David Speirs confirms he will run for Liberal Party leadership

David Speirs has confirmed he will run for leader of the Liberal Party, a week after branding Tom Koutsantonis a scheming old has-been” like Scar in the Lion King.

Former Environment Minister David Speirs has confirmed he will run for leader of the Liberal Party next Tuesday.

He told Adelaide radio stations he offered a fresh start and was “not factionally aligned”.

“I am a fresh face in many ways, and I’ve been able to show that I connect with people from all walks of life,” he said.

“I can demonstrate a type of leadership that is beyond the traditional approach.”

He called himself “a boy form Hallet Cove” who can “connect with tradies and first responders” and would be going back to the suburbs and towns to “reconnect to a lot of people”.

While admitting it was a “heavy and harsh” election defeat for the Liberals he also defended its legacy.

The-then premier Steven Marshall watches the-then environment and water minister David Speirs at Felixstow Reserve on February 26 where he announced funds to restore wildlife to the area. Picture: Brenton Edwards

“I don’t think we were a bad government, I think there were many things we did that should be celebrated. We should not walk away from a legacy that will grow. But clearly we got a lot of people off side, complicated by coronavirus.”

“We need to look at the things that prevented us from forming government and caused unexpected and unprecedented swings against us in places we didn’t expect, not only in Adelaide but also in the region.”

He also denied any tension between himself and Vickie Chapman, and said there would always be a place for her within the Liberal Party.

It comes a week after he branded Veteran Labor minister Tom Koutsantonis “a scheming old has-been” like Scar in the Lion King, as the pair traded accusations of laziness and inaction.

Revealing the new Labor government’s parliamentary sitting calendar, Mr Koutsantonis challenged the humiliated Liberals to “end the holidays” and install a fresh leadership team as he revealed state parliament would return on May 3.

Mr Koutsantonis, the government's chief parliamentary tactician, aired speculation about Liberal leadership favourite David Speirs attempting to force former deputy premier Vickie Chapman out of her southeastern Adelaide seat of Bragg.

But Mr Speirs fired back, accusing the government of slashing the number of parliamentary sitting days by 30 per cent compared to 2018 – the Marshall government’s first year – and declaring his “immense respect” for Ms Chapman and a previous productive working relationship.

Labor MP Tom Koutsantonis MP during question time at Parliament House. Picture: Tom Huntley

“While I have not even declared my intention to seek the leadership yet, Tom Koutsantonis is back to playing the same old political games, spreading the same old rumour, innuendo and nonsense that he’s become famous for,” Mr Speirs said.

“Peter Malinauskas may call him the Lion of Labor, but he reminds me more of Scar in the Lion King, a scheming old has-been, overlooked for the leadership and lashing out at whoever he can.”

But Mr Koutsantonis, whose portfolios include transport and energy, attacked the Liberals for being in limbo after their March 19 landslide election loss.

“It’s time for the Liberal Party to end the holidays and get back to work,” he told The Advertiser.

“I’m aware of speculation that Mr Speirs is refusing to work with Ms Chapman and there’s even talk of her going to a by-election.

“It would be a massive insult to the electors of Bragg to say the Liberal leadership won’t work with their local MP.”

The parliamentary sitting calendar shows the May 3 resumption, then sitting weeks every fortnight through to a July winter break, after which there will be six sitting weeks.

The Liberals highlighted a 30 per cent reduction in sitting days, saying there were 38 scheduled compared to 54 in 2018.

The June 2 budget is, as revealed by The Advertiser, fast-tracked to fund Labor’s $3.1bn policy agenda and earlier than the September 4 date chosen in 2018 by the-then new Liberal government.

It is understood the Liberals have been waiting for the Legislative Council result, expected next week, to assemble their party room and vote on a new leadership team.

The Liberals pointed out Mr Malinauskas had not been elected as Opposition Leader until April 9 after Labor was ousted after 16 years in power on March 17, 2018.

Ms Chapman declined to comment. Treasurer Stephen Mullighan said delaying the budget until next financial year risked “departments being left in a state of paralysis”.

“This will be the economic blueprint for the Malinauskas Labor Government over the next four years,” he said.

Originally published as David Speirs confirms he will run for Liberal Party leadership