ALP 7.6%
Incumbent MP
Tony Piccolo, since 2006.
Geography
Northern fringe of Adelaide. Light covers the Gawler area, including Hillier, Evanston, Buchfelde and Ward Belt.
Redistribution
Light shifted north, losing Munno Para West to Taylor and gaining Gawler Belt from Schubert. These changes reduced the Labor margin from 9.9% to 7.6%.
History
Light is a longstanding electorate for South Australian state elections. The seat existed as a multi-member seat from 1867 until 1902. The seat was then restored in 1938 and has existed ever since. Apart from one term in the 1940s, the Liberal Party held the seat continuously until 2006.
The Liberal and Country League won the seat in 1938. The ALP won in 1941, and lost the seat to the LCL in 1944. The LCL held the seat after 1944 for the next sixty years.
In 1970, the LCL’s Bruce Eastick won the seat. He served as the LCL’s leader in opposition from 1972 to 1975, during which time the party was renamed as the Liberal Party.
Eastick later served as Speaker from 1979 to 1982, and retired at the 1993 election.
Malcolm Buckby won the seat for the Liberal Party in 1993. He served as a shadow minister from 2002 to 2004.
In 2006, Buckby suffered a 4.9% swing, and lost his seat to Tony Piccolo. Piccolo has been re-elected three times.
- Benjamin Hackett (Family First)
- Tony Piccolo (Labor)
- David Duncan (One Nation)
- Andrew Williamson (Liberal)
- Brett Ferris (Greens)
Assessment
Light has become a reasonably safe Labor seat.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Tony Piccolo | Labor | 11,906 | 52.8 | +6.0 | 50.7 |
| Karen Mccoll | Liberal | 7,527 | 33.4 | -7.0 | 35.2 |
| Carl Teusner | Australian Christians | 1,525 | 6.8 | -0.3 | 6.8 |
| Felicity Green | Greens | 1,606 | 7.1 | +1.3 | 6.7 |
| Others | 0.6 | ||||
| Informal | 953 | 4.1 |
2018 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Tony Piccolo | Labor | 13,516 | 59.9 | +5.9 | 57.6 |
| Karen Mccoll | Liberal | 9,048 | 40.1 | -5.9 | 42.4 |
Booths in Light 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% in the centre to 61.1% in the south.
| Voter group | ALP 2PP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| Central | 56.0 | 5,478 | 26.9 |
| South | 61.1 | 5,422 | 26.6 |
| North | 56.3 | 3,028 | 14.9 |
| Other votes | 56.6 | 6,423 | 31.6 |
Election results in Light at the 2018 South Australian state election
Toggle between two-party-preferred votes and primary votes for Labor and Liberal.