LIB 4.3%
Incumbent MP
Annabel Digance, since 2014.
Geography
South-Western Adelaide. Elder covers the suburbs of Colonel Light Gardens, Melrose Park, Mitchell Park, Clovelly Park, Clapham, Panorama, Pasadena and St Marys.
Redistribution
Elder shifted west, losing Warradale and Oaklands Park to Gibson, Park Holme to Morphett and Ascot Park and Edwardstown to Badcoe. Elder then gained Clapham, Panorama, Pasadena and St Marys and the remainder of Colonel Light Gardens from Waite and Cumberland Park from Ashford. These changes increased the seat’s margin from 1.8% for the ALP to 4.3% for the Liberal Party.
History
Elder has existed since the 1993 election. The seat has been held by the ALP since 1997.
The seat was drawn as a marginal Labor seat in 1993, but was won by the Liberal Party’s David Wade. In 1997, Wade lost to the ALP’s Patrick Conlon.
Conlon became a minister in 2002 when Labor formed government, and served as a minister until he moved to the backbench in early 2013.
Conlon retired in 2014, and Labor’s Annabel Digance won the seat.
Candidates
- Carolyn Habib (Liberal)
- Michael Slattery (SA Best)
- Shawn Van Groesen (Conservatives)
- Annabel Digance (Labor)
- Nick Schumi (Dignity)
- Jody Moate (Greens)
Assessment
Elder has changed dramatically since the last election, with the Liberal position improved by 6%. The Liberal Party will have an advantage, but Labor’s sitting MP will be a strong contender.
2014 election result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Carolyn Habib | Liberal | 8,828 | 41.8 | +2.5 | 47.2 |
| Annabel Digance | Labor | 8,350 | 39.5 | -1.8 | 34.2 |
| Paul Petherick | Greens | 1,990 | 9.4 | -1.7 | 10.9 |
| Cosimo Russo | Family First | 1,035 | 4.9 | +0.3 | 4.4 |
| Nick Schumi | Dignity for Disability | 910 | 4.3 | +4.3 | 3.2 |
| FREE Australia | 0.1 | ||||
| Informal | 787 | 3.6 |
2014 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Carolyn Habib | Liberal | 10,168 | 48.2 | +0.1 | 54.3 |
| Annabel Digance | Labor | 10,945 | 51.8 | -0.1 | 45.7 |
Booth breakdown
Booths in Elder have been divided into three areas: north, south-east and south-west.
The Liberal Party won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in two areas, polling 54.7% in the north and 58.6% in the south-east, while Labor managed 56.8% in the south-west. The Greens vote ranged from 9.3% in the south-west to 11.9% in the north.
| Voter group | GRN prim % | LIB 2PP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| North | 11.9 | 54.7 | 8,212 | 34.1 |
| South-East | 10.8 | 58.6 | 5,337 | 22.2 |
| South-West | 9.3 | 43.2 | 4,862 | 20.2 |
| Other votes | 11.0 | 56.9 | 5,659 | 23.5 |
Election results in Elder at the 2014 SA state election
Click on the ‘visible layers’ box to toggle between two-party-preferred votes and Greens primary votes.
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My prediction: Ugh… another contest where SA Best have made it hard… Given the sitting ALP member, she has an advantage, although the east of the seat is good Liberal territory. Liberal gain/notional hold, but could go either way.