David Speirs sends letter to formally resign from parliament

The former Liberal leader has formally resigned from parliament, a month before he is due to face court on drug charges. Read his resignation letter.

Former Liberal leader David Speirs has officially ended his political career by sending a formal resignation letter to parliament.

Speaker Leon Bignell is understood to have received the letter from Mr Speirs, sent electronically rather than in person, just before 1.30pm today.

Mr Speirs is now not expected to attend parliament to make a valedictory speech.

His resignation will be announced formally to the House of Assembly on Wednesday by Mr Bignell.

David Speirs Letter of resignation. Picture: Paul Starick

The delay is because of electoral funding provisions that mean once an announcement is made in the House candidates or parties have until 5pm that day to apply for public funds.

In his letter, dated October 15, Mr Speirs says he is resigning from parliament effective immediately upon the Speaker’s receipt of the letter.

“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve my community as a representative in the House of Assembly and I wish all members success as they seek to do their very best for the state of South Australia,” Mr Speirs says, in the second and final sentence of his letter.

It is understood that Mr Bignell has delayed the formal announcement to the House after advice from the Electoral Commissioner.

This says a capped expenditure period for political parties or candidates starts at 5pm “on the day on which the vacancy giving rise to the election is announced in the House of Assembly” by the Speaker.

“As such, the timings of such an announcement needs to be considered, with it being preferable for this to be when parliament is in sitting and at the earliest possible time of that day,” says the Electoral Commissioner’s advice, which has been supplied to The Advertiser by Mr Bignell.

This means his formal announcement to the House of the vacancy in Mr Speirs’ former southwestern Adelaide seat of Black is likely to be on Wednesday morning.

Mr Speirs’ resignation and Mr Bignell’s subsequent announcement formally trigger the by-election, a date for which will be set after consultation between Mr Bignell and the Electoral Commissioner.

Both the Liberal and Labor parties have already announced candidates for the by-election.

They are Holdfast Bay Mayor Amanda Wilson (Liberal) and senior Sacred Heart College teacher Alex Dighton (ALP), who ran against Mr Speirs in 2022.

Ms Wilson, who joined the Liberal Party on Friday, said she briefly was a Greens member almost 20 years ago and claimed Premier Peter Malinauskas asked her to run in neighbouring Gibson in 2022.

Mr Dighton, who on October 8 was announced as Labor’s candidate, has been a Sacred Heart teacher for about 15 years, holding various leadership roles, including acting deputy principal.

In a video statement on October 5, Mr Speirs revealed he had been arrested and his home raided by armed police. His Liberal membership has been suspended.

He will face court next month charged with two counts of supplying a controlled substance. He denies any wrongdoing and has vowed to clear his name.