Electoral district of Fisher

This article is about the South Australian state electorate. For the Australian federal electorate, see Division of Fisher.
Fisher
South Australia—House of Assembly

Map of Adelaide, South Australia with electoral district of Fisher highlighted

Electoral district of Fisher (green) in the Greater Adelaide area
State South Australia
Created 1970
MP Nat Cook
Party Australian Labor Party (SA)
Namesake James Hurtle Fisher
Electors 25,829 (2014)
Area 94.2 km2 (36.4 sq mi)
Demographic Metropolitan
Coordinates 35°5′31″S 138°36′57″E / 35.09194°S 138.61583°E / -35.09194; 138.61583Coordinates: 35°5′31″S 138°36′57″E / 35.09194°S 138.61583°E / -35.09194; 138.61583

Fisher is an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia. It is named after James Fisher, a colonial politician and the first mayor of Adelaide. It covers a 94.2 km² suburban and semi rural area on the southern fringes of Adelaide, taking in the suburbs of Aberfoyle Park, Chandlers Hill, Cherry Gardens, Coromandel East, Happy Valley, Reynella East and parts of Clarendon, O'Halloran Hill and Woodcroft.

Before the 1983 electoral redistribution, Fisher took in the Blackwood area and was a safe Liberal seat, held by Stan Evans. The redistribution turned it into a marginal "mortgage belt" seat on a notional Liberal 2.1 percent two-party margin. The bulk of Evans' base was shifted to neighbouring Davenport, prompting Evans to transfer there. Philip Tyler won it for the Labor at the 1985 election as Labor's second-most marginal seat. It fell to Liberal Bob Such at the 1989 election. Such substantially increased his margin at the 1993 election landslide.

Changes in demographics during the 1990s made Fisher a marginal to fairly safe Liberal seat, but the Liberals lost control of the seat when Such resigned from the party to sit as an independent MP from October 2000. Such successfully retained his seat with an increased margin at the 2002 election. Such as an independent MP served as Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly from 2005 to 2006 in the Mike Rann Labor government. He subsequently retained his seat with another margin increase to 16.7 percent at the 2006 election, despite early reports that the seat may fall to either the Labor or Liberal parties. The outcome of the 2006 election saw Such face former President of Australian Young Labor Amanda Rishworth on the two-candidate vote as opposed to a Liberal candidate in 2002, and Labor finished ahead of the Liberals on a 59.4 percent two-party vote from a 15.1 percent two-party swing, marking the first time since the 1985 election that Labor won the two-party vote in Fisher. Rishworth went on to win the federal seat of Kingston at the 2007 election, which takes in suburbs to the south west of Fisher. At the 2010 election, Such again retained Fisher on a virtually unchanged margin however he once again faced a Liberal candidate on the two-candidate vote, and again at the 2014 election, however on a significantly decreased 9.4 percent margin.

Such was diagnosed with a brain tumour a week after the 2014 election and died on 11 October. A 2014 Fisher by-election occurred on 6 December. Labor's Nat Cook won the by-election by five votes from a 7.3 percent two-party swing, giving Labor a majority by one seat. On a 0.02 percent margin, it is the most marginal seat in parliament.[1][2]

Members for Fisher

Member Party Term
  Stan Evans Liberal and Country 1970–1974
  Liberal 1974–1985
  Philip Tyler Labor 1985–1989
  Bob Such Liberal 1989–2000
  Independent 2000–2014
  Nat Cook Labor 2014–present

Election results

Fisher state by-election, 2014[3][4][5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Heidi Harris 7,413 36.1 +1.0
Labor Nat Cook 5,495 26.7 +9.0
Independent Continue Such's Legacy Dan Woodyatt 4,789 23.3 +23.3
Independent Honest True Local Dan Golding 880 4.3 +4.3
Independent Leading the Community Rob de Jonge 809 3.9 +3.9
Greens Malwina Wyra 708 3.4 −1.3
Stop Population Growth Now Bob Couch 270 1.3 +1.3
Independent Australian Democrats Jeanie Walker 195 0.9 +0.9
Total formal votes 20,559 96.1 −1.5
Informal votes 841 3.9 +1.5
Turnout 21,400 82.9 −10.5
Two-party-preferred result
Labor Nat Cook 10,284 50.02 +7.27
Liberal Heidi Harris 10,275 49.98 −7.27
Labor gain from Independent Swing +7.27

Notes

  1. ↑ 2014 Fisher By-election: Antony Green ABC
  2. ↑ Fisher by-election win for Labor gives Weatherill Government majority in SA: ABC 13 December 2014
  3. ↑ Results, 2014 Fisher by-election: Antony Green ABC
  4. ↑ Results, 2014 Fisher by-election: ECSA
  5. ↑ Polling booth results, 2014 Fisher by-election: ECSA
  6. ↑ Final results, 2014 Fisher by-election: ECSA

References

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