South Australia’s new Premier is expected to visit the state’s second-largest city in days, according to Independent Member for Mount Gambier Troy Bell, with the electorate waiting to see if a series of election promises are honoured by Labor. 

Key points:

  • Peter Malinauskas pledged to return to Mount Gambier within 72 hours of being sworn in should he become SA’s newest Premier
  • Mount Gambier is poised to receive $100m in Labor pre-election promises, including new paramedics and a hospital upgrade
  • Liberal MP Nick McBride said his party needed a serious overhaul after such a dismal election outcome

On a visit to the Blue Lake city in the final days of the state election, then opposition leader Peter Malinauskas promised to return within 72 hours of being sworn in should he win.

Mr Malinauskas was sworn in this morning by Governor Frances Adamson as SA’s 47th Premier after Labor defeated the one-term Liberal government with a landslide win on Saturday.

“There’s $100 million on the table, I’ve got that in writing before the election, and [Mr Malinauskas] rang me on the Saturday night of the election and said he will be honouring all of his commitments,” Mr Bell said.

“I don’t think we’ve ever seen this magnitude of investment in the seat of Mount Gambier.”

Mr Bell, who retained his seat at the election, said he was looking forward to working with the Premier and had switched his attention to efficiently rolling out the funding promised by Labor to his electorate.

“From Mount Gambier’s point of view, we are in for some exciting times,” he said.

Labor leader Peter Malinauskas promised $15 million for a forestry research and development centre during a trip to Mount Gambier.(ABC South East SA: Sandra Morello)

A ‘baseball bat-type’ swing

Mr Bell said he had expected a minority government and was shocked by the election result.

“I think everybody thought that it was going to be much closer than it was,” he said.

“I mean, this is a whitewash of the Marshall government … there are seats that have never been lost to the Liberal Party in serious doubt.”

I’m angry, says local MP

Liberal Member for MacKillop Nick McBride said he felt “angry, cross and sad” after his former government’s landslide loss.

Member for MacKillop Nick McBride celebrates his election win with partner Katherine.(Supplied: NIck McBride)

Despite comfortably holding onto his own seat, Mr McBride said his victory was bittersweet given the overall outcome.

Mr McBride, who has indicated he would put up his hand to be the party’s next leader, also said he was surprised by Saturday’s result.

He expected the election to have been close, resulting in a hung parliament with independent MPs holding the balance of power.

But with even former premier Steven Marshall’s stronghold seat of Dunstan in serious contention, Mr McBride said the Liberal Party needed to genuinely reflect on the result, implement change, and return the party to its core values to better represent its party base.

“And if we don’t change this spectrum … then we’re going to be in the wilderness for a lot longer than perhaps even what we saw the last time we were in opposition.”

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