Start your engines: Black by-election set for Adelaide 500 weekend
The by-election for former Liberal leader David Speirs’ marginal seat will be held on the same weekend as the Adelaide 500, and the day after he’s due in court on drug charges.
House Speaker Leon Bignell formally announced Speirs’ resignation in parliament this morning and revealed the Black by-election will be held on Saturday, November 16.
The by-election, now just over four weeks away, is being contested by Labor candidate Alex Dighton and Liberal candidate Amanda Wilson.
November 16 was the earliest a by-election could be held following Speirs’ Tuesday resignation, and it overlaps with this year’s Adelaide 500 running from November 14-17.
The major event, which attracted a four-day crowd of more than 260,000 people last year, was reinstated by the Malinauskas Government in 2022 after the Marshall Government axed it. Bringing back the race was a key promise of Labor’s last election campaign.
November 16 is also the day after Speirs is due to face the Christies Beach Magistrates Court for the first time on drug charges.
The former MP and Opposition Leader was arrested on September 26 and charged with two counts of supplying a controlled substance. He was given police bail and has vowed to “fight to clear my name of any allegations”.
As InDaily reported on Tuesday, there was a preference to hold the by-election sooner rather than later to avoid complications swearing in the newly elected Black MP before the end of the year. Parliament has no mandatory sitting weeks after November 30.
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Bignell, who made the by-election decision with advice from the Electoral Commissioner, said he intended to issue the writ for the by-election today.
The electoral roll will close at 5pm on October 28 followed by candidate nominations closing on November 1.
The writ will be returned on or before Thursday, November 28. Bignell said this was to give the Electoral Commission “every possible moment they might need, given that they have to allow for seven days for postal votes to come back in”.
“But we do envisage that it might actually be on the Tuesday, or even the Monday, that we might get that writ back,” Bignell told parliament.
“But we’ll just have to wait and see how the election and the counting of votes plays out.
“I think it’s important for those constituents of Black that they have a member of parliament in here before we get up for the Christmas break.”
Bignell also thanked Speirs for his contribution as a 10-year MP and Marshall Government Minister from 2018 to 2022.
“It’s not always an easy job, and it’s a job that comes with many pressures, and we wish Mr Speirs all the very best in his future,” Bignell said.
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The Liberal Party holds Black – which includes the southern suburbs of Hallett Cove, Kingston Park, Seacliff, and Sheidow Park – on a 2.7 per cent margin over Labor.
But Speirs is widely considered to have carried a personal vote in the seat, bolstering the Malinauskas Government’s chances of winning a second by-election this year after taking out the poll for former Premier Steven Marshall’s seat of Dunstan in March.
A significant part of parliamentary question time on Tuesday was spent on issues relevant to the Black by-election.
Opposition leader Vincent Tarzia’s first question to the government was about the cost of seeing a GP at the Hallett Cove Corner Surgery, while Labor ministers spruiked their candidate’s local credentials and attacked the Liberal Party’s candidate for not living in the electorate.
Dighton, from Labor’s Right, is based in Hallett Cove and is deputy principal at Sacred Heart College. He ran for Labor in 2022 and cut Speirs’ margin from 9.2 per cent to 2.7 per cent.
Wilson has been the Mayor of Holdfast Bay since 2018 and a councillor since 2014.
Speirs, who resigned via letter and did not come to parliament on Tuesday to deliver a valedictory address, has endorsed Wilson as his successor.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Speirs said: “Today marks the end of my time as a Member of Parliament. I’ve had a wonderful journey and together we’ve achieved so much for our local community and South Australia’s precious natural environment. I’m grateful to have had this opportunity.”
“From Glenthorne National Park to the opening of Happy Valley Reservoir, from a new school at Seaview Downs to greener streets and healthier parks, from a revitalised Hallett Cove boardwalk, to the creation of the Woodend Way walking and cycling trail, I’ve sought to deliver and leave this community a little better, a little greener and a little more liveable than when I started out as a local councillor almost 14 years ago,” he said.
“Now I pass the baton to someone who cares as much about our community (and our environment) as I do. That person is Amanda Wilson – Liberal for Black.
“She’s passionate, community-focused and committed to many of the same projects I have been.
“In the upcoming by-election she’ll be the candidate for the Liberal Party and I’m convinced she’ll do a great job.”
