ALP 5.1%
Incumbent MP
Tony Zappia, since 2007.
Geography
Northeastern suburbs of Adelaide. Makin covers most of Tea Tree Gully council area as well as parts of Salisbury council area east of Main North Road and a small part of Port Adelaide Enfield council area. Major suburbs include Para Hills, Walkley Heights, Modbury, Redwood Park, Tea Tree Gully, Golden Grove, Greenwith, Salisbury East and Salisbury Heights.
History
Makin was created at the 1984 election as part of the expansion of the House of Representatives. The seat was won by the party of government at every election until 2013, when Labor held on against the national trend.
The seat was first won by ALP candidate Peter Duncan, a state MP who had served as a state minister from 1975 until the defeat of the Corcoran government in 1979. Duncan served as a federal minister from the 1987 election until the 1990 election, when he was demoted to a Parliamentary Secretary position which he held until the defeat of the Keating government in 1996.
Duncan lost Makin to Liberal candidate Trish Draper at the 1996 election. Draper held Makin for the entirety of the Howard government, although she never moved off the backbench. Her margin was cut to less than 1% at the 2004 election, and she retired before the 2007 election.
At the 2007 election the ALP’s Tony Zappia won Makin with a swing of over 8%. He has been re-elected twice, in 2010 and 2013.
Candidates
- Tony Zappia (Labor)
- Keiran Snape (Greens)
- Paul Coombe (Family First)
- Mark Aldridge (Independent)
- Zarina Greenberg (Animal Justice)
- Graham Reynolds (Liberal)
- Craig Bossie (Nick Xenophon Team)
Assessment
Zappia should win a fourth term in Makin in 2013.
2013 result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Tony Zappia | Labor | 41,873 | 45.6 | -4.7 |
| Sue Lawrie | Liberal | 34,192 | 37.2 | +6.8 |
| Mark Potter | Family First | 5,891 | 6.4 | +0.4 |
| Ami Harrison | Greens | 5,429 | 5.9 | -4.4 |
| Andrew Morgan Graham | Palmer United Party | 3,818 | 4.2 | +4.2 |
| Robert Jameson | Katter’s Australian Party | 705 | 0.8 | +0.8 |
| Informal | 4,717 | 5.1 |
2013 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Tony Zappia | Labor | 50,604 | 55.1 | -6.9 |
| Sue Lawrie | Liberal | 41,304 | 44.9 | +6.9 |
Booth breakdown
Booths have been divided into three areas. The majority of the seat’s population lies in the City of Tea Tree Gully, and these polling places have been split into North-East and South-East. Those in Port Adelaide Enfield and Salisbury council areas have been grouped together into West.
Labor won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in all three areas, ranging from 51% in the north-east to 59% in the west.
Nick Xenophon’s Senate vote ranged from 25% in the west to 29% in the south-east.
| Voter group | XEN % | ALP 2PP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| West | 25.3 | 59.4 | 30,620 | 33.3 |
| South-East | 29.0 | 54.0 | 22,358 | 24.3 |
| North-East | 27.6 | 50.9 | 18,041 | 19.6 |
| Other votes | 21.5 | 53.4 | 20,889 | 22.7 |
How popular is Zappia? It’s clear he’s got a good following, given the results since 2007 here. Those eastern booths are normally marginal Liberal/weaker for Labor (basically the state seat of Newland)
This should be Zappia’s seat until he retires.
I live in Makin, and can confirm that Zappa is generally very well liked and respected here. He is hardworking, and makes the effort to attend as many community events as possible.
Xenophon got a strong senate vote here, but the fact that they have jet to preselect a candidate suggests to me that there won’t be a big campaign for him here
GG
Perhaps there is another Labor MP ( other than Julie Owens ) , & Tony Z , who have run a small business. However i’m not aware of one.
It really crystallises just of much the ALP DON’T get small business that they have never made Zappia, a minister, or even a shadow. (especially for small business)
Instead we are offered Michelle Rowland as opposition shadow for small business !!!!. She knows as much, & has as much aptitude for this , as i do for nuclear physics !!!.
Zappia seems to keep a low profile, seemingly working hard for his constituents. I cannot for the life of me work out how he has never been promoted. Especially considering all the numerous hacks. Perhaps you know something i don’t ??.
Morgan says ALP 30%, Lib 25%, NXT 21%, Greens 12.5%, Others 11.5%.
That does seem an awfully high combined minor party vote for a suburban marginal. NXT again taking equally from both major parties.
My prediction: Should be a Labor seat for as long as Tony Zappia is MP.