Finniss – SA 2018

LIB 13.7%

Incumbent MP
Michael Pengilly, since 2006.

Geography
Regional South Australia. Finniss covers an area to the south of Adelaide, including Victor Harbor, Goolwa, Port Elliot, Mount Compass, Finniss and the Hindmarsh Valley.

Redistribution
Finniss shifted east, losing Kangaroo Island and the Fleurieu Peninsula, including Yankalilla, to Mawson. Finniss gained Goolwa from Hammond and Finniss from Heysen.

History
The electoral district of Finniss has existed since the 1993 election, and has always been held by the Liberal Party.

Finnis was first won in 1993 by Dean Brown, who led the Liberal Party to the election and became Premier following the Liberal Party’s landslide victory at the election.

Brown had previously held the seat of Davenport from 1973 until 1985, when a redistribution saw Brown compete with a fellow Liberal MP for preselection. Brown won the preselection, but lost to his rival at the general election.

Brown returned to Parliament in 1992 at the Alexandra by-election, triggered by the resignation of Ted Chapman, who had held that seat since 1973.

Brown’s rival John Olsen, who had defeated him for the Liberal leadership in 1982, also returned to Parliament at a by-election in 1992, and Brown defeated Olsen in a race for the Liberal Party leadership.

Brown served as Premier from 1993 until his deposition by Olsen in 1996. He later served as Deputy Premier from 2001 to 2002, and then as Deputy Leader of the Opposition until 2005, retiring in 2006. Brown had won three terms as Member for Finniss.

Finniss was won in 2006 by Michael Pengilly, a former mayor of Kangaroo Island. Pengilly was re-elected in 2010 and 2014.

Candidates
Sitting Liberal MP Michael Pengilly is not running for re-election.

• Russell Skinner (Labor)
• Marc Mullette (Greens)
• Joe Hill (SA Best)
• Bruce Hicks (Conservatives)
• David Basham (Liberal)

Assessment
Finniss would normally be considered a safe Liberal seat, but it is a strong area for Nick Xenophon’s party. Finniss was the third-highest polling seat in the state for NXT at the 2016 Senate election, with a vote of 35.6% after the distribution of minor party preferences. The Liberal Party will also be weakened by the retirement of the sitting MP, so it would not be surprising if SA Best won this seat.

2014 election result

2014 two-party-preferred result

Booth breakdown

Booths in Finniss have been divided into three areas: Goolwa, Victor Harbor and the centre of the seat.

The Liberal Party won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in all three areas, ranging from 60.4% in Goolwa to 62.9% in Victor Harbor.

The Greens vote ranged from 10.8% in Goolwa to 14.1% in the centre. Family First’s vote ranged from 8.2% in Goolwa to 15.5% in the centre.

Election results in Finniss at the 2014 SA state election
Click on the ‘visible layers’ box to toggle between two-party-preferred votes, Greens primary votes and Family First primary votes.

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