Dunstan By-election 2024 Results

The electorate's former name of Norwood derived from a local suburb and council, both named after an English village. Norwood was held by both sides of politics from its creation in 1938, but it will be forever associated with its longest serving MP, Don Dunstan, who gained the seat for Labor at the 1953 election and held it until his retirement in 1979. At the 2014 election the electorate's name was changed from Norwood to Dunstan in his honour.

Labor's Greg Crafter succeeded Dunstan at a by-election but was defeated at the 1979 election, only to re-gain the seat at a 1980 by-election ordered by the courts. Crafter held the seat and served as a senior Minister in the Bannon and Arnold governments until defeated at the 1993 election.

The Liberal who defeated Crafter in 1993 was barrister John Cummins, who Crafter had originally defeated for Labor pre-selection in 1979. Cummins lasted only a single term, defeated by Labor's Vini Ciccarello in 1997. Ciccarello was re-elected in 2002 and 2006 before losing to Steven Marshall in 2010.

Liberal two-party preferred majorities were recorded at eight of the 15 polling places used at the 2022 state election. The range of results was very small, the Liberal two-party preferred vote rising from 44.2% at Marden Education Centre in the north of the electorate, to 56.9% at Kensington Park RSL in the south. The Liberal Party lost the polling day vote, polling only 49.5% of the two-party preferred vote, victory achieved by the Liberal polling 52.1% with the various categories of declaration vote.


(Click on polling place for results)

The three small joint polling places outside the boundaries of Dunstan, at Glynde, Rose Park and Tranmere South, will not be used at the by-election.

(Victories by a party of government are indicated by thick coloured underlining. Electorate known as Norwood prior to the 2014 election.)

Norwood/Dunstan occupied a spot on the Labor side of the state's electoral ledger until 2002. While retained by Labor at the 2006 state election, it recorded a higher Liberal two-party result than for the state. The seat has leaned Liberal at the last two state elections by around five percentage points, just enough at the 2022 election to deliver a narrow Liberal victory as Labor swept to office. Results 1985-2022

Both major parties were quick out of the blocks in announcing candidates. Both sides have spent the time since digging into their opponent's backgrounds. All the candidates are painting themselves as locals, some more successfully than others.

All five candidates have previously contested elections. Liberal Anna Finizio contested Hindmarsh at the 2022 Federal election, a safe Labor seats in Adelaide's western suburbs. Labor's Cressida O'Hanlon was the Labor candidate for Dunstan against Steven Marshall at the 2022 state election, and had contested the local Federal seat of Sturt in 2019. The Greens' Katie McCusker contested Sturt in 2022 and previously contested Dunstan, then known as Norwood, at the 2010 state election. Animal Justice's Frankie Bray contested the southern Adelaide seat of Boothby at the 2022 Federal election and the outer northern Adelaide seat of King at the 2022 state election. And the Australian Family Party's Nicole Hussey was her party's candidate for the inner south-west seat of Badcoe at the 2022 state election.

In her 2022 tilt at Hindmarsh, Finizio described herself as growing up and living in Adelaide's western suburbs which has caused some to questions her credentials as a local.

Cressida O'Hanlon came under attack by the Liberal Party over a claimed breach of integrity standards. Her husband James O'Hanlon is a director of SA defence firm Citadel Secure, and before the by-election he sent an e-mail to his wife about about arranging a meeting with a Minister. At the time Cressida was working for Labor MLC Reggie Martin. Which Minister and what level of government the e-mail was referring to is unclear, as is whether a meeting ever took place. The Opposition released the e-mail with claims about breaches of lobbying rules but the issue was dismmissed by the premier.

Anna Finizio ran into a problem when the Labor Party released information about her having applied for a job with Labor's then Shadow Attorney-General Kyam Mayer. The application was in 2020 at a time when the Liberal Party was in government and the application was from her then address at Grange in Adelaide's west. Finizio was not interviewed for the position. Eight months later she took a position with a Liberal Minister. Finizio's defence was that she was applying for a research rather than a political position. The application had been disclosed before the Liberal Party chose Finizio as its candidate. The Labor Party also claimed Finizio had 'airbrushed' links to a failed family business from her public profiles.

That boths sides have been mounting such personal campaigns against the other party's candidate is a sign of how important this by-election is. A win for Labor would increase the government's majority and cause some Liberals to question the future of Liberal Leader David Speirs.

Further Reading

A few tinnies short of a slab: Who’s really the ‘local’ in key by-election? Matthew Abraham, InDaily, 2 February 2024

Does mud stick or slide off? Either way, dirt is flying in the battle for Dunstan Rory McLaren, ABC News 2 March 2024

VIDEO: By-election battle in Dunstan escalates as major parties trade blows Rory Mclaren, ABC News 1 March 2024

South Australia has a unique provision in its Electoral Act that permits each candidate to have a preference recommendations displayed in voting partitions. A copy of the how-to-vote recommendation of each candidate has been linked from the candidate profiles below. There are no surpises in the registered material and in summary the recommendations are -

• Animal Justice and the Greens have recommended a second preference for each other, but more importantly, both have recommended a third preferences for Labor's Cressida O'Hanlon ahead of Liberal Anna Finizio.
• The Australian Family Party candidate has recommended a second preference for the Liberal Anna Finizio ahead of a third preference for Labor's Cressida O'Hanlon.
• Labor has put the Greens second and the Liberal party has second preference for the Australian Family Party. Labor and Liberal ballot papers are highly unlikely to have their preferences distributed.

Frankie Bray

Animal Justice Party

Bray is a practising lawyer and PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide Law School. She is a single mother to two daughters, a dog, a cat, and a steady rotation of foster puppies. As well as her work with the Animal Justice Party, Bray sits on the Law Society of South Australia Animal Law Committee and volunteers for a local animal rescue.

Website How-to-vote

Cressida O'Hanlon

Australian Labor Party

O'Hanlon is a qualified family mediator and owns and runs a mediation business. Her husband is a 25-year veteran of the Army, she is the daughter of a bricklayer and her grandfather is Australian artist David Boyd. O'Hanlon was the Labor candidate for Dunstan at the 2022 state election and for the local Federal seat of Sturt in 2019. Before the by-election O'Hanlon was working on the staff of Labor MLC Reggie Martin.

Website How-to-vote

Katie McCusker

Australian Greens

McCusker was born, raised and continues to live locally with her son. She has a degree in politics and psychology and has worked predominantly in the South Australian Public Sector. McCusker has a strong history of social justice activism, with a particular passion for working towards first nation people's equity. McCusker contested Dunstan, then known as Norwood, at the 2010 state election and contested the local Federal seat of Sturt at the 2022 Federal election.

Website How-to-vote

Anna Finizio

Liberal Party

Dr Anna Finizio grew up in Adelaide's western suburbs but no lives locally. She completed a law degree at the University of Adelaide and later a PhD in the University of Adelaide's Global Food Studies Program. She worked for four years as a Policy Lawyer with the Law Society of South Australia, and from 2020 to 2022 worked for the South Australian government as a ministerial adviser, working on the state's response to Covid.

Website How-to-vote

Nicole Hussey

Australian Family Party

Dr Nicole Hussey is a former research scientist who now teaches biology and chemistry. She has wide experience in the medical/scientific sector and has direct knowledge of our education system.

Website How-to-vote

Information on candidates and how-to-vote material can be sent to