Could the Libs buy the farm in Finniss?

With the relentless campaign focus on four Liberal-held metropolitan marginals, the party is experiencing a little local difficulty in some of its safer seats.

Those of course include the likes of Kavel, Narungga and Waite, where the Libs are trying to win back their own seats from the guys the party installed there in the first place.

But InDaily understands there is discontent brewing in the notionally safe Fleurieu seat of Finniss, with some Liberal branch members privately confirming they are planning to vote for energetic independent Lou Nicholson instead of incumbent former dairy farmer David Basham.

David Basham (left) was elected to Finniss in 2018. Photo: David Mariuz / InDaily

The Primary Industries and Regional Development Minister won the seat after the 2018 retirement of Michael Pengilly, who returned to local politics on Kangaroo Island and has arguably maintained a higher public profile than his successor.

One issue that has some locals miffed is the future of health services in Victor Harbor – which boasts the oldest average population in SA and among the oldest in the nation.

Insiders say the Victor Harbor Private Hospital is in desperate need of dedicated palliative care, early-onset dementia and mental health services, with the governing board eager to expand the site – having been offered first dibs on a property directly across the road.

One source says the area’s health advisory council has offered to buy the house without borrowing any money – but it needs sign-off from the Health Minister Stephen Wade to do so, “and for some reason or other that approval doesn’t seem to be forthcoming”.

In a statement, Wade insists that “the Southern Fleurieu Health Service at Victor Harbor already has significant land holding and built infrastructure with substantial capacity to accommodate future requirements for the region”.

“A Clinical Services Plan is being developed for the Southern Fleurieu, as well as the broader Barossa Hills Fleurieu Health Network, based on a 10-15 year planning horizon,” he says, adding that the “Barossa Hills Fleurieu Local Health Network Board has not put a proposal to me to purchase more land”.

“We are already expanding services at the site including an expanded Emergency Department, Renal Dialysis Unit and Central Sterile Services Department, as part of a $10.4 million expansion,” he said.

However, local Liberals have told InDaily there is a strong sense of Finniss missing out because it’s a safe seat – with some openly canvassing switching their vote to Nicholson, an independent in the Rebekha Sharkie mould.

Nicholson says the proposed land purchase could have been “purchased using money set aside by the Southern Fleurieu Health Advisory Council – money that is meant to be used for improving services in our region”.

“As a community, it is incredibly frustrating not to have our needs acknowledged or recognised by our sitting MP or Minister for Health and Wellbeing, let alone any indication of a plan to address them,” she said.

With a notional 14.6 per cent margin, it would take a fair protest vote to lose Basham his seat. But even if he did, the former dairy farmer looks set to land on his feet: his 297-hectare property near Mount Compass is currently on the market, seeking offers above a cool $7.25 million.

“My family has made a business decision to put the farm on the market,” he says.

“I am 100 per cent focussed on representing the people of Finniss as their local MP… and I look forward to continuing to deliver for my local community.”

A Lot of good publicity

With the Government in caretaker mode, it seemed an odd time for Channel 7 to screen a Sunday arvo doco singing the praises of the Premier’s pet project – Lot Fourteen.

The renewal of the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site is oft-spruiked by Steven Marshall, who has already made two media appearances there since the campaign began.

So a puff-piece highlighting “what’s really going on behind the scenes” (spoiler: it’s all good) which aired on Seven this week seemed oddly-timed.

Check out @Channel7's latest promo on our innovation district – Lot Fourteen. We are so excited to see this piece come to life as a huge boost for South Australia.

Make sure you tune in this Sunday at 4.30pm on @7plus. pic.twitter.com/XvptxOYhzb

— Lot Fourteen (@LotFourteen) March 4, 2022

Though it was certainly good timing for the Government, with the doco enthusiastically amplified on social media by Liberal frontbencher David Pisoni – who told InDaily it wasn’t part of his portfolio per se but he was always happy to promote the state’s successes.

But on the face of it, it appears to breach the Government’s own caretaker provisions, which state that “agencies should take additional care during the caretaker period to ensure that agency resources are not used to support any particular political party”.

“At the beginning of the caretaker period, agencies should review their advertising campaigns and promotions and consider whether these should be placed on hold until after the election,” the guidelines state.

“Agencies should avoid active distribution of material that promotes government policies or emphasises the achievements of the government.”

This Sunday, find out what’s really going on behind the scenes at Lot Fourteen in a brand new @Channel7 program all about the innovation district!

Hear from the amazing companies, research institutions and startups tackling some of the world’s biggest problems right here in SA. pic.twitter.com/DfGg42EAok

— Lot Fourteen (@LotFourteen) March 2, 2022

A Seven spokesman told InDaily in a statement that “this short documentary program was produced to highlight the extraordinary structural feat and scale of the Lot 14 precinct development”.

“There was no input at any point of the production and filming process from either political party, as well as no mention of either political party or details on funding of the precinct in the program itself,” they said.

However, that doesn’t quite square with what the Government itself tells us, with a spokesperson for the Premier’s Department telling us that revisions were made to the feature once it became clear it was scheduled to run during the caretaker period.

“When we became aware of Channel 7’s revised air date for the Lot Fourteen segment, content amendments were implemented to ensure the segment complied with caretaker conventions,” they said.

The feature wasn’t directly funded by government, but ran as a corollary to other media investments.

“Through its annual negotiations with media outlets, the State Government receives added media benefits that are shared across government and are used to communicate initiatives of public interest,” DPC says.

It’s understood several changes were made before broadcast, including the removal of references to government investment and job numbers, as well as an appearance by Marshall himself.

The Government says the segment was originally scheduled to air last November and was rescheduled by Channel 7.

Tarzia tries to save face but loses his head

Of course, caretaker provisions are convention only, so there’s no penalty for breaching them – and often no-one to complain to either.

It’s a different matter for breaching electoral regulations, with the Electoral Commission regularly adjudicating spats between the warring parties.

Labor had a win this week, when Liberal frontbencher and MP for Hartley Vincent Tarzia was told to remove a giant billboard featuring… well, Vincent Tarzia.

The mammoth vanity piece, a few hundred metres from his electorate office, was referred to the commission as having contravened a stipulation that election posters should be limited to one square metre, with Tarzia ordered to remove the offending item.

It’s understood he initially appealed the order.

In a statement, a party spokesperson said that the billboard space had been used before, both for Tarzia’s previous campaign, and “others including former Labor MP Grace Portolesi”.

“The space was booked again for the 2022 election campaign in good faith, and for the same reasons in 2014 and 2018, but will be removed following a request from the Electoral Commission of South Australia,” they said.

If it seems the Hartley campaign has a bit of cash to throw about, that corresponds with a financial statement sent to InDaily by an anonymous serial leaker purporting to be a “Concerned Liberal”, which suggested the SEC’s coffers boasted almost $135,000 as of last June.

According to the source, the war chest was putting a few noses out of joint in other areas “running on the smell of an oily rag” – particularly given Tarzia didn’t even have a Labor opponent until relatively late in the piece.

Meanwhile, the Libs were keen to point out to InDaily that giant billboards are by no means exclusive to the Government side.

Campaign Diary is a regular feature in the lead-up to the election, taking you to all corners of the campaign.