Vincent Tarzia quits SA Liberals leadership, set to be replaced by Ashton Hurn

Liberal leaders have emphasised Vincent Tarzia’s decision to step down was made “entirely on his own” and declared “any suggestion of betrayal to be untrue.”

Paul StarickEditor At Large

@paulstarick

4 min read

December 5, 2025 - 9:07PM

Vincent Tarzia quits in Liberal leadership bombshell

Liberal leader Vincent Tarzia has succumbed to a sustained undermining campaign and will step down on Friday.

But the party’s anointed next leader, Ashton Hurn, is staying silent on whether she will succeed him at a party room meeting set for Monday morning.

In an statement exclusively supplied to The Advertiser, Mr Tarzia said he would relinquish the state Liberal leadership “to focus on his young family and his local community”.

Mr Tarzia said he made the decision after “careful reflection on the balance between leading the party, serving the people of Hartley, and being present for his young children (aged) four (and) five months with his wife, Charissa, during these formative years”.

“I look forward to continuing to represent the electorate of Hartley and I wish my party colleagues and supporters all the best,” he said.

Vincent and Charissa Tarzia with their sons Leonardo, 4, and Raphael, now aged five months, in July. Picture: Ben Clark

The Advertiser last week revealed senior Liberal agitators were pushing to install health spokeswoman Ms Hurn as leader.

Liberals pushing for Ms Hurn had speculated a delegation would visit Mr Tarzia as early as last Thursday, the final sitting day of state parliament before the March state election.

Ms Hurn is keeping her cards close to her chest on her next move, although she is poised to be elected unopposed on Monday after deputy leader Josh Teague on Friday afternoon ruled out a leadership tilt.

Asked in a text message by The Advertiser if she would declare her candidacy as Liberal leader, Ms Hurn did not address the question in a two-sentence response.

Instead, she said she would assess her options with colleagues ahead of a party room meeting expected on Monday morning.

“I want to sincerely thank Vincent for his dedicated service over the past 16 months as our leader,” Ms Hurn said.

“His decision leaves the leadership vacant, and over the coming days I’ll be speaking with my colleagues ahead of a party room meeting.”

At a Parliament House press conference on Friday afternoon, Mr Tarzia said he had decided to quit that morning without being pushed, or any input from colleagues.

Asked by The Advertiser if any of his parliamentary colleagues or anyone in the Liberal Party forced the decision in any way, Mr Tarzia said he had seen no evidence of his leadership being undermined.

“No one has come to see me. I mean, last week there were reports, rumours flying around. There was no such delegation. I’m not even sure how that even stacks up. I do not understand how that even stacks up,” he said.

“Think about how that affects people. Think about how that looks. But I can tell you right now, no delegation approached me, or there was nothing of that sort that ever happened.”

Mr Tarzia is set to be succeeded by the Liberals’ health spokeswoman Ashton Hurn (right).

Asked by The Advertiser for his message to those who destabilised his leadership, Mr Tarzia said: “Well, I still don’t understand who may or may not have. All I would say to anyone in that situation, ultimately, you reap what you sow.”

“So, I don’t have any grounds or belief to suggest that it is a colleague or someone from the outside of the party, but you know, we’ve got a job to do as an opposition, and I remain committed to helping the next leader of the party be that good opposition and hopefully take us forward and be the next government of South Australia.”

Mr Tarzia vowed to support the next party leader and said he was not embittered, adding he had told colleagues of his decision on Friday morning.

Asked if he believed Ms Hurn would be the next leader, Mr Tarzia said there were a number of talented people in the party that could step up.

The Advertiser saw Liberal deputy leader Josh Teague in Liberal upper house leader Nicola Centofanti’s office immediately after the press conference.

Mr Teague later on Friday afternoon emphasised Mr Tarzia had made the decision “entirely on his own” and declared “any suggestion that there has been a betrayal of Vincent tarzia, let alone betrayal by any individual or individuals” to be untrue.

“The Labor Party has form in this regard, and more particularly, Premier Peter Malinauskas has form in this regard. Everyone remembers he’s the one who tapped a leader on the shoulder (Premier Mike Rann in 2011), told him his time was up. So he knows about that. The Labor Party knows about that,” Mr Teague said.

The Liberal party’s senior media adviser, after Mr Teague’s press conference, suggested Ms Hurn would have cause to sue over comments made earlier on Friday by Health Minister Chris Picton relating to Mr Tarzia quitting.

“Obviously the shambles that is in the Liberal Party continues. And this betrayal from Ashton Hurn is the latest part of that. I think South Australians will make a judgement about that betrayal when they go to the ballot box next year and they’ll make a judgement about the differences between the two parties,” Mr Picton said.

At his press conference, Mr Tarzia said he would not “stand here and say that any one of my colleagues has undermined me”.

“I will do everything possible to support the next leader and make sure that they are as successful as possible for the next state election, I don’t leave with any bitterness whatsoever,” he said.

Mr Tarzia said he was unsure when the Liberal party room would meet to elect a new leader but indicated this likely would be early next week.

Only last Wednesday, at a joint press conference with Ms Hurn, both rejected any prospect of leadership change before next March’s state election.

Health Minister Chris Picton said Mr Tarzia had been “betrayed” by his party.

“I think all South Australians will be shocked to see the level of betrayal that’s happened in the South Australian Liberal Party,” he said.

Mr Picton said Mr Tarzia was “constantly undermined”, and that the party was in a complete shambles after only last week standing behind their leader.

“And now we’ve seen Vincent Tarzia pulled down just one week later,” he said.

“He was constantly white anted from the moments that he got the job and we’re seeing the manifestation of that today.

“So he never really had a chance because he was always being dragged down from the moment he got the job, and now this latest betrayal is the culmination of that.”