South Australian Election Result and Ministerial Reshuffle 

The 2026 South Australian election, held on the 21 March, saw a decisive victory for the incumbent Labor Party. Premier Peter Malinauskas has secured re-election for a second term, with the party increasing its majority. Hawker Britton’s paper on the South Australian Election can be found here. 

South Australian Election Result 

The Malinauskas Government was returned with an increased majority, taking their total seat count in the lower house from 27 to 33. This increased majority comes despite a 2.3% swing away from the Labor party on primary votes.  

The results were significantly less favourable for the Opposition, with the Liberal party seeing a 16.5% swing against them at the polls. A large portion of this voter cohort has been redirected to One Nation, who have secured at least one seat in the lower house, another likely and an additional two possible, as the voting count is finalised. This result saw One Nation poll with a higher primary vote than the Liberal party, reflecting recent nationwide polling.   

One Nation’s David Paton secured the seat of Ngadjuri, a marginally Liberal-held seat after a redistribution of the former seat of Frome. Former Labor MP for Light, Tony Piccolo, contested the seat against Paton and incumbent Liberal MP Penny Pratt. Both sitting MPs were unsuccessful.  

At the time of publishing, the electoral counting process is still underway, with the results for six seats yet to be confirmed.  

Newly elected MPs to Parliament are as follows: 

Seat	Member
Colton	Aria Bolkus (ALP)
Elizabeth	Ella Shaw (ALP)
Enfield	Lawrence Ben (ALP)
Finniss	Lou Nicholson (IND)
Hartley	Jenn Roberts (ALP)
Kavel	Matt Schultz (IND)
Lee	David Wilkins (ALP)
Light	James Agness (ALP)
Mawson	Jenni Mitton (ALP)
Morialta	Matthew Marozzi (ALP)
Mount Gambier	Travis Fatchen (IND)
Ngadjuri	David Paton (PHON)
Port Adelaide	Cheyne Rich (ALP)
Torrens	Meagan Spencer (ALP)
Unley	Alice Rolls (ALP)

New Upper House Members include:  

• Hilton Gumbys (ALP) 

• Cory Bernardi (PHON) 

• Carlos Quaremba (PHON) 

• Rebecca Hewett (PHON) 

• Melanie Selwood (Green) 

Seats still being counted include: 

• Hammond 

• Heysen 

• MacKillop 

• Morphett 

• Narungga 

• Legislative Council Spot 11 

Ministerial Reshuffle 

On 25 March 2026, Premier Peter Malinauskas announced the composition of his new cabinet and portfolio allocations, with the ministry sworn into office on the same day. The revised cabinet notably includes multiple new appointments, featuring several first-term Members of Parliament. 

The newly appointed Ministers and Assistant Ministers are as follows: 

• The Hon. Alice Rolls MP, Member for Unley 

• The Hon. Lawrence Ben MP, Member for Enfield 

• The Hon. Nadia Clancy MP, Member for Elder 

• The Hon. Michael Brown MP, Member for Florey 

Additionally, significant changes of note are as follows: 

• The Hon. Chris Picton MP: moved from Health to State Development, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Economy, Defence and Space Industries, and Veteran’s Affairs 

• The Hon. Blair Boyer MP: Moved from Education to Health 

• The Hon. Lucy Hood MP: Moved from Environment to Education 

• The Hon. Joe Szakacs MP: Moved from Veteran’s Affairs to Infrastructure and Transport  

• The Hon. Emily Bourke MP: Moved from Infrastructure and Trasport to Tourism  and Environment, and Climate and Water.  

• The Hon. Zoe Bettison MP, and the Hon. Nat Cook MP have not been reappointed to the ministry.  

• The Hon. Clare Scriven MP has retained her positions despite her re-elections yet to be confirmed. 

Further Information 

For more information, please contact Hawker Britton’s Partner and CEO Simon Banks on +61 419 638 587 or Partner Tim Grey-Smith on +61 432 226 323.  

Additional Occasional Papers published by Hawker Britton are available here. 

South Australian Cabinet 

Title	Minister	Electorate
Premier	The Hon. Peter Malinauskas MP	Member for Croydon
Deputy Premier  Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Attorney-General  Minister for Industrial Relations  Minister for Arts Special Minister of State	The Hon. Kyam Maher MLC	SA Upper House
Treasurer  Minister for Energy and Mining  Minister for Public Sector	The Hon. Tom Koutsantonis MP	Member for West Torrens
Minister for State Development  Minister for Artificial intelligence and Digital Economy  Minister for Defence and Space Industries  Minister for Veteran’s Affairs	The Hon. Chris Picton MP	Member for Kaurna
Minister for Human Services  Minister for Seniors and Ageing Well  Minister for Women	The Hon. Katrine Hildyard MP	Member for Raynell
Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development  Minister for Forest Industries	The Hon. Clare Scriven MLC	SA Upper House
Minister for Health and Wellbeing	The Hon. Blair Boyer MP	Member for Wright
Minister for Infrastructure and Transport	The Hon. Joe Szakacs MP	Member for Cheltenham
Minister for Housing and Urban Development  Minister for Housing Infrastructure  Minister for Planning	The Hon. Nick Champion MP	Member for Taylor
Minister for Climate, Environment and Water  Minister for Tourism	The Hon. Emily Bourke MLC	SA Upper House
Minister for Emergency Services  Minister for Local Government  Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing	The Hon. Rhiannon Pearce MP	Member for King
Minister for Education, Skills and Training  Minister for Autism  Minister for the City of Adelaide	The Hon. Lucy Hood MP	Member for Adelaide
Minister for Police  Minister for Correctional Services  Minister for Consumer Affairs and Business	The Hon. Michael Brown MP	Member for Florey
Minister for Small and Family Business  Minister for Multicultural Affairs	The Hon. Nadia Clancy MP	Member for Elder
Minister for Child Protection  Minister for Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence	The Hon. Alice Rolls MP	Member for Unley

Assistant Ministers 

Title	Assistant Minister	Electorate
Assistant Minister for Copper, Steel, Critical Minerals and Minerals	The Hon. Lawrence Ben MP	Member for Enfield
Assistant Minister for the Arts	The Hon. Sarah Andrews MP	Member for Gibson