Labor picks candidate for David Speirs’ seat as Liberal contenders emerge
Sacred Heart deputy principal Alex Dighton has been preselected to run for Labor in the Black by-election forced by the resignation of former Opposition leader David Speirs, as the Liberal Party looks to secure its candidate by the end of the week.
Labor’s state executive met this morning to preselect Dighton – a long-time senior leader at Sacred Heart College and a Hallett Cove local – to contest the southern suburbs seat of Black, which is set to become vacant next week when David Speirs resigns from parliament.
Dighton, from Labor’s Right faction, contested the seat against Speirs at the 2022 state election and cut the Liberal Party’s two party-preferred margin from 9.2 per cent to 2.7 per cent.
Speirs announced on Saturday his intention to resign from parliament after police on September 26 arrested and charged him with two counts of supplying a controlled substance.
He was granted police bail and has vowed to “fight to clear my name of any allegations”. His resignation when parliament next sits on October 15 could trigger a by-election as early as November 16.
Speirs has represented Black – which includes the southern suburbs of Hallett Cove, Kingston Park, Seacliff, and Sheidow Park – since 2018 and is widely considered to carry a personal vote in the seat.
While his absence could put the Liberal Party at risk of losing its second by-election since 2022, Labor will need to flip around 1300 votes to win the seat – more than three times the number it needed to win the Dunstan by-election earlier this year.
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The Liberal Party has opened nominations for Black, with Opposition leader Vincent Tarzia saying he hoped to have a candidate preselected this week.
“It is what it is. We just have to do the best we can with the circumstances that are in front of us,” Tarzia told FIVEaa this morning.
“We do have some people that we’re talking to at the moment and I’m hoping that we will get that situation finalised hopefully this week.
“Obviously we don’t take anything or anyone for granted. We’ll put our best foot forward obviously to make sure we maintain that seat in the Liberal column.”
InDaily has been told that Marion councillor Jana Mates could be a frontrunner for Liberal Party preselection.
Mates, elected councillor in 2022, represents Marion’s Southern Hills Ward which overlaps with the seat of Black and features suburbs including Seacliff Park, Seaview Downs, O’Halloran Hill, Trott Park and Sheidow Park.
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Mates has also previously been a president of the Liberal Party’s Black state electorate convention.
“She certainly someone that I know people are keen on,” one Liberal source said. Another source added that Mates has “positioned herself fairly well” for preselection.
Mates did not respond to inquiries today.
Another candidate understood to be weighing up a run is former Onkaparinga deputy mayor Simon McMahon.
McMahon hails from the Liberal Party’s Right faction and hosts a podcast called “Adelaide Conservatives”. He is yet to publicly declare his intentions.
Liberal veteran calls time
Meanwhile, veteran Liberal Party MP David Pisoni has called time on his parliamentary career.
Pisoni, the Member for Unley since 2006, told constituents today that he would not be standing for the Liberal Party again in 2026.
“I have been privileged to have also served you, and all South Australians, as a Minister and Shadow Minister, creating opportunities to progress our community and acting on your issues of concern,” Pisoni wrote in a letter to residents in Unley.
“Thank you for your support and the trust that you placed in me to be your voice to the Parliament for this extended period.”
