Michelle Daw, Yorke Peninsula Country Times

The Liberal Party has requested a recount in the seat of Narungga, with the result still undecided after a knife-edge finish.

As of 10am on Monday, March 31, One Nation candidate Chantelle Thomas was leading by just 77 votes, holding 12,078 votes (50.2 per cent) on preferences, ahead of Liberal candidate Tania Stock on 12,001 votes (49.8 per cent).

The recount request comes as counting continues following the state election on Saturday, March 21, which returned the Australian Labor Party to government with a strong statewide swing.

Mrs Stock provided a statement to YPCT at 10.45am today.

“The seat of Narungga remains extremely close, and we have requested the Electoral Commission of South Australia undertake a recount,” Mrs Stock said.

“Our scrutineers have noted irregularities in the conduct of polling day, and the subsequent counting process.

“While we await the result of the commission’s process, I’d like to reiterate my thanks and gratitude to the many locals who supported my campaign and trusted me with their vote.”

Ms Thomas was invited to provide a comment.

Associate lecturer in public policy at Flinders University, Josh Sunman said he expected ECSA would carry out a comprehensive recount of all votes cast in Narungga.

“Sometimes things can shift by up to 20 or 30 or so votes, so that is an important process,” Mr Sunman said.

Mr Sunman said the fact that the Narungga vote count was extremely close was not enough to trigger a by-election.

The losing party would need to challenge the result in the Court of Disputed Returns on grounds beyond a close margin alone.

“There has to be some kind of irregularity,” Mr Sunman said.

“Maybe people were missing postals (votes) or maybe some postals weren’t marked correctly or something like that.”

The cost of resolving a dispute, along with other factors, would need to be considered.

“If the parties think they don’t have a reasonable chance of, number one, overturning the election result and then, at the resultant by-election, actually winning, they’re probably not going to do it,” Mr Sunman said.

“In this case, there’s a real question as to whether a by-election would even be in the Liberal Party’s interests.

“Typically, insurgent parties, smaller parties do better in by-elections so you might think a by-election might play in One Nation’s favour.

“I’m doubtful that we’ll see extensive litigation or a Court of Disputed Returns (case), but we could.”

Mr Sunman said the contest in Narungga was among the narrowest in South Australian history but was not as close as the contest for the South East seat of Millicent in 1968 state election.

That count went down to a single vote and a by-election was triggered by the Court of Disputed Returns.

Labor won the by-election with a much bigger margin, giving both Labor and Liberal 19 seats in the SA House of Assembly.

The Liberal Party and Country League formed a minority government with the support of an independent MP.

As of this morning, the Liberal Party had secured five seats in the lower house and was expected to form the opposition. One Nation was expected to secure up to four seats, including Narungga.

Coalition opposition ‘unlikely’

Mr Sunman said it was unlikely the Liberals would seek to create a coalition opposition with One Nation lower house members, which could include Chantelle Thomas if she won the Narungga election as projected.

“Quite simply, it’s not in the Liberal Party’s interests to make One Nation a party of opposition,” he said.

“In 2017, in the Western Australian election, the Liberal government copped a lot of blow-back for doing a formal preference deal with One Nation and it probably backfired on them.

“Whereas here, we had the Liberals give them preferences in exchange for nothing, which I think is just a classic indication of the strategic nous of the South Australian Liberal Party.”

“I think partly the Liberal Party found themselves haemorrhaging votes on the right flank and they were concerned that if they didn’t preference One Nation, those results could be even worse,” he said.

“They were terrified of what might happen to them.

“They’ve managed to limp through as an opposition, so (they’re) counting their blessings there.”

Adelaide University emeritus professor of politics Clem Macintyre also criticised the Liberal Party for preferencing One Nation.

“One Nation made it clear they were coming for the votes of those one-time Liberal voters who are disaffected, as well as more than a few unhappy former ALP voters in the northern and southern metropolitan seats,” Professor Macintyre said.

“It looks like at least two One Nation MPs might get there on Liberal Party preferences and for the Liberals to give oxygen to a party seeking to replace them seems to me to be a mistake.

“In the new parliament, the Liberals need to be showing they are the only credible alternative government and so I would not think that working closely with One Nation would be a good idea.

“It would be better to wait to see how cohesive One Nation is — whether they implode as they have elsewhere — and perhaps try to draw more MPs onto the Liberal benches.

This article appeared in Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 31 March 2026.