Vincent Tarzia elected SA Liberal leader
Liberal frontbencher Vincent Tarzia is the new South Australian Liberal Party leader, after defeating frontbench colleague Josh Teague in a partyroom ballot this morning.
Tarzia defeated Teague 18 votes to four in the ballot of Liberal MPs at parliament house.
He replaces former Opposition leader David Speirs, who sensationally resigned on Thursday.
Tarzia, a moderate, was the only Liberal MP to confirm his nomination over the weekend. Fellow moderate and current deputy leader John Gardner did not contest the ballot.
Teague, the shadow Attorney-General, did contest but got one less vote than when he contested the leadership against Speirs in April 2022.
Speirs was not present at today’s meeting but said he would vote by proxy.
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Tarzia told reporters after the meeting he was “feeling great” and would have more to say later. Teague declined to comment after the ballot.
Tarzia entered parliament in 2014 after defeating Labor MP and former minister Grace Portolesi in Hartley.
His stock rose in 2018 after holding onto his seat in a three way contest against Portolesi and Nick Xenophon.
Tarzia was elected Speaker of the House of Assembly in 2018 and joined the Marshall Government cabinet in 2020 as Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Corrections.
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Following the Marshall Government’s landslide 2022 election defeat, Tarzia was appointed shadow minister for the transport, infrastructure and sport portfolios.
Liberal MP for Hammond Adrian Pederick told reporters after the ballot that Tarzia “would do a great job as leader”.
“He showed what he could do against Nick Xenophon… and he’ll keep the team united, as David Speirs did,” he said.
“We’ll get on with it, and we’ve just to hold the Malinauskas Labor Government to account.”
Whether there will be a ballot for the Deputy leadership remains unclear, with no spill for that position held this morning.
The position is only voted on by Liberal MPs in the Lower House. Asked if there would be a deputy leadership ballot later today, Pederick said: “Not that I’m aware of, if it was going to happen it would have happened now.”
Liberal MP for Chaffey Tim Whetstone said Tarzia was given “overwhelming support”.
Asked what was different about Tarzia’s leadership, he said: “He has a different style about the way he works, the way he operates.”
Asked if he could help the Liberal Party’s internal divide, Whetstone said: “We’re not talking about division today, we’re talking about unity.”
“We’ve got a new leader, we’ll support him.”
