Former Liberal Troy Bell could spend the next four years propping up South Australia’s next Government, but he’s also likely to spend some of them fighting for his freedom in court. In the latest in our series of insights into life on the campaign trail, we visit a seat in the state’s South-East that plays backdrop to one of the state election’s most intriguing subplots, and which could prove the key to power – but for whom?
An ongoing commitment to fracking in the South-East “completely undermines” the Weatherill Government’s “leadership” on renewables, environmental campaigners claim.
Former state Liberal candidate Peter Gandolfi has confirmed that moderate faction powerbroker Christopher Pyne urged him to stand as an independent against his own party’s candidate in the federal seat of Barker in 2013.
Labor is stepping up its presence in the south-east as it seeks to destabilise the Liberals’ chances of holding the newly-vulnerable seat of Mount Gambier, but incumbent Troy Bell says the move “demonstrates the desperation of a party that will do and say anything to stay in power” – and hasn’t ruled out re-contesting the seat himself.