As South Australia’s Liberals struggle to stay in the fight, will their preferences usher in One Nation?

South Australian Liberal leader Ashton Hurn has justified the decision to put One Nation above Labor by saying her party is ‘in the business of getting rid of the ALP’. Photograph: Matt Turner/AAP

South Australian politics rarely takes a central position in national news, but this Saturday’s state election will be watched much more closely than usual for potential federal implications.

It is shaping up as a perfect storm for a struggling Liberal party: under pressure from a popular first-term Labor government, while One Nation eats into the Liberal base. The election will be a first test of One Nation’s growing support nationally, with federal polls showing Pauline Hanson’s party regularly outpolling a weakened Coalition.