Sarah Herrmann, Yorke Peninsula Country Times

Independent Narungga MP Fraser Ellis says he has been approached by the Liberal Party to rejoin their ranks at the upcoming state election.

Mr Ellis was elected as a Liberal MP to the seat of Narungga in March 2018, but voluntarily suspended his Liberal Party membership in February 2021 after it was alleged he made fraudulent claims for the Country Members Allowance.

In October 2021, Mr Ellis sought the Liberals’ endorsement to run as a candidate for Narungga in the 2022 state election, but they declined and ran an endorsed candidate against him. Mr Ellis was successful as an independent.

Now, ahead of the March 2026 state election, Mr Ellis said the Liberals wanted him back.

“While it’s flattering to be sounded out by Liberal Party members, I am clear that I was elected as an independent at the last election, and I intend to honour that commitment to the people of Narungga,” Mr Ellis told the YP Country Times.

“We have made significant progress, and my focus is on completing the work we started, particularly in enhancing Narungga’s healthcare system.

“We have collected almost 11,000 petition signatures and organised community forums with decision-makers on how to improve our local healthcare system.

“Now it is time for the Malinauskas government to act on the recommendations to ensure our healthcare system addresses the needs of Narungga.”

Liberal state director Alex Hyde said Mr Ellis “was informed as a courtesy that nominations were open for the Liberal pre-selection for the seat of Narungga.”

“All applications we receive are treated with the same level of scrutiny and may be accepted or rejected,” Mr Hyde said.

“At the closure of this process, we did not receive a nomination from Mr Ellis.

“We will be working through the usual democratic process which enables grassroots members in Narungga to select their candidate.”

Liberal preselection nominations for Narungga closed on July 31.

In July 2024, Mr Ellis was found guilty on four charges of deceit in relation to improperly claiming the Country Members Allowance, occurring between April 2018 and June 2020 and totalling $2738, and acquitted of 19 counts.

The Director of Public Prosecutions has lodged an appeal against the 19 acquittals, and Mr Ellis has appealed the four convictions.

Mr Ellis voluntarily repaid $42,130 in claims, stating some may have been made in error, before the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption investigation was announced in 2020.

A date for Mr Ellis’s sentencing has not yet been set, pending the outcome of the appeals.

This article appeared in Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 12 August 2025.
Related stories: Ellis and DPP both launch appeals, Ellis trial begins