LIB 13.8%
Incumbent MP
Steven Griffiths, member for Goyder since 2006.
Geography
Regional South Australia. Narungga covers the Yorke Peninsula, the Copper Coast and other surrounding areas.
Redistribution
Narungga is a new name for the seat of Goyder. Narungga gained Port Broughton, Snowtown, Alford, Bute and Lochiel from Frome, and lost Owen and Hamley Bridge to Frome; Korunye to Schubert; and Port Gawler to Taylor.
History
Goyder has existed since the 1970 election. The seat has never been held by the ALP, mostly having been held by the Liberal Party, along with periods held by an independent and the Liberal Movement.
Steele Hall had held the seat of Gouger from 1959 until 1973. Hall became leader of the Liberal and Country League in 1966, and led the LCL into government in 1968. He served as Premier until the LCL’s defeat in 1970.
Hall resigned as LCL leader in 1972, leading the Liberal Movement as a splinter party from the LCL. In 1973, he moved from Gouger to Goyder, winning the seat off the LCL’s James Ferguson.
Hall resigned from Goyder in 1974 to run for the Senate, triggering a by-election. Hall served in the Senate until 1977, with the Liberal Movement merging back into the Liberal Party in 1976. He later held the federal seat of Boothby as a Liberal MP from 1981 to 1996.
The 1974 Goyder by-election was won by the Liberal Movement’s David Boundy. He rejoined the Liberal Party in 1976, and won Liberal preselection for the 1977 election. His preselection rival, Keith Russack, ran in Goyder as an independent and won, before returning to the Liberal Party.
Russack retired at the 1982 election, and Goyder was won by John Meier. Meier held Goyder for 24 years, retiring in 2006.
Steven Griffiths won Goyder in 2006. He joined the Liberal frontbench in 2007, and he was elected Liberal deputy leader in 2009. He was re-elected in 2010, but was replaced as Liberal deputy leader immediately after the election. Griffiths was re-elected in 2014.
Candidates
Sitting Liberal MP Steven Griffiths is not running for re-election.
- Rebecca Hewett (Conservatives)
- Douglas Milera (Labor)
- Jason Swales (Greens)
- Fraser Ellis (Liberal)
- Sam Davies (SA Best)
Assessment
Narungga would normally be considered a safe Liberal seat. The seat is a strong area for the Nick Xenophon Team (ranked 12th at the 2016 federal election) so SA Best could pose a threat.
2014 election result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Steven Griffiths | Liberal | 11,968 | 53.7 | -4.5 | 53.1 |
| Elyse Ramsay | Labor | 6,394 | 28.7 | +1.6 | 26.6 |
| John Bennett | Family First | 1,633 | 7.3 | +0.1 | 7.2 |
| Bob Nicholls | Independent | 1,126 | 5.1 | +5.1 | 4.5 |
| Graham Smith | Greens | 744 | 3.3 | -1.8 | 3.0 |
| Kim McWaters | Nationals | 416 | 1.9 | +1.9 | 1.8 |
| Others | 3.8 | ||||
| Informal | 878 | 3.8 |
2014 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Steven Griffiths | Liberal | 14,022 | 62.9 | -2.8 | 63.8 |
| Elyse Ramsay | Labor | 8,259 | 37.1 | +2.8 | 36.2 |
Booth breakdown
Booths in Narungga have been divided into three parts: Copper Coast, Yorke Peninsula and the east.
The Liberal Party won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in all three areas, ranging from 58.3% in the east to 68.3% on the Yorke Peninsula.
| Voter group | LIB 2PP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| Copper Coast | 58.7 | 7,356 | 33.7 |
| Yorke Peninsula | 68.3 | 6,373 | 29.2 |
| East | 58.3 | 3,340 | 15.3 |
| Other votes | 61.3 | 4,775 | 21.9 |
Two-party-preferred votes in Narungga at the 2014 SA state election
My prediction: The Nick Xenophon Team did well here in 2016, implying SA Best could do well here, but I’ll call this a likely Liberal hold.
The Liberal Movement, the predecessor to the Democrats, held the predecessor seat of Goyder between 1973-76, although the Democrats never made the top two in the 1990s.