South Australia’s Relationship With China – Political Considerations

South Australia’s economy benefits from a trade and tourism relationship with China. Across sectors like agribusiness, mining and resources, international education, and tourism, Chinese business to business and people to people engagement is booming. But Beijing is also testing Australia with different sources of leverage. Ultimately, Canberra and many other nations will have to decide … Read more

Public Opinion and Polling in South Australian Politics

While internet connected technology has transformed how people conduct many of their day-to-day transactions, voting remains a paper based process. Marshall’s pitch to voters centres on the state’s economic performance including record low unemployment, unprecedented nett migration and the management of the pandemic. ECSA has operated pre-poll voting centres at 10 metropolitan locations and 12 … Read more

South Australia’s Healthcare System – A Political Analysis

South Australia is fortunate to have one of the world’s most advanced health-care systems. But it is a system that has its challenges. We interviewed 49 staff in departments/agencies other than Health and five academics with experience of HiAP. Our survey revealed that the supportive policy network developed around HiAP was strengthened by senior policy … Read more

Challenges and Opportunities for South Australian Politics in the 21st Century

South Australian politics has a long history of producing ideas and inspiration disproportionate to its size. But this power diminishes in the face of increasing globalization, competition and social change. We used institutional theory to understand the extent to which the government’s neo-liberal economic policy orientations constrained and limited its ability to address equity as … Read more

Agriculture and Rural Politics in South Australia

South Australian agriculture has been production and export oriented since European settlement. Critics argue this ‘anthropocentric world view’ has led to detrimental social and environmental outcomes. While policy inertia has constrained agricultural expansion north of Goyder’s climatic line, farmers are increasingly moving towards more sustainable practices. This paper outlines the challenges to developing appropriate government … Read more

Cultural and Arts Funding in South Australian Politics

The arts are a core part of South Australian society. For decades they enjoyed bipartisan support from successive state governments and a high profile. But in recent years this has changed. The former Liberal Government dismantled the arts department, resulting in aspects of the portfolio being scattered across several departments and a lack of focus … Read more

A Historical Overview of South Australia’s Political Landscape

South Australia has a long history of pioneering democratic and land reform. It was one of the first places in the world to institute a system of property titles known as Torrens title. It was also one of the first to introduce a bicameral Parliament. The lower house, the House of Assembly, has universal suffrage … Read more

South Australia’s Unique Electoral System – A Closer Look

The Electoral Act requires candidates for the Legislative Council to receive a minimum number – known as a quota – of formal votes. Once these are declared, the process of distributing preferences begins. Voters rank the candidates in order of their preference – marking 1 for their favourite, 2 for their second and so on. … Read more

The Role of Young Voters in Shaping South Australian Elections

With the electorate projected to age rapidly between now and 2040, younger voters will become a significant part of the voting population. Millennials and Gen Z enter the electorate with HECS debt, poor job prospects and housing affordability issues. At the last election, Gen Z entered the electorate viewing the Coalition more unfavourably than any … Read more

South Australia’s Approach to Health Care Accessibility

Five key policy documents articulating SA Government priorities and actions were analysed for evidence of an equity focus. [1] While the concept of equity was evident in the language used, it progressively slipped out of the documents that articulated government agenda and priorities. It is important to understand why this occurred. 1. Accessibility is a … Read more