There were eight weeks between David Speirs quitting as South Australian Liberal leader and police saying he would face court on drug charges.
As Mr Speirs said in a four-minute video statement he posted to social media on Saturday, he has “endured many pressures over the last few months, if not more”, that “culminated” in him leaving the leadership role in August.
On Saturday, the 39-year-old announced he intends to quit parliament and suspend his Liberal party membership before police said he has been charged with two counts of supplying a controlled substance.
His decision to step down will trigger a by-election in his Adelaide southern suburbs seat and has potential political ramifications for both major parties.
Here’s how it all unfolded.
The timeline
August 2 and 3: The dates police said were Mr Speirs’s alleged first offending of supplying a controlled substance.
August 8: David Speirs resigned as opposition leader, saying he has had a “gutful” but would stay as member for Black.
August 9: The second date police alleged Mr Speirs supplied a controlled substance.
August 12: SA Liberals elected Vincent Tarzia as new leader.
August 19: Mr Tarzia revealed his shadow cabinet with an omission of Mr Speirs, who was in Scotland at the time for a family event.
September 9: A video was published by News Corp reportedly filmed inside the home of Mr Speirs, who has strenuously denied any wrongdoing.
September 11: Mr Speirs issued a statement, saying he was taking medical leave from parliament and had engaged legal counsel.
September 26: SA Police said they arrested Mr Speirs at Berri and charged him with two counts of supplying a controlled substance in early August. His home was also searched.
October 5: Mr Speirs posted a video announcing his intention to step down from parliament. In the video that ABC News was not present for the recording, he said: “Since allegations of illicit substance use at my home became public, my home has been raided by armed police, and I was arrested and I was questioned.” He said he would fight to clear his name of any allegations.
Following Mr Speirs’s social media post and a press conference by current Liberal leader Vincent Tarzia, SA Police released a statement on Saturday providing details of the charges.
ABC News contacted Mr Speirs about the police statement.
Will there be a by-election?
While Mr Speirs has flagged his intention to resign, he has not yet made it official.
Section 30 of South Australia’s Constitution Act 1934, which deals with parliamentary resignations, states that, “upon the receipt of such resignation by the Speaker, the seat of the member shall become vacant”.
The earliest that can happen is when parliament resumes sitting from October 15.
The Speaker must issue a writ for a by-election and the writ must be issued 28 days before the date fixed for polling.
It means a by-election in the seat of Black is unlikely to be held until mid-November at the earliest.
On Saturday, Mr Tarzia said the Liberals’ nomination process for a Black by-election has opened, “effectively immediately”.
“It’s an opportunity to make sure we put the best candidate forward, to make sure we do everything possible to ensure that seat stays in the Liberal party column as well,” he said.
What happens for the electorate of Black?
Flinders University politics lecturer Rob Manwaring said Black was a “relatively new division” and was first contested in the 2018 SA election.
After a boundary redistribution, David Speirs retained his seat at the 2022 state election with 52.7 per cent on a two-party preferred vote over Labor’s Alex Dighton at 47.3 per cent.
“Speirs held it although his share did go down. So it’s sort of nominally in Liberal territory,” Dr Manwaring said.
“What the research shows us generally speaking, when it comes to elections which shape government for example, people generally vote based around their judgements about the party, about how they’re going to run the economy and their handling of key issues particularly health and education.
“What’s different about by-elections is there tends to be more uncertainty because the election is just purely much more about who the local candidate is.
“Generally speaking though, by-elections tend to go against the government of the day.”
Labor did pick up the seat of Dunstan from the Liberals in a by-election earlier this year, triggered by former premier Steven Marshall’s resignation.
What do the locals say?
Nicki Buckle from Sheidow Park said she believed that the Black electorate was “losing a good leader”.
“I’m disappointed in it because I think he’s been very good for this area,” Ms Buckle said.
“It’s a shame that what’s gone on, I don’t know whether there’s any truth to the allegations, to be honest I’m not even interested in the allegations, I think what he did for the area should speak more volumes than dirty politics.”
She hoped the Liberals would retain the seat of Black.
Sinjay Raje from Seacombe Gardens said he had met Mr Speirs once and believed he was a “nice person”.
“He was working so hard for the party,” Mr Raje said.
He said it would be neck-and-neck between Liberal and Labor in the Black by-election, adding that whoever got elected had to focus on cost-of-living.
Seacombe resident Craig Sinclair said Mr Speirs was a “strong candidate” for the area but said the situation surrounding him was “unfortunate”.
“Whoever takes over from his position has to have a strong backbone,” Mr Sinclair said.
Valda Linnett, from South Brighton, said she believed the Liberals in SA were in trouble and that Labor would win the seat of Black.
She said she would wait until the day to decide who to vote for.
“Because we don’t know the story, we can’t have an opinion on it,” she added in response to Mr Speirs’s charges.
What’s next for Speirs?
An SA Police spokesperson said Mr Speirs was given police bail and would appear in court at a later date.
Mr Speirs, who has previously denied any wrongdoing, said he would “fight to clear my name of any allegations”.
Mr Tarzia said the Liberal party state executive ratified the suspension of Mr Speirs’s membership on Saturday.
“To see someone’s career effectively come to an end, this is obviously quite devastating and quite challenging,” Mr Tarzia said.
In his video statement, Mr Speirs said being a local MP and the state’s former environment minister were “immensely fulfilling jobs”.
“I’ve got lots of ideas that remain bubbling around in my head for the future of the state,” he said.
“I hope that I can contribute — continue to contribute — in conservation advocacy and fighting for our natural environment, coming up with projects and ideas for sustainability and biodiversity conservation — things that I’m so passionate about.”