Premier Jay Weatherill has claimed candidates for SA Best are set to quit the party if they get elected next month, citing ’rumours’

PREMIER Jay Weatherill has claimed that candidates for SA Best are planning to quit the party if they get elected next month, citing “rumours that are around the place”.

• Marshall accuses Xenophon of secret deal to hand Labor power

PREMIER Jay Weatherill has claimed that candidates for SA Best are planning to quit the party if they get elected next month, citing “rumours that are around the place”.

Mr Weatherill flatly rejected unsubstantiated claims from Opposition Leader Steven Marshall that SA Best Leader Nick Xenophon had “done a deal” to assist Labor.

Under questioning, he also claimed SA Best candidates were planning to break away if successful on March 17.

Mr Xenophon’s party is currently contesting 30 Lower House seats.

Mr Weatherill said “there’s a few names” and he would produce evidence later.

“Members of his team are saying that they’ll be resigning from his party within months of being elected,” Mr Weatherill said. “We’ll be saying more about that later.”

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“These are the rumours that are around the place. “We’ll be giving you some evidence. There’s a few names. We’ll be revealing more about that in due course.”

“There are people in Nick Xenophon’s team who have been speaking to other people about the fact that they will be leaving his party after the election.”

There’s no love lost between the three party leaders.

Mr Xenophon said if Mr Weatherill had evidence of his claim he should

“put up or shut up”.

He said his candidates were “working well together”.

Responding to Mr Marshall’s claim about a “deal” with Labor, Mr

Xenophon said he had “sent the papers off to a barrister specialising

in defamation work”.

“Steven Marshall should have the decency to retract what he said.

“I just want an apology and a correction.”

He finished by taking a swipe at both leaders: “I’m sick of both of them”.

The SA Best leader earlier told Five AA Radio the claim was “hysterical”.

“It is news to me, although I have heard the rumour has been spread by Labor sources,” he said. “This is just getting hysterical. “This is pretty desperate politics.

“Clearly both sides feel threatened by the emergence of SA Best.

“It is just silly. Where is the evidence? I think that this is scuttlebutt.”

“I’m now copping it from both Labor and the Liberals with this misleading stuff. “It seems like a complete load of rubbish. My message to the premier is put up or shut up.

“Tell us who they are.”

Mr Xenophon has threatened legal action against Mr Marshall over the claim of a deal.

Mr Weatherill said no deal existed.

“It’s not a surprise that we’ve got Nick Xenophon and Steven Marshall attacking one another,” he said. “This is really about a contest for the Liberal leadership.

“I’m here focusing on SA jobs.

“They are fighting amongst each other.

“It’s false.

“He’s asserting a fact.

“He’s really got two choices He either acknowledges that he’s told a mistruth, or he backs down. There are no two ways of doing this.”

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