Independent Nick McBride reportedly will not return to the Liberal Party under newly elected Liberal leader Vincent Tarzia.

Following three major bushfires at Lucindale and Kingston, Mr Tarzia visited the district as emergency services minister under the former Marshall Government, joining Mr McBride and CFS officials, including Lucindale group officer and incident controller Patrick Ross.

Meanwhile, the Member for MacKillop says he is not surprised by the resignation last week of David Speirs as SA Opposition leader.

“His decision confirms the divide that exists within the Liberal party,” Mr McBride said.

“I hope the new Liberal leader (Vincent Tarzia) will be able to build a cohesive Liberal Party that can hold the State Government to account for its decisions.

“A strong Opposition helps create a strong honest Government.”

Mr Tarzia won a Liberal Party leadership ballot on Monday morning with 18 votes to four against fellow contender, Shadow Attorney General Josh Teague.

It was one less vote than when Mr Teague unsuccessfully contested Mr Speirs for leadership in April 2022.

Mr McBride last month celebrated one year since leaving the Liberal Party which his great-grandfather Sir Philip McBride helped to start.

On July 5, 2023 Mr McBride announced he was leaving the Liberals to sit as an Independent, citing some “dark forces” within the party.

Mr Speirs might have collided with those “dark forces” and was recently embroiled in controversy regarding private trips to Scotland for family weddings during critical times.

That followed a defeat in the seat of Dunstan bi-election following the resignation of Stephen Marshall.

Announcing his resignation alone, without advisors or colleagues around him, Mr Speirs told journalists: “To be honest, I’ve just had a gutful.”

Mr Speirs said it was “extremely easy to throw rocks at the leader of the Opposition and those who are supporting the leader, it’s extremely easy to have different ideas as to how you might do it better”.

In a subsequent press release Mr Speirs said resigning from the leadership was in his best interests “and that of my family”.

“I have used the mid-winter break to reflect on my priorities and to speak with family and friends at length about my future.

“Ultimately, I want to spend more quality time with them and the demands of the role as Leader makes this difficult.”

Naracoorte based SA Liberal Party vice-president Lachlan Haynes thanked Mr Speirs for the time and effort he put into being the Opposition leader, visiting the regions, and advocating for radiotherapy.

“David was a great supporter of our regions. He took over after a big electoral loss which is always a difficult period for a party, and he’s done a lot of hard work,” Mr Haynes said.

“He’s been a voracious traveller into our regions, representing the Liberal Party and trying to rebuild us generally.

“He has been a great support advocating for services in the regions, and I thank him especially for all his support for the radiotherapy working group and our mission to get radiotherapy in this region.

“He has really pushed hard and advised the Labor Party that he would be backing radiotherapy in our region.”

Mr Haynes expected Mr Tarzia would be another good leader who would once again strongly advocate for the regions, South East and radiotherapy.

“The community can expect good governance if we provide good opposition,” he said.

That meant inspiring policies reflecting what people wanted, as well as holding the government to account on issues.

Mr Tarzia, a lawyer born in 1986, was elected to parliament in 2014 as the Member for Hartley. In 2018 he was elected the 35th speaker of the House of Assembly, the youngest ever appointed.

During a Cabinet re-shuffle, in July 2020 he took on the Police, emergency services and correctional services portfolios.

Shadow Health Minister Ashton Hurn from the Barossa Valley has often been ticked as the next Liberal leader, but is on maternity leave.

The Liberal Party only has 14 Lower House seats compared with Labor’s 27.

The next election is to be held on March 21, 2026.

This article appeared in Naracoorte Community News.