A by-election for the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Black will be held on 16 November 2024 following the resignation of Liberal Party MP David Speirs.[1]
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Electoral district of Black in the South Australian House of Assembly | ||||||||||
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 The electoral district of Black (highlighted in green) in the greater Adelaide area. | ||||||||||
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The Labor Party preselected long-time senior leader at Sacred Heart College and a Hallett Cove local, Alex Dighton, who previously ran for the seat in the 2022 election.[2]
On 15 October 2024, Speirs formally resigned to the Governor of South Australia, with the election date set for Saturday, 16 November 2024.[3]
Background
editThe by-election was triggered by the resignation of sitting Liberal MP and former Opposition Leader David Speirs after a scandal over a video that appeared to show him using illicit substances. Later revealed that his house had been raided and he had been arrested over the video Speirs claims the video was deepfake.
2022 election result
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | David Speirs | 11,862 | 50.1 | −0.9 | |
| Labor | Alex Dighton | 9,037 | 38.1 | +7.0 | |
| Greens | Liz Tidemann | 2,785 | 11.8 | +5.2 | |
| Total formal votes | 23,684 | 97.4 | |||
| Informal votes | 643 | 2.6 | |||
| Turnout | 24,327 | 92.0 | |||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Liberal | David Speirs | 12,493 | 52.7 | −6.5 | |
| Labor | Alex Dighton | 11,191 | 47.3 | +6.5 | |
| Liberal hold | Swing | −6.5 | |||
Candidates
editOn 8 October 2024, the Labor Party preselected Sacred Heart College senior leader Alex Dighton, who previously ran for the seat 2022 election.
Amanda Wilson, the mayor of Holdfast Bay, was preselected as the Liberal Party candidate. Wilson does not reside in the electorate, but says she has not ruled out moving to Black "in the longer term". Labor accused Wilson of being "parachuted" into the role.[4]
It was revealed that Wilson had been a member of the Greens before joining the Liberal Party one week prior to her preselection.[5] Wilson subsequently revealed that she had been approached by Peter Malinauskas to run for Labor in the seat of Gibson at the 2022 election, which he confirmed, as well as by Penny Wong to run as a Labor candidate for the federal seat of Boothby.[6]
Additionally, prior to the announcement of the byelection, the Liberals campaigned against Wilson and her council who had previously raised council rates.
References
edit- ^ "Former opposition leader David Speirs has announced he will quit parliament and has suspended his Liberal Party membership following an SA Police raid on his home". The Advertiser. 5 October 2024. Archived from the original on 5 October 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
- ^ Kelsall, Thomas (8 October 2024). "Labor picks candidate for David Speirs' seat as Lib contenders emerge". InDaily.
- ^ Starick, Paul (16 October 2024). "Black by-election date set after David Speirs resigns". The Advertiser.
- ^ Yankovich, George. "Holdfast Bay mayor Amanda Wilson to contest Black by-election". The Advertiser.
- ^ Bermingham, Kathryn. "Liberal candidate for Black Amanda Wilson, who joined the Liberal Party on Friday, reveals she was previously a member of the Greens".
- ^ Kelsall, Thomas. "Lib candidate was asked to run for Labor in 2022".