Narungga – SA 2026

IND 8.8%

Incumbent MP
Fraser Ellis, since 2018.

• Geography
• History
• Candidates
• Redistribution
• Assessment
• 2022 results
• Booth breakdown
• Results maps

Geography
Regional South Australia. Narungga covers the Yorke Peninsula, the Copper Coast and other surrounding areas.

Redistribution
Narungga took in Balaklava from Frome (renamed Ngadjuri), and lost Redhill to Stuart.

History
Narungga was created in 2018 as a new name for the seat of Goyder, which had existed since the 1970 election. The seat has never been held by the ALP, mostly having been held by the Liberal Party, along with periods held by an independent and the Liberal Movement.

Steele Hall had held the seat of Gouger from 1959 until 1973. Hall became leader of the Liberal and Country League in 1966, and led the LCL into government in 1968. He served as Premier until the LCL’s defeat in 1970.

Hall resigned as LCL leader in 1972, leading the Liberal Movement as a splinter party from the LCL. In 1973, he moved from Gouger to Goyder, winning the seat off the LCL’s James Ferguson.

Hall resigned from Goyder in 1974 to run for the Senate, triggering a by-election. Hall served in the Senate until 1977, with the Liberal Movement merging back into the Liberal Party in 1976. He later held the federal seat of Boothby as a Liberal MP from 1981 to 1996.

The 1974 Goyder by-election was won by the Liberal Movement’s David Boundy. He rejoined the Liberal Party in 1976, and won Liberal preselection for the 1977 election. His preselection rival, Keith Russack, ran in Goyder as an independent and won, before returning to the Liberal Party.

Russack retired at the 1982 election, and Goyder was won by John Meier. Meier held Goyder for 24 years, retiring in 2006.

Steven Griffiths won Goyder in 2006. He joined the Liberal frontbench in 2007, and he was elected Liberal deputy leader in 2009. He was re-elected in 2010, but was replaced as Liberal deputy leader immediately after the election. Griffiths was re-elected in 2014.

Griffiths retired in 2018, and was replaced in the renamed seat of Narungga by Liberal candidate Fraser Ellis. Ellis left the Liberal Party to sit as an independent in early 2021 after allegations at the ICAC about his misuse of allowances for rural members spending the night in Adelaide. Ellis won re-election in 2022 as an independent.

Candidates

• Fraser Ellis (Independent)
• Tania Stock (Liberal)
• Chantelle Thomas (One Nation)

Assessment
Ellis would be the favourite to win this seat.

2022 result

2022 two-candidate-preferred result

Booth breakdown

Booths have been divided into three parts: the Copper Coast, the Yorke Peninsula, and the eastern end of the seat.

The vote for independents ranged from 28% in the east to 45.6% on the Copper Coast. This vote is mostly for Fraser Ellis, but also includes some votes for Dianah Walter and Frome independent Cate Hunter.

The Liberal primary vote ranged from 21.8% on the Copper Coast to 42.3% in the east. The Liberals generally did better across the east but particularly did well in Balaklava, which was part of Frome at the time.

Labor’s primary vote ranged from 18.1% in the east to 22.2% on the Copper Coast.

Election results in Narungga at the 2022 South Australian state election
Toggle between two-candidate-preferred votes and primary votes for independent candidates, the Liberal Party and Labor.

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