South Australian Liberals open applications to appoint new state director, with a $180k salary on offer
The South Australian Liberals have opened up applications to appoint a new state director, with an eye-watering salary on offer for the successful candidate.
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The South Australian Liberals have opened up applications to appoint a new state director, with a $180,000 salary on offer for the successful candidate.
A job advertisement was posted on Seek this week following a tumultuous period during which former director Alex May and opposition leader David Speirs quit their roles.
Alexander Hyde, a conservative, has been appointed interim director and is considered a frontrunner to be appointed to the job.
The $180,000 salary was included in the listing, which says the successful candidate will take responsibility for the party’s legal, financial and compliance requirements and lead the team at the Liberal Party.
Ms May’s resignation came after the conservative takeover of the party hierarchy was confirmed at the Liberal state annual general meeting on August 24.
The conservatives are now in control of the state council and executive, which has final say over who is appointed state director.
It is understood Mr Hyde, a former Adelaide deputy Lord Mayor who unsuccessfully ran in Waite in 2022, has been strongly encouraged to apply. He declined to comment when contacted about the recruitment process.
On Thursday, he wrote to more than 5000 party members to open expressions of interest for state election candidates in identified “key seats”.
The seats are Adelaide, Elder, Davenport, Dunstan, Gibson, Kavel, King, MacKillop, Mawson, Mount Gambier, Newland, Narungga, Stuart and Waite.
Of those, seven were snatched by Labor at the 2022 election and four are held by independents who left the Liberals.
Mr Hyde said timing of preselections was a critical factor in the party’s success.
“We are about to begin the nomination and preselection processes for all seats, but would particularly welcome expressions of interest for candidates in key seats we need to win to form government,” he said.
“The honeymoon is over for state and federal Labor governments as South Australians grapple with the ever-increasing cost of living and doing business.”
Ms May, whose partner is leading moderate and Sturt MP James Stevens, is understood to have planned to quit several weeks before she tendered her resignation.
She had held the role since June 2022, when she succeeded Sascha Meldrum after state and federal election losses.
Former Prime Minister John Howard launchd the re-election campaigns of Mr Stevens and Boothby Liberal candidate Nicolle Flint at the Arkaba Hotel on Thursday.
A senior Liberal source said the party was “on a war footing for the federal election”.
“You only need to look at Nicolle Flint’s social media to see how she is out-campaigning her opposition,” the source said.
“We’re now moving on to the state election. We know there is a huge amount of talent who are interested in running and we want to get candidates preselected and into the field to give them the best chance of winning.”
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Originally published as South Australian Liberals open applications to appoint new state director, with a $180k salary on offer
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