Watch FIFA World Cup 2026™

LIVE, FREE and EXCLUSIVE

SA 'crucial' for a Labor win: Dastyari

Senator Sam Dastyari says that unless Labor picks up at least one South Australia seat, it won't be able to win on July 2.

Labor Senator Sam Dastyari
Labor Senator Sam Dastyari at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday, Feb. 22, 2016. Source: AAP

Labor won't be able to form government unless it picks up at least one seat from the coalition in South Australia, one of its highest profile senators has warned.

The latest Newspoll shows voters are turning away from the major parties, with a record 15 per cent planning to support independent candidates or a micro-party.

Labor senator Sam Dastyari will campaign in Adelaide with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten on Monday afternoon.

"This is a knife-edge election and ... there's no point pussy-footing around this," he told 5AA radio.

"If we don't pick up at least a seat in Adelaide and South Australia and hang on to all our seats, there's no way we'll be able to form government."

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

The Newspoll of 1867 voters revealed backing for micro-parties and independent candidates jumped by three points in the past fortnight.

That put it at the highest level during a formal election campaign in the poll's 31-year history.

Senator Dastyari blamed the growing independent vote on leadership instability within the two major parties.

"With this huge independent [factor] and obviously we call it the X factor the Xenophon factor, who knows what's going to happen," he said.

"All of a sudden, a seat like Sturt, which you think there's no way [the Liberal's] Christopher Pyne with his immense fundraising ability and his profile, would normally have been in trouble - or even someone as incredibly popular as Kate Ellis in Adelaide."


2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world