It’s official: MP Adrian Pederick re-elected for fifth term
The Liberal Member for Hammond has overcome challenges from Labor’s Belinda Owens and independent Airlie Keen at the 2022 state election.
This story about the state election is free to read. Please help Murray Bridge News tell more local stories by subscribing.
It’s official now: Adrian Pederick has been re-elected for a fifth term as the Murraylands’ representative in South Australia’s Parliament.
The Liberal MP overcame challenges from Labor's Belinda Owens and independent Airlie Keen to win with 55.1 per cent of the vote after preferences were distributed.
In the end it was the Labor candidate who finished second, not the independent, as Ms Keen fell 306 votes short of overtaking Ms Owens.
The result was officially declared on Wednesday morning in an old bank on Murray Bridge’s main street which the Electoral Commission of SA had used as a vote-counting centre.
Mr Pederick said it was a privilege to have been re-elected.
He repeated his promise to work diligently at representing the people of Hammond for the next four years, “in whatever role I’m given in the state parliament”.
The Liberals have yet to choose a new leader or assign roles within their team as they head into opposition.
He thanked voters, his family, staff and supporters; and the Electoral Commission of SA and returning officer Ken Coventry for making the vote possible in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
About half of Hammond’s voters voted by post or at an early voting centre, including some who picked up ballot papers from a RAT distribution point while in quarantine.
Still, turnout was a few percentage points lower than usual at this election – about 4000 registered voters in Hammond did not participate.
Ms Keen congratulated Mr Pederick for his win, and for running “a good, clean race”.
She, too, thanked her team, and the returning officer for his work.
This election might not have been a swansong for Mr Coventry, who has been a fixture at local elections for 49 years; but he hinted that the time for him to pass the baton was near.
He thanked the candidates and the ECSA team.
- More information: result.ecsa.sa.gov.au.
You can help keep local stories like this one free for everyone to read. Subscribe to Murray Bridge News today and support your independent, locally owned news service, plus get access to exclusive stories you won’t find anywhere else, from just $5 a month.
