Light – SA 2026

ALP 20.1%

Incumbent MP
Tony Piccolo, since 2006.

Geography
Northern fringe of Adelaide. Light covers the Gawler area, including Evanston, Hillier, Kudla and Willaston.

Redistribution
Light contracted, losing the northern end of Light to Ngadjuri, including Buchfelde, Hewett and Ward Belt. Light also gained part of Munna Para West from Taylor. These changes increased the Labor margin from 19.5% to 20.1%.

History
Light is a longstanding electorate for South Australian state elections. The seat existed as a multi-member seat from 1867 until 1902. The seat was then restored in 1938 and has existed ever since. Apart from one term in the 1940s, the Liberal Party held the seat continuously until 2006.

The Liberal and Country League won the seat in 1938. The ALP won in 1941, and lost the seat to the LCL in 1944. The LCL held the seat after 1944 for the next sixty years.

In 1970, the LCL’s Bruce Eastick won the seat. He served as the LCL’s leader in opposition from 1972 to 1975, during which time the party was renamed as the Liberal Party.

Eastick later served as Speaker from 1979 to 1982, and retired at the 1993 election.

Malcolm Buckby won the seat for the Liberal Party in 1993. He served as a shadow minister from 2002 to 2004.

In 2006, Buckby suffered a 4.9% swing, and lost his seat to Tony Piccolo. Piccolo has been re-elected four times.

Candidates
Sitting Labor MP Tony Piccolo is moving to the neighbouring seat of Ngadjuri.

Assessment
Light is a very safe Labor seat.

2022 result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing Redist
Tony Piccolo Labor 13,144 57.5 +6.4 57.5
Andrew Williamson Liberal 5,468 23.9 -10.5 23.1
David Duncan One Nation 1,542 6.8 +6.8 6.9
Brett Ferris Greens 1,506 6.6 -0.3 6.8
Benjamin Hackett Family First 1,184 5.2 +5.2 5.5
Others 0.1
Informal 704 3.0

2022 two-party-preferred result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing Redist
Tony Piccolo Labor 15,873 69.5 +11.1 70.1
Andrew Williamson Liberal 6,971 30.5 -11.1 29.9

Booth breakdown

Booths have been divided into three parts: central, north and south.

Labor won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in all three areas, ranging from 67.9% in the north to 76.3% in the south.

Voter group ALP 2PP Total votes % of votes
North 67.9 5,885 27.3
Central 71.6 3,785 17.5
South 76.3 3,087 14.3
Other votes 68.8 8,827 40.9

Election results in Light at the 2022 South Australian state election
Toggle between two-party-preferred votes and primary votes for Labor and the Liberal Party.

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6 COMMENTS

  1. Labor has announced James Agness, the chief of staff to Nick Champion, as their candidate for Light in 2026.

  2. Even as an open seat contest, Labor should easily retain Light (especially given the current state of opinion polls). This is a seat that has changed significantly, as it was a mixed urban-rural seat stretching as far as Hamley Bridge and Freeling in Light Regional council when Tony Piccolo first won it in 2006.

  4. The ON surge in the outer northern and southern suburbs of Adelaide are truly alarming for Labor. In Light and Elizabeth, ON polled more than 30% and the Labor primary vote collapsed by 14.1% and 19.7% following the departure of their former Labor MPs. Labor’s 2CP lead in both seats has also been significantly reduced compared to the last election.

    The ON vote in Light is so high that Light has become a marginal seat, with the ABC putting it in doubt with Labor leading ON by a margin of just 2%. Truly astonishing and alarming result for Labor.

    ON polled 27% or more in many outer northern Adelaide seats including Light, Taylor, Elizabeth, King, Ramsay and Wright. ON also polled 21.1% in Playford and 21.8% in Florey, both northern Adelaide seats.

    There were large primary vote swings against Labor of more than 9% in not only Elizabeth and Light with no sitting Labor MPs contesting, but also Taylor and Ramsay with recontesting Labor MPs.

    In the outer South, ON also polled more than 25% in Reynell, Hurtle Vale, Kaurna and Mawson, with Labor primary vote dropped by more than 8% in all seats, including the seats of Reynell, Hurtle Vale and Kaurna, even with sitting Labor MPs recontesting.

    Labor needs to think hard about why voters in white working class areas like the outer northern and southern suburbs of Adelaide are deserting both major parties,in particular Labor, in favour of One Nation. The SA election result shows One Nation is not just a Coalition problem, but also a Labor problem as well.

  5. I do think Light is a bit different as it was a traditional Liberal seat and more semi-rural than Taylor and Elizabeth. Gawler used to be seen as the first country town out of Adelaide so i dont think it urbanisation is complete there is still a gap in the urban sprawl so it feels more like a Satellite town than a suburb. I do concur that Labor often is seen as focusing too much on the highly educated vote such as Unley, Waite etc and less on the Blue Collar vote. I think that is a warning for Labor party not to loose sight of people who are concerned about grocery prices, what is the price at the bowser and how much their budget for the Family Easter celebrations will be.

  6. The results in Light and in other outer suburban, usually safe Labor seats serve as a warning shot. Labor had the benefit of a popular premier and strong Labor brand which saved the seat.

    I think that because people knew Labor was going to win, they felt comfortable voting for a third party as a form of protest. It wasn’t going to be a close Labor vs Liberal election.

    Recent fuel price increases and shortages plus interest rate increases have hit the working class and more economically disadvantaged much harder. The economic hardship might’ve turned people to ONP via a protest vote or “taken for granted” vote.

    The sharp drop in the Labor primary vote can be a lesson for Labor in other states (namely Victoria) and federally where their leaders aren’t as popular and the Labor brand isn’t as strong.