Members

Member for Black, Resignation

The SPEAKER (10:31): I have received a letter from the Hon. David Speirs resigning his seat in the house. I inform members that, following the resignation from the House of Assembly by the Hon. David Speirs, I have conferred with the Electoral Commissioner as to a suitable date for a by-election in the district of Black. I will today issue a writ to effect a by-election in the electoral district of Black for Saturday 16 November 2024. I make this statement having regard to sections 47 and 130A of the Electoral Act 1985 (South Australia).

In the letter that I received from Mr Speirs he said that it had been the greatest privilege of his life to serve his community as a representative in the House of Assembly and, 'I wish all members success as they seek to do their very best for the state of South Australia.' I would like to put on the record thanks to David Speirs for the work he did as a local MP for 10 years and as a minister in the Marshall government for four years. It is not always an easy job and it is a job that comes with many pressures, and we wish Mr Speirs all the very best in his future.

I would also like to thank the Electoral Commissioner, Mick Sherry. Mick and I have had a fair few discussions over the past few days as we worked through what the process might look like, and it has been very good to deal with the Electoral Commissioner. We have some key dates that I might go through. Speaking to the Electoral Commissioner this morning, he said that he would have this information online as soon as possible.

The writ obviously will be issued today, the closing of the rolls will be at 5pm on Monday 28 October 2024, the closing of nominations will be on Friday 1 November 2024, the poll obviously will be held on Saturday 16 November 2024 and the writ will be returned on or before Thursday 28 November. The 28^th will give the Electoral Commission every possible moment that they might need, given that they have to allow seven days for postal votes to come back in.

We do envisage that it might actually be on the Tuesday or even the Monday that we might get that writ back, but we will just have to wait and see how the election and the counting of votes plays out. I think it is important for those constituents of Black that they have a member of parliament in here before we get up for the Christmas break. That's that, and I will be seeing the Electoral Commissioner in about an hour and a half.