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Updated August 18, 2017 13:22:37

Being forced to relive your worst nightmare over and over, as a punishment for your sins, is a staple of film and literature the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Bill Murray in Groundhog Day and then the South Australian Liberal Party's sagas in Mount Gambier.

Thanks to the shock resignation of MP Troy Bell, what should be a blue ribbon seat and a nice neat predictable win for the Liberals has instead turned into the political equivalent of a teenager's bedroom God knows what you'll find there, and do be careful where you step.

Bell is facing multiple charges of theft and dishonestly dealing with documents following an investigation by the state's Independent Commissioner Against Corruption.

Mount Gambier voters have a long history of thumbing their nose at the Liberals' preferred candidates and picking independents.

One senior south-east Liberal has told the ABC it's the spectre of that history that now haunts the party.

"The upshot of this is the Liberal Party is now unprepared in what should be a safe seat," the source said.

"Troy got preselection uncontested for both the 2014 election and the one next March. That means there's no one waiting in the wings to represent the Liberal party in Mount Gambier at short notice."

"Troy had consolidated the seat well and was expected to win comfortably. The Liberal party now cannot assume it will retain the seat of Mount Gambier."

It would be unfair to characterise the Bell situation as an entirely self-inflicted wound, but there's no justification for a generous interpretation of how the Liberals have managed their past affairs in Mount Gambier.

It has contributed to the extraordinary time they have spent wandering the wilderness of opposition.

The independents Mount Gambier voters have chosen have been disaffected Liberals, bruised by the pre-selection process.

It started in 1997, when Rory McEwen lost a pre-selection battle he was widely expected to win.

Still a battle is not the war, and in the state election itself, Mr McEwen won the seat with the help of Labor preferences.

Incidentally, the adjacent south-east seat of MacKillop voted for a conservative independent too.

That left a wound, but there was a big serve of salt just waiting to be rubbed into it.

Mr McEwen won a thumping victory in 2002, standing as a conservative independent.

He then went on to join the Rann Labor government as a minister. Mr McEwen contested the 2006 election, and despite a swing against him, retained the seat.

Mr McEwen resigned in 2010 and the seat was expected to go back to the Liberals.

Except being Mount Gambier, it didn't.

A bruising preselection contest saw Mount Gambier mayor, Steve Perryman, win over another strong contender, the mayor of nearby Grant council, Don Pegler.

By now you've probably guessed the pattern. Mr Pegler, unhappy with the outcome, stood as an independent and won.

Mr Pegler served one term and was defeated by Bell.

Interestingly, Bell had been selected by the Liberals unopposed no nasty preselection battle, or cranky independent, to dog his campaign.

It would be premature to say, once again, the South Australian Liberal Party has managed to snatch a glorious defeat from the jaws of victory.

But the Bell situation unquestionably complicates things.

It's more than a simple distraction of resources and attention to a seat the party should be able to count on. It makes the potential path to power for another independent, or a Nick Xenophon candidate, just a bit easier

The frustrated Liberal couldn't have put it better.

"Now we face that challenge again to fend off independents and a Xenophon candidate. To be back in that position is astonishing."

Topics: states-and-territories, government-and-politics, liberals, state-parliament, law-crime-and-justice, mount-gambier-5290, adelaide-5000, sa

First posted August 18, 2017 12:49:06

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South Australian Liberals left to fend off rivals as Mount Gambier nightmare continues - ABC Online