Norwood and neighbouring suburbs west of Portrush Road to Adelaide, while the eastern boundary of the electorate has been pushed up to the base of the Adelaide Hills, taking the suburbs of Highbury, Paradise, Newton, Athelstone and Rostrevor from Mayo which saw the Liberal margin increase from 8.2% to 8.5%) and a nationwide Liberal two-party preferred swing of 1.79%, Sturt actually saw a swing toward Labor of 1.69%.
Former Young South Australian of the Year and Sturt-based Mia Handshin has been preselected as the Labor candidate for the 2007 Election , who mas been a member of the ALP for three years. {Link without Title}
| |
Sally McPherson
|
| |
Family First
|
| |
4,167
|
| |
478
|
| |
+478
|
|
| |
Tony Barca
|
| |
Labor
|
| |
30,099
|
| |
3455
|
| |
+521
|
|
| |
Zane Young
|
| |
Greens
|
| |
5,279
|
| |
606
|
| |
+228
|
|
| |
Kerrin Pine
|
| |
Democrats
|
| |
1,790
|
| |
226
|
| |
-901
|
|
| |
Brian Richards
|
| |
One Nation
|
| |
597
|
| |
069
|
| |
-241
|
|
| |
Labor
|
| |
Tony Barca
|
| |
37,638
|
| |
4320
|
| |
+169
|
|
| |
Lindsay Simmons
|
| |
Labor
|
| |
23,143
|
| |
2972
|
| |
-203
|
|
| |
Tim Farrow
|
| |
Democrats
|
| |
8,438
|
| |
1083
|
| |
-125
|
|
| |
Mark Cullen
|
| |
Greens
|
| |
3,257
|
| |
418
|
| |
+418
|
|
| |
Brian Richards
|
| |
One Nation
|
| |
2,451
|
| |
315
|
| |
-287
|
|
| |
Neil Aitchison
|
| |
Independent
|
| |
1,081
|
| |
139
|
| |
+139
|
|
| |
Labor
|
| |
Lindsay Simmons
|
| |
32,568
|
| |
4182
|
| |
-046%
|
|
|
