History was made in the Wakefield electorate on Saturday.
And the Liberal party increased its stronghold on the Barker seat on polling day.
When member for Wakefield Nick Champion was re-elected in the federal election it was the first time a Labor politician has been returned to the seat.
Mr Champion beat Liberal candidate David Strauss, the Greens’ Jane Alcorn, Family First’s Paul Coombe and the Democrats candidate Darren Hassan to retain the electorate.
“We’ve made history in Wakefield by getting re-elected - the first Labor member to get re-elected in the history of the seat so it’s a terrific outcome for myself obviously and I think terrific for the local community. And I’ve really enjoyed working with many of the locals in getting some of these local projects up like the Hewett Community Centre and others so it’s been terrific. It’s really wonderful.”
Mr Champion celebrated his win at the Salisbury RSL club.
It was the culmination of months of tiring campaigning.
“Obviously at the end of every election campaign, you’re exhausted and I’m no less exhausted this time than last time,” he said.
But battling on, Mr Champion was back at work on Monday.
“Water and broadband, and trades and schools are the top of my priority list,” he said. “Obviously seeing the completion of other projects like the Gawler Rivers project and also the Hewett Community Centre is tremendously important to me.
“We’d obviously like to be at the front of the cue for the National Broadband Network rather than being at the end of it and that’s obviously one area I’ll be lobbying hard on.”
And is the incumbent confident of a Labor win in the federal election?
“I don’t think anyone has confidence at this stage - it depends on how seats fall,” he said.
“We’ve got about another week’s worth of counting and also who the independents support in the parliament so we’ll wait and see.”
Meanwhile, the Liberal’s Patrick Secker brought home victory for the party on Saturday.
“It feels humbling to be re-elected in such a fantastic seat like Barker with an increased majority and bucking the pro-Labor swing in SA,” he said.
Mr Secker, who was on the campaign trail in the Barossa last week, said his focus will be on health, roads and the river.
“What I can achieve will depend on who forms government but I will hope to see real action on the Murray and, better services for rural areas in areas such as health, education, mental health and road infrastructure,” he said.
“Small business and the wine industry will always be the backbone of our region and I will continue to fight for a fair deal.”
“A Liberal victory will give me a better chance of achieving those goals and conversely a Labor victory will mean three more years of a city-centric government that doesn’t understand our needs and aspirations.” Mr Secker has been the member for Barker since 1998. He beat Labor’s Simone McDonnell, the Greens’ Sean Moffat, Family First’s Trevor Honeychurch, and the Climate Sceptics’ Steven Davies to hold onto the seat.
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