Speaker Dan Cregan raises questions whether the Liberal Party has unlawfully accessed constituent information

Bushfire victims living in the electorate of newly independent Speaker Dan Cregan say they were contacted by the Liberals after he left the party, he says.

Speaker Dan Cregan has sensationally questioned in state parliament whether the Liberal Party has unlawfully accessed contact details and other confidential information of his Adelaide Hills constituents.

Mr Cregan – who earlier this month quit the Liberal Party to become an independent and then went on to be installed as Speaker during a late-night coup – told parliament some residents in his electorate had raised concerns that their phone numbers may have been unlawfully accessed. They said the Liberal Party had contacted them after his defection from the party.

Mr Cregan said the parliament “needs to be put on inquiry, in my judgment, as to whether confidential, electorate-only records have been accessed in breach of parliamentary privilege”.

The Kavel MP encouraged members of South Australian community, including Adelaide Hills residents, to provide any documents and materials they had relating to the concerns.

He said he would use the material to determine whether a prima facie case of privilege existed and it would then be up to the Lower House to decide if a parliamentary inquiry should be launched.

“Some residents are concerned that their telephone numbers and other confidential constituent-only information may have been unlawfully accessed because they only shared phone numbers and other confidential information with me so that I could render assistance, including support following the Cudlee Creek bushfire,” he said.

Mr Cregan said it would “strike a blow at the very heart of our democracy” if those private records and contact details, some of which was shared on an urgent basis for the provision of emergency support, were later accessed for an unrelated politcal purpose.

“If it is the case that confidential and intimate records shared at a time of great distress have been used in this way, it may be a serious scandal and give rise to real questions about the lawfulness and appropriateness of access and use of those records, as well as amounting to a potential and serious breach of parliamentary privilege,” he said.

Premier Steven Marshall declined to comment.

A Liberal Party spokesperson said Mr Cregan had refused to release specifics relating to this issue “so we are not in a position to comment in detail”.

“Members of parliament and political parties can receive constituent contact information in a variety of ways,” she said.

“All our voter contact efforts are lawfully conducted consistent with Liberal Party internal policies, including those previously signed up to by Mr Cregan.”

It comes after the SA Ombudsman last month revealed he had made an extraordinary referral to authorities of a matter of “potential” corruption, maladministration or misconduct within the Liberal Party, relating to its collection and use of personal data.