Guest essay by Eric Worrall

h/t JoNova – South Australians have finally tired of economic misery and expensive, unreliable green electricity; the government which created the mess has just been crushed at the ballot box, 25 seats to 18.

Jay Weatherill quits as leader after losing South Australian election

Outgoing premier says he will stay on the backbench and is not interested in going to Canberra

The ousted South Australian premier, Jay Weatherill, has said he will stand down as Labor leader and ruled out a switch to federal politics after losing Saturday’s state election.

“The Labor party has plenty of fantastic choices as leader, I won’t be one of them,” he told reporters on Sunday.

Weatherill would not put a timeline on the leadership change but said it would be “sooner rather than later” once the final results of the election were known.

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The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, who spoke to Marshall on Sunday morning, is claiming the Liberal win in South Australia is an endorsement of his energy policy.

“Jay Weatherill said this was a referendum on energy policy,” Turnbull said in Sydney. “The people have spoken and spoken in favour of our policies, which is to support affordable and reliable energy to ensure that we can meet our Paris commitment, and at the same time ensure that we can keep the lights on and indeed afford to keep the lights on.”

But Labor’s climate and energy spokesman, Mark Butler, said the result was because the “time for change force” proved too strong.

“It was a campaign in which I think Labor can hold its head up high,” he said.

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