JAMES WAKELIN, REPORTER: Adelaide’s eastern suburbs have long been a Liberal strong hold 

VOX POP:  Jack Batty, a wonderful local MP.

JAMES WAKELIN:  But with polls predicting a Labor landslide not even the blue-ribbon seat of Bragg was considered safe. Party elders called in to shore up support on election day. 

ALEXANDER DOWNER, FMR HOWARD GOVERNMENT MINISTER:  Hardworking local member. 

He’s the incumbent member so I very much hope he wins.

JAMES WAKELIN: Alexander Downer was a long-time foreign minister in the Howard government.

ALEXANDER DOWNER:  This time four years ago the Liberal Party was in federal government and was in the state government and now they’re struggling in opposition.

I mean, people hope that it will be the end of the Liberal Party. I don’t think that their hopes will be fulfilled.

JAMES WAKELIN:  Ashton Hurn was installed as Liberal leader just 105 days ago in an attempt to avoid political oblivion. 

VOX POP:  We just had the leader of the Liberal Party, we just served her about 10 minutes ago. Ashley, what’s her name?

VOX POP:   Ashley Hurn.

VOX POP:  Ashley Hurn.

ASHTON HURN, SA LIBERAL LEADER:  There’s absolutely no doubt about it that things are tough and lessons must be learned. 

JAMES WAKELIN:  Almost immediately, the Liberal losses started coming in.

Among the city seats to fall to Labor, Morialta, Unley, Colton and Hartley, with Bragg the only definite Liberal hold in metropolitan Adelaide.

ALEXANDER DOWNER:  They’ve done as badly, they’ve done worse actually, than they have ever done in my lifetime and sadly, I’m not very young.

JAMES WAKELIN:  But another threat to the Liberals loomed. 

PAULINE HANSON, ONE NATION LEADER:  Major political parties, they come out with the same thing every election …

JAMES WAKELIN:  Last week, David Patton made a bold prediction. He would be elected an MP for One Nation. 

DAVID PATON, ONE NATION: I’m confident that the next time we might meet, I won’t have a cap on my head, I won’t have an orange t-shirt on, and I’ll be in a suit and tie. So yes. Absolutely.

JAMES WAKELIN:  His confidence has proved well founded as, the ABC is predicting he’ll claim Ngadjuri as the party’s first lower house seat in SA. 

CASEY BRIGGS, ABC ELECTION ANALYST:  Right now, One Nation has led on primary votes across a number of regional seats. It looks like they have won at least one seat.

They’re probably on track to win a handful of them. Three or four might be what we might expect at the end of the count as the most likely scenario.

JAMES WAKELIN:  One Nation too polling well in Finnis South of Adelaide but preferences are expected to see independent Lou Nicholson win the seat on her second attempt. 

LOU NICHOLSON, INDEPENDENT: G’day.  I’m Lou Nicholson, independent. Would you like any information. 

JAMES WAKELIN:  Last year, new state laws were introduced banning most political donations.

PETER MALINAUSKAS, SA PREMIER (Social media):  This is the first election that has happened anywhere in the world where all political donations are banned. 

JAMES WAKELIN:  As a result, Lou Nicholson’s campaign was run off public funding.

LOU NICHOLSON:  It’s meant that I have received about $32,000 upfront to use in the campaign, that’s in two instalments, and it has meant that I don’t have to ask for donations.

JAMES WAKELIN:  In total independents look likely to claim up to four seats – all in regional areas.

Across the state, One Nation’s primary vote surged to make it the second most popular party behind Labor. 

VOX POP:  You are the best thing that’s happened in Australia

PAULINE HANSON:  The last time we saw a crowd like this was when we won 11 seats in Queensland in 1998.

CASEY BRIGGS:  The Liberal vote has disintegrated. It’s pretty clear that most One Nation voters are former Liberal voters in this election.

JAMES WAKELIN: Pauline Hanson toured South Australia in the weeks ahead of the poll.

But the One Nation campaign wasn’t without controversy.

A candidate was disendorsed on the eve of the election after it was revealed he is wanted in the UK over an alleged historic sexual offence.

Questions were raised too about Ms Hanson and Mr Bernardi’s use of a jet during the campaign that was provided by a company owned by mining magnate Gina Rinehart.

How does it work? You’ll pay Gina Rinehart’s company, how does it work?

CORY BERNARDI:  In the end, I’ll get a bill for a flight, and I’ll pay my bill. 

JAMES WAKELIN:  As the vote count stands late today, Labor has a record 32 seats in the 47 seat House of Assembly so far, but One Nation has given the government a scare in Light in Adelaide’s northern suburbs. 

PETER MALINAUSKAS: There are parts of South Australia, regional communities, metropolitan Adelaide, particularly the northern suburbs where they want people to do better and we just have to remain committed to that task. 

VOX POP:  Everybody is sick to death of Labor and Liberal, blaming each other for their own ********. They keep blaming the other one. It’s Labor’s problem. It’s Liberal’s problem. Do your damn job.

ALEXANDER DOWNER: Very good member, Jack Batty. 

JAMES WAKELIN: Alexander Downer says One Nation is capitalising on the rise of Trump style populist political movements. 

ALEXANDER DOWNER: People are now more conscious of political issues, but they operate in tunnels. So they decide they will completely reject everything somebody who is not in their social tunnel says, completely reject it. They won’t consider the arguments. They won’t think about the arguments.

They just hate those people and it’s incredibly divisive and damaging. And I think it’s almost impossible to wind that back. I think we’re just going to have to live with it.