{"id":496284,"date":"2026-02-22T07:03:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T07:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/496284\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T07:03:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T07:03:15","slug":"premier-sells-optimism-over-discord-as-one-nation-rises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/496284\/","title":{"rendered":"Premier sells optimism over discord as One Nation rises"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Australia’s premier has painted the upcoming state poll as a crucial ballot on the future of politics, urging voters to reject “division and discord” amid a surge in support for One Nation.<\/p>\n

Peter Malinauskas sought to project a positive future for the southern state on Sunday as he officially launched Labor’s campaign for re-election a month out from the vote.<\/p>\n

Pointing to major housing plans and a multibillion-dollar industry building Australia’s future nuclear submarines, the premier called on people to embrace optimism, repeating the word “opportunity” more than a dozen times.<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/p>\n

SA’s Labor government has a 59-41 per cent lead over the opposition on a two-party preferred basis. (Matt Turner\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

Polls point to a crushing victory for his Labor government, while the Liberals face a near-wipeout that could see the party eclipsed by the anti-immigration One Nation.<\/p>\n

But in a nod to the minor right-wing party’s rise both in the state and nationally, Mr Malinauskas said the poll represented a potential turning point.<\/p>\n

“On the ballot is the kind of politics we want in this state, even in this country,” he told the crowd of Labor faithful in Adelaide.<\/p>\n

“Do we want the politics of division and discord driven by identity and tribalism … or do we want something else, the politics of optimism, the politics of ambition?”<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/p>\n

Peter Malinauskas is urging voters to reject “division and discord” as support for One Nation rises. (Matt Turner\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

A YouGov poll published on Friday showed the state opposition languishing at 20 per cent of the primary vote, behind One Nation on 22 per cent.<\/p>\n

Labor enjoyed a 59-41 per cent lead over the opposition on a two-party preferred basis.<\/p>\n

YouGov director Paul Smith predicted the Liberals could win as few as four of the state’s 47 lower-house seats, down from an already record-low 13.<\/p>\n

The opposition claims the incumbent government is campaigning “under the crushing weight of their grave failings and broken promises”.<\/p>\n

Shadow treasurer Ben Hood said Labour’s promises should be treated with scepticism, citing failures to address hospital ramping, its “failed hydrogen dream” and affordability issues for first-home buyers.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

The SA government wants to speed up home-building and encourage empty nesters to downsize. (Joel Carrett\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

“The Malinauskas government has proven it is all talk and no action when it comes to the important things: health, affordability and community safety,” he said.<\/p>\n

Labor on Sunday shifted its focus to housing with the twin announcements of $1 billion in funding to speed up home-building and an incentive for empty nesters to downsize.<\/p>\n

“We’re going to build more homes at a (faster) pace than we’ve ever seen in the state’s history,” Mr Malinauskas said.<\/p>\n

The funding pledge included $500 million to buy land that could be used to fast-track developments, alongside a pool of the same size to unlock apartment schemes in the Adelaide city centre.<\/p>\n

It also rolled out a $70 million commitment to abolish stamp duty for residents aged 60 and older who bought smaller new-build or off-the-plan homes and moved out of larger family properties.<\/p>\n

\"South<\/p>\n

Peter Malinauskas has sought to project a positive future for SA at Labor’s campaign launch. (Matt Turner\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

The move provides buyers with a one-time saving of up to $103,830.<\/p>\n

“I remember people choosing to leave our state in the pursuit of opportunity,” Mr Malinauskas said.<\/p>\n

“Today … we have more opportunity than anywhere else in the federation.”<\/p>\n

The Liberals’ Ashton Hurn, who took over leadership of the beleaguered opposition in December, previously used her party’s election campaign launch to announce a policy to give over-55 downsizers a one-off stamp duty concession of $15,000.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Opposition Leader Ashton Hurn faces a tough battle against one of the most popular state leaders. (Matt Turner\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

Federal Liberal frontbencher James Paterson earlier admitted the upcoming South Australian election would be tough, citing “dire” polling and the succession of state opposition leaders.<\/p>\n

He acknowledged Mr Malinauskas was very popular but praised Ms Hurn for standing up in difficult circumstances.<\/p>\n

The election will be held on March 21.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Australia’s premier has painted the upcoming state poll as a crucial ballot on the future of politics,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496285,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,105671,250035,250034,44,24805,1124,250033],"class_list":["post-496284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-discord","tag-election-campaign","tag-mr-malinauskas","tag-news","tag-peter-malinauskas","tag-south-australia","tag-state-opposition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}