Labor’s Steve Georganas has reclaimed the Adelaide seat of Hindmarsh.
Mr Georganas, who held the seat from 2004 to 2013 benefited from absentee and late declaration votes to pip sitting Liberal MP Matt Williams to the post.
With more than 87 per cent of the votes counted Mr Georganas leads the preference count by 50.1 per cent to Mr Williams’ 49.9 per cent, once again confirming Hindmarsh’s position as one of Australia’s most marginal seats.
Mr Georganas was re-elected in 2007 and 2010 before being defeated at the 2013 election.
A former taxi driver, union organiser and ALP policy adviser, Mr Georganas is no stranger to close contests. In his first foray into federal politics in 2004 he won by just 108 votes.
“You really appreciate it when you win by a small margin,” he told reporters on Wednesday, before Labor Leader Bill Shorten congratulated him for conducting a “sensational campaign”.
On hearing the result Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese echoed Mr Shorten’s praise, describing Mr Georganas as “a tireless fighter for his community”.
