The gloss has come of Nick Xenophon and his bold bid for power as mystery surrounds a $1.2 million donation to the Liberals, two weeks out from the South Australian election.
A Newspoll published on Saturday showed primary support for Mr Xenophon's SA-BEST party had slumped to 21 per cent, down from 32 per cent in a similar poll in December.
It leaves SA-BEST a distant third behind the Liberals on 32 per cent and Labor on 30 per cent, although Mr Xenophon is still just ahead of Labor's Jay Weatherill as the preferred premier
Mr Xenophon said he wasn't surprised by the result, with the poll at the end of 2017 "too good to be true".
"This just confirms what I've known all along, that SA-BEST is very much the underdog," he said.
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But he said with two weeks to go to the election, "anything could happen".
"If a week is a long time in politics, then two weeks can be an eternity," he said.
"The fact is, SA-BEST is still doing better than any other third party in this state's history. If we do a little bit better we can make history."
Rather than campaigning, Labor on Saturday was more interested in an apparent $1.2 million donation to the Liberals from Chinese businesswoman Sally Zou.
On Friday Ms Zou tweeted a picture of a cheque for $1,212,018 made out the SA branch of the Liberal Party, a tweet that was deleted soon after.
Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis urged Opposition Leader Steven Marshall to reveal what contact and discussions he had with Ms Zou.
"What is she seeking to influence in the Liberal Party? What is she seeking to do?" he said.
"It is very, very mysterious. It is very intriguing."
Mr Marshall said he had spoken with Ms Zou, probably within the past six months, as she attended Liberal Party functions from time to time.
But he said no cheque had been received by the party.
"We are open to donations in the Liberal Party, don't get me wrong. But no big cheque has been received in the mail recently," he said.
Regardless, Mr Marshall said any such donation would be disclosed according to the rules and would have no impact on a future Liberal government.
"I want to make this point really clear, the Liberal Party isn't open to any donations that might influence our policy," he said.
Mr Xenophon said the reported support for the Liberals showed the need for further reforms to political donation laws, with such large contributions banned.
"Whether they are from big business or big unions, they shouldn't be allowed," he said.
"It buys too much influence, potentially."
Ms Zou did not respond to requests for comment.
