AGRICULTURE is likely to lose one of its greatest political advocates after Saturday’s state election.
While former Australian Conservatives MLC and Mount Compass dairyfarmer Robert Brokenshire is not yet conceding defeat, he says it is unlikely his party will win a seat in the Upper House.
Mr Brokenshire, who was number one on his party’s ticket, said it was likely to be two to three weeks before he would know for sure, but he said early signs were not good.
As of Wednesday morning, Australian Conservatives had pulled just 3.5 per cent of the Legilslative Council vote, with 68pc of the votes counted.
Liberals had the majority vote in the Upper House, at 31.7pc, followed by Labor at 29.5pc. Nick Xenophon’s SA Best had 18.9pc, while the Greens had 6pc.
Another prominent MLC Kelly Vincent is also likely to lose her seat, with the Dignity Party only attracting 2pc of the Upper House vote.
Mr Brokenshire said it would be hard to make up the ground needed to win a seat from here.
“It’s going to be a big call,” he said. “I’m disappointed that we’re not likely to get over the line and could miss the opportunity to really drive the rural and regional agenda, especially with a Liberal government in place. We could have done so much to support them and get some really good outcomes for country areas.”
Mr Brokenshire, a former Liberal minister, has been a politician for the past 23 years.
He believes rebranding the Family First party as the Australian Conservatives last year hurt it in the polls.
“The name change confused people,” Mr Brokenshire said.
“Everyone knew what Family First stood for, it stood for families and caring for people.
“People support Family First because they believed in their values.”
Mr Brokenshire believes the media attention on SA Best affected the results in the Upper House.
“I congratulate people on seeing that Nick Xenophon is all about political stunts, but unfortunately the attention he attracted is likely to cost me my seat,” he said.