Hurtle Vale – SA 2022

ALP 8.3%

Incumbent MP
Nat Cook, since 2018. Previously member for Fisher 2014-2018.

• Geography
• Redistribution
• History
• Candidates
• Assessment
• 2018 result
• Booth breakdown
• Results maps

Geography
Southern Adelaide. Hurtle Vale covers northern parts of the City of Onkaparinga, including Reynella East, Woodcroft, Hackham, Hackham West and parts of Happy Valley.

Redistribution
Hurtle Vale shifted south, losing Old Reynella and the remainder of Morphett Vale to Reynell, while gaining Hackham West from Reynell, gaining Hackham from Kaurna and gaining the western edge of Heysen. These changes increased the Labor margin from 5.5% to 8.3%.

History
Hurtle Vale was created as a new seat in 2018, primarily replacing the seat of Fisher, which had existed since 1970. The seat was Liberal-held at all but one election throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, with the ALP winning the seat for one term in 1985. The sitting Liberal MP became an independent in 2000, and has held the seat ever since.

Stan Evans won Fisher in 1970, after first being elected as Member for Onkaparinga just two years earlier in 1968. Evans held the seat until 1985.

The redistribution prior to the 1985 election made Fisher much less safe, and shifted much of the seat into the neighbouring district of Davenport.

Evans decided to challenge Davenport Liberal MP Dean Brown for his preselection. Brown won Liberal preselection, but Evans ran for Davenport as an independent and was elected. Evans ended up sitting as a Liberal MP, and was re-elected in Davenport in 1989 before passing the seat on to his son Iain Evans at the 1993 election. Brown returned to Parliament in 1992 at a by-election, led the Liberal Party to victory at the 1993 election and served as Premier from 1993 to 1996.

The ALP’s Philip Tyler won Fisher, but lost four years later in 1989 to Liberal candidate Bob Such.

Such was promoted to the frontbench when Dean Brown became Liberal leader in 1992, and served as a minister from 1993 until Brown was deposed as Premier in 1996, when he was demoted to the backbench.

Such was discontented with the government, now led by John Olsen, and in 2000, facing a preselection challenge, he resigned from the Liberal Party.

Such was re-elected at the 2002 election, now as an independent, defeating Liberal candidate Susan Jeanes.

Such became Deputy Speaker after the 2002 election, and served as speaker from 2005 to 2006.

Such was re-elected as an independent at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 elections. Such was diagnosed with a brain tumour one week after the 2014 election and immediately took leave from parliament. He died later that year.

The 2014 by-election saw an independent in the Such mould face off against major party candidates. In a surprise result, Labor’s Nat Cook managed to get to second place on primary votes and then win a narrow victory on independent preferences.

Cook was re-elected as the member for the new seat of Hurtle Vale in 2018.

Candidates

• Rob De Jonge (Independent Serving the Community)
• Nick Robins (Liberal)
• Nat Cook (Labor)
• David Sires (Family First)
• Joseph Johns (Greens)
• Lionel Zschech (Family Party)

Assessment
Hurtle Vale is a reasonably safe Labor seat.

2018 result

2018 two-party-preferred result

Booth breakdown

Booths in Hurtle Vale have been divided into three areas: central, north and south.

Labor won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in all three areas, ranging from 56.6% in the centre and north to 64.3% in the south.

Election results in Hurtle Vale at the 2018 South Australian state election
Toggle between two-party-preferred votes and primary votes for Labor, the Liberal Party and SA-Best.

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