2026 South Australian Legislative Council election

2026 South Australian state election
(Legislative Council)
← 2022 21 March 2026 2030 →
← outgoing members elected members →
11 of the 22 seats in the South Australian Legislative Council; 12 seats needed for a majority
Registered	1,317,186
Leader of the Government before election; Kyam Maher; Labor	Elected Leader of the Government ; Kyam Maher; Labor

The 2026 South Australian Legislative Council election was held on 21 March 2026 to elect 11 of the 22 members of the South Australian Legislative Council as part of the 2026 South Australian state election.

Quick facts 11 of the 22 seats in the South Australian Legislative Council 12 seats needed for a majority, Registered ...

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The election was notable for Pauline Hanson's One Nation party strongest performance in South Australia, winning three Legislative Council seats and four House of Assembly Seats, and the collapsed vote of the South Australian Liberal Party.

In the Legislative Council, One Nation won three seats, one more than the South Australian Liberal Party. Elected were 5 Labor, 3 One Nation , 2 Liberal and 1 SA Greens. Carrying over from the 2022 election were 5 Labor, 4 Liberal, 1 Green and 1 Sarah Game Fair Go, resulting in the total numbers in the Council - 10 Labor, 6 Liberal, 3 One Nation, 2 SA Greens and 1 Sarah Game Fair Go.

SA Best which won 2 seats at the 2018 election failed to win a single seat along with Jing Lee, a former Liberal, who had created a new party Better Community. ^[1]

Tammy Franks a member of the Legislative Council since 2010 as an SA Green, in September 2024 said she would not contest the next election.^[2] In May 2025, she resigned from the South Australian Greens, citing tensions within the party, and reiterated that she still did not intend to contest the next election "at this point".^[3] However, in February 2026, she announced that she would run as an independent candidate for the Legislative Council in the election the following month. Franks was unsuccessful in her attempt to be elected as an Independent receiving 0.5% of the vote. ^[4]

Sarah Game who was the first elected One Nation candidate in South Australia at the 2022 election was not up for re-election as her 8-year term ends in 2030. Game had resigned from One Nation in May 2025 to become an Independent. In July 2025 she founded a new party which, registered as Sarah Game Fair Go for Australians. The party contested the election but 10 days before the election, the party's lead upper house candidate Chris McDermott announced that he would defect to become an independent if he was elected. Game urged voters to not back her own party in the upper house and the party didn't win any seats in the election receiving just 0.24% of the vote.^[5]

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Party		Primary votes				Seats

Party		Votes	%	Swing (pp)	Quotas	Seats won	Not up	New Total	Change
	Labor	417,728	36.7	–0.3	4.4	5	5	10	1
	One Nation	278,006	24.4	+20.2	2.9	3	0	3	2
	Liberal	201,823	17.7	–16.7	2.1	2	4	6	2
	Greens	116,048	10.2	+1.2	1.2	1	1	2
	Legalise Cannabis	26,804	2.4	+0.3	0.3	0	0	0
	Family First	24,452	2.1	–1.0	0.3	0	0	0
	Ungrouped/Independent	15,152	1.3	±0.0	0.2	0	0	0
	Animal Justice	14,843	1.3	–0.2	0.2	0	0	0
	Real Change	11,926	1.0	+0.1	0.1	0	0	0
	SA Best	7,438	0.7	–0.3	0.1	0	0	0	2
	Better Community	6,862	0.6	New	0.1	0	0	0
	Australian Family	6,147	0.5	–0.4	0.1	0	0	0
	National	5,009	0.4	–0.3	0.1	0	0	0
	Fair Go	3,458	0.3	New	0.0	0	1	1
	United Voice	2,262	0.2	New	0.0	0	0	0

Total		1,137,958	100.0		12.0	11	11	22

Informal votes		31,858	2.7	–0.9
Turnout		1,169,816	88.8	–0.4
Enrolled voters		1,317,186
Source: Electoral Commission of South Australia;^[6] Australian Broadcasting Corporation^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	1. Emily Bourke (elected 1) 2. Mira El Dannawi (elected 5) 3. Justin Hanson (elected 8) 4. Hilton Gumbys (elected 9) 5. Clare Scriven (elected 11) 6. Senthil Chidambaranathan 7. Awur Deng	417,728	36.7	–0.3
	One Nation	1. Cory Bernardi (elected 2) 2. Carlos Quaremba (elected 6) 3. Rebecca Hewett (elected 10) 4. Nathan Skrlj	278,006	24.4	+20.2
	Liberal	1. Ben Hood (elected 3) 2. Heidi Girolamo (elected 7) 3. Rowan Mumford 4. KD Singh 5. Belinda Crawford-Marshall	201,823	17.7	−16.7
	Greens	1. Melanie Selwood (elected 4) 2. Katie McCusker 3. Christopher Smith	116,048	10.2	+1.2
	Legalise Cannabis	1. Jessica Nies 2. Peter Waters	26,804	2.4	+0.3
	Family First	1. Deepa Mathew 2. Christopher Brohier	24,452	2.1	−1.0
	Animal Justice	1. Lionel Pengilley 2. Geoff Russell	14,843	1.3	−0.2
	Real Change	1. Stephen Pallaras 2. Daniel Pallaras	11,926	1.0	+0.1
	Independent (Group O)	1. Craig Pickering 2. Emily Hutchinson	8,453	0.7	+0.7
	SA Best	1. Connie Bonaros 2. Skye Barrett 3. Joanna Rowe 4. John Banelis 5. Naomi Dewar	7,438	0.7	−0.3
	Better Community	1. Jing Lee 2. Danny Caiazza	6,862	0.6	+0.6
	Independent (Group P)	1. Tammy Franks 2. Faith Coleman	6,309	0.6	+0.6
	Australian Family	1. Bob Day 2. Nicole Hussey 3. John Day	6,147	0.5	−0.4
	National	1. Rikki Lambert 2. Perrin Rennie	5,009	0.4	−0.3
	Fair Go	1. Chris McDermott 2. Shannon Foote	3,458	0.3	+0.3
	United Voice	1. Mark Aldridge 2. Matilda Bawden	2,262	0.2	+0.2
	Independent (Group Q)	Darren Phillips	390	0.0	±0.0
Total formal votes			1,137,958	97.3	+0.9
Informal votes			31,858	2.7	−0.9
Turnout			1,169,816

2026 South Australian Legislative Council election

Overall results

South Australia

See also

Notes

References

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