The Labor Party is currently seeking candidates for the seats of Mount Gambier and MacKillop in a bid to end a near half-century absence from this region in the Lower House.
The next poll is just over a year away with incumbent MacKillop Liberal Nick McBride, pictured below, unopposed in party preselection while Liberal-turned-Independent Troy Bell will be seeking a third term in Mount Gambier.
The Labor Party primary vote in MacKillop at the 2018 election was 9.8% while the party’s share in Mount Gambier was 9.9%. The last Labor politician to win a House of Assembly seat in this region was one-time Premier Des Corcoran.
He was elected to succeed his retiring father Jim Corcoran in the now-defunct electorate of Millicent in 1962 and served for 13 years. Millicent had its own Labor Party sub-branch for much of the post-war period but it went into recess several years ago.
Meanwhile, the MacKillop electorate will have almost 3200 extra voters at the next State poll in March 2022. The Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission has confirmed its earlier proposal to expand the 25,312km district to include Pinnaroo, Lameroo and Tailem Bend
A change was necessary as a result of declining population rates in the rural electorate compared to the rest of South Australia.
