Liberal deputy leader John Gardner to leave parliament
Former Education Minister John Gardner is resigning as deputy leader of the Liberal Party and will leave politics altogether in 2026, attributing his decision to a recent health scare and wanting to spend more time with family.
At a press conference alongside Opposition leader Vincent Tarzia on Friday afternoon, Gardner said he received a melanoma diagnosis in August that prompted “an evaluation of my priorities and my family’s priorities”.
Gardner has held the eastern suburbs seat of Morialta since 2010 and has been the Liberal Party’s deputy leader since April 2022.
He was also Education Minister for the duration of the Marshall Government from 2018 to 2022.
“Politics at its best I found to be a wonderful avenue of service, an opportunity for me to express my values and campaign for my community,” Gardner told reporters.
“There are ways that you can help individual people dealing with problems with government, and there are significant reforms that we’ve been able to deliver as well, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of that opportunity.
“But it does come at a cost.
“Politics is an adversarial contest – it requires wells of strength, of resilience, of indeed, a thick skin.
“And it’s fine that MPs be asked to put up with those sorts of things, but it does take a toll on our families, and that’s a toll that I am not any longer interested in asking my family to wear.”
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Gardner, who has two children aged four and six, rated the transition of year 7 students from primary to high school and his stewardship of the state’s school system during the pandemic as his proudest achievements.
He indicated that he made his decision over a six-to-eight-week period waiting for test results stemming after his August melanoma diagnosis, although added: “I suspect this may or may not have been the landing that I came to without that diagnosis.”
“I recall on the day that I was due to get my test results back, probably would have been late September or early October, I was vividly imagining all the things that I wanted to have prioritised my life, and they were all to do with family, they were all to do with my kids,” Gardner said.
“I’ve had a really good run. I have been passionate about politics, and for many years I woke up every morning very excited about my day ahead.
“But I guess I’ve had the privilege of having had that service, that opportunity to be a minister for four years… and to do what was a fairly wearing portfolio during the pandemic.”
The implications of Gardner’s resignation are significant for the Liberal Party which has endured a year of upheaval.
A ballot of Lower House Liberal MPs will be held to elect Gardner’s replacement as deputy leader. Tarzia said he intends to have a new deputy leader elected “before Christmas”.
Opposition leader Vincent Tarzia speaking with deputy leader John Gardner in Athelstone today. Photo: Thomas Kelsall/InDaily
Gardner’s exit from parliament in 2026 also opens an attractive preselection vacancy for the Liberal Party in Morialta. The Liberal Party held Morialta on a narrow 1.4 per cent margin at the last state election.
“I’d like to see the preselection process for the next candidate for Morialta to be open next week if that’s possible,” Tarzia said.
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Gardner also currently holds the shadow education and arts portfolios, with his resignation likely to prompt a reshuffle of the shadow cabinet.
“There was always going to be some sort of recalibration at some point in time,” Tarzia said when asked if there would be a reshuffle.
“I think the first priority is to make sure that we get the deputy leadership ballot, if there is any ballot, and we’ll do that next week.
“And then obviously we’ll take the time to look at all the other changes if any need to be made as well.”
Federal SA senator Simon Birmingham, who is also bowing out from politics, paid tribute to Gardner today as “one of the most successful reformers of the Marshall Government”.
Birmingham credited Gardner with “smoothly shifting” public school year 7s into secondary school and overseeing huge capital upgrades “while ensuring that SA school kids were among the least impacted by Covid”.
“John, my dear friend, congratulations on an impressive career,” Birmingham posted on X.
“You have represented your constituents with energy & diligence, while tackling parliamentary & ministerial duties with foresight & principle.
“I look forward to sharing the post-political journey with you too.”
Labor education minister Blair Boyer also paid tribute to his predecessor, saying Gardner’s retirement “is a genuine loss to the South Australian Parliament”.
“I imagine it is almost unheard of for a Minister to be saddened by the announcement of his opponent’s retirement; but that was my immediate reaction to hearing the news,” Boyer posted on X.
“Our system of government here in Australia is at its very best when people from opposite sides of the political fence choose to set aside their own self interest, or the opportunity to score a quick political point, and instead join together to act in the interests of the greater good.
“I will remember John’s career as one littered with such examples.”
