Contenders emerge for Liberal deputy leadership, Morialta preselection
Two Liberal Party frontbenchers are in the mix to replace outgoing deputy leader John Gardner this week, while a former party operative is considered a frontrunner for preselection in his eastern suburbs seat.
Lower House Liberal MPs will gather on Wednesday morning to elect the party’s next deputy leader after Gardner announced on Friday he would be vacating the position and leaving parliament at the 2026 state election.
Party insiders told InDaily that shadow attorney-general Josh Teague and shadow energy minister Stephen Patterson are the most likely contenders for the role.
Teague, a moderate, is widely expected to win against Patterson, a conservative, if the position goes to a ballot.
The moderates dominate the numbers in the Lower House and a Teague victory would mark a continuation of moderate leadership in the position after Gardner’s departure.
The dream team? Josh Teague and Vincent Tarzia could be the Liberal Party’s next leadership duo. Photo: Josh Teague/Facebook
A deal may be worked out before Wednesday to avoid a ballot, party sources said. Patterson declined to comment while Teague did not respond to inquiries.
Teague has already made his leadership ambitions clear and has twice run for party leader, most recently in August 2024 when he lost 18 votes to four to now-leader Vincent Tarzia. He also ran in April 2022, losing 18 votes to five to former leader David Speirs.
Patterson, however, has not been mentioned in leadership discussions before.
The former Collingwood footballer and Holdfast Bay mayor entered parliament in 2018 representing the coastal seat of Morphett after ousting Liberal veteran Duncan McFetridge by one vote in a preselection contest a year earlier.
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Stephen Patterson speaking in parliament in 2020. Photo: Thomas Kelsall/InDaily
Patterson was promoted to the Marshall Government cabinet in July 2020 as Minister for Trade and Investment. His profile has grown further on the Opposition benches in the media-facing shadow energy portfolio.
He is considered on the conservative wing of the party but not a “card-carrying” right-winger or factional player.
Tarzia confirmed Gardner’s replacement will be chosen on Wednesday and said it “presents an opportunity for a new deputy leader to bring a fresh perspective to the team as we prepare for the 2026 state election”.
Ex-Gardner staffer favoured for Morialta preselection
Meanwhile, Liberal preselection for Gardner’s eastern suburbs seat of Morialta opened on Monday night.
The marginal seat, which covers suburbs like Athelstone, Newton, Rostrevor, Woodforde and part of Magill, is held by the Liberal Party on a 2.1 per cent margin over Labor.
InDaily has been told data consultant and Country Fire Service volunteer Scott Kennedy, a former Gardner staffer, is the clear favourite for preselection if he chooses to run.
Kennedy, a moderate, previously worked for the Liberal Party as director of field operations in the lead-up to the 2022 state election. Before that he was a strategy adviser in the Department of the Premier and Cabinet during the Marshall Government years.
Scott Kennedy. Photo: LinkedIn
Kennedy currently lives in Athelstone and works for Lot Fourteen-based data consultancy Exposé. InDaily contacted him for comment.
Meanwhile, the Labor Party is likely to preselect its 2022 Morialta candidate Matthew Marozzi for a second run, two party sources said.
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Marozzi, from the Labor Right, is currently a senior adviser in Tourism Minister Zoe Bettison’s office.
He won an 8 per cent swing at the last election to cut Gardner’s margin to 1.4 per cent, with the Labor Party hoping it can now capitalise on the Liberal Party’s lack of incumbency.
Matthew Marozzi campaigning in Morialta in 2022. Photo: Facebook
A slew of major party preselections are expected early in the new year after the Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission last week released the final map for the 2026 election.
The Liberal Party’s preselection process for seats it already holds has all but finished, sources said, with only Chaffey MP Tim Whetstone facing a contested ballot.
The ABC reported last month that Whetstone saw off a preselection challenge from Loxton aged care executive Nicolle Jachmann 40 votes to 25.
Speculation that Josh Teague could face a preselection challenge in his Adelaide Hills seat of Heysen has not materialised, despite his local party branch undergoing a conservative shift.
The Liberal Party also opened preselections last night for three seats it lost at the last election, namely Stuart (held by independent Geoff Brock), Elder (held by Labor MP Nadia Clancy) and Adelaide (held by Labor MP Lucy Hood).
Greens pick candidate to fill Tammy Franks vacancy
The Greens over the weekend preselected Adelaide Hills deputy mayor Melanie Selwood as the party’s lead Upper House candidate in 2026.
Selwood defeated Sarah Luscombe – a Marion councillor and the party’s Black by-election candidate – 284 votes to 175 in a ballot of Greens members, according to one Greens source.
The preselection comes after Greens veteran Tammy Franks announced in September she was not standing for re-election.
Greens staffer Melanie Selwood will likely join the Upper House in 2026. Photo: supplied
Based on South Australia’s past voting patterns, Selwood will join Greens MLC Robert Simms in the Upper House in 2026. Selwood is currently Simms’ chief of staff but has long been involved in the arts and held roles at the State Theatre Company, State Opera and Adelaide Festival.
Simms touted Selwood’s credentials as a “long-term resident of the Adelaide Hills” who will bring “a laser-sharp focus on winning the seat of Heysen at the next state election”.
The Greens are bullish about their prospects in the Adelaide Hills seat after recording a 20.7 per cent primary vote at the last state election. They finished third behind the Labor Party at 26.9 per cent and the Liberals at 43.3 per cent.
