South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas led the Labor Party to a second-term victory on Saturday, securing at least 32 seats in the 47-seat lower house. The election resulted in a fractured political landscape, highlighted by a collapse in the traditional center-right Liberal Party vote and a sharp rise in support for the right-wing minor party One Nation.
Former Senator Cory Bernardi, acting as One Nation’s state leader, secured a seat in the upper house. One Nation captured approximately 22 percent of the statewide primary vote, finishing in the top two positions across roughly half of all contested lower-house electorates.
The Liberal Party’s primary vote fell to 19 percent, leaving the traditional opposition certain of holding only four lower-house seats. Vote counting continues to finalize the complex preference distributions that will determine if One Nation captures any lower-house representation.
One Nation’s rising support in South Australia has intensified pressure on Premier Peter Malinauskas ahead of Saturday’s election, with party leader Cory Bernardi declaring voters are ready to challenge the major parties.https://t.co/8LsOX2bxYL
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) March 20, 2026
Flinders University public policy lecturer Josh Sunman labeled the result the “new normal,” pointing to fragmented ballot counts that disrupted traditional voting patterns. Former ABC analyst Antony Green described the election as one of the most complex in history due to unusual preference flows.
Following the South Australian result, One Nation federal leader Pauline Hanson stated the party will target the Victorian state election scheduled for November 2026. The shift signals a structural disruption in Australian politics, marking One Nation’s strongest statewide performance since the 1998 Queensland state election.