Liberal candidate was asked to run for Labor in 2022
Premier Peter Malinauskas has confirmed that Labor asked Holdfast Bay Mayor Amanda Wilson to run for a seat in 2022 despite not living there – an offer she revealed after coming under government attack for being “parachuted” in to run for the Liberal Party in Black.
Wilson was on Saturday revealed as the Liberal Party’s candidate for the seat of Black, which is set to become vacant following former Opposition leader David Speirs’ anticipated resignation from parliament this week.
Wilson lives in Glenelg South and her candidacy for Black – which covers suburbs further south like Hallett Cove, Kingston Park, Seacliff, and Sheidow Park – immediately prompted attacks over the weekend from the Labor Party, which has preselected Hallett Cove-based Alex Dighton for the seat.
“It is unbelievable that the Liberals would choose Amanda Wilson,” Treasurer Stephen Mullighan said on Saturday, adding that Wilson lives “a full two electorates” away from Black.
“Once again, we’ve got the state Liberals parachuting in a candidate from well outside the electorate to run for a seat at a by-election.
“This comes straight on the back of the Liberals’ performance in the Dunstan by-election where Anna Finizio was parachuted in from the western suburbs to run for the inner-eastern seat of Dunstan.”
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But Wilson told ABC Radio Adelaide this morning that she was approached by then-Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas to run for the coastal seat of Gibson – where she also does not live – at the 2022 state election.
“I don’t want to go into the details of it. I’ll just confirm that he did ask me personally and it was prior to the 2022 election,” Wilson said.
“I didn’t live in the seat of Gibson at the time, but that didn’t seem to worry the Labor Party then.
“I have never spoken about it before but given the hypocrisy of yesterday and the attacks on me from Stephen Mullighan, I thought it was only fair for me to correct the record and say that they had actually asked me to run for a seat too.”
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Wilson said Labor senator Penny Wong also approached her to run for the federal seat of Boothby at the 2022 federal election.
The Holdfast Bay Mayor, who joined the Liberal Party on Friday and was the only preselection nominee for Black, also revealed she was a member of the Greens nearly 20 years ago.
Premier Peter Malinauskas confirmed today that the Labor Party approached Wilson to run for Gibson and said he was “more than happy to go into this detail”.
“We approached Amanda Wilson about whether or not she’d be interested in putting her hand up to run for a seat that actually is in her constituency, but that wasn’t Black,” he told reporters.
“And the reason why it wasn’t Black is because she doesn’t represent the people of Black and she doesn’t live anywhere near the people of Black.
When pressed about Wilson not living in Gibson either, Malinauskas said: “No, she lives in Morphett and therein lies the point, but at least it’s next door.”
“That’s the problem. I mean, Amanda Wilson has put her hand up not just to run for a seat that she doesn’t live but she doesn’t even live in the seat next door.
“Amanda Wilson lives a long way from Hallett Cove and Sheidow Park and Trott Park, so that’s why we would have never contemplated her at the seat of Black in the way the Liberal Party have.”
The Labor Party eventually preselected Professionals Australia state director Sarah Andrews for Gibson, who went on to defeat former Liberal Minister Corey Wingard in 2022.
The Liberal Party holds Black on a 2.8 per cent margin over Labor, but Speirs’ absence is widely considered to make the seat more winnable for Labor.
Speirs held the seat against Dighton in 2022 by around 1300 votes.
