The SA Politics Thread

[rev]

Waste of time. If Premiers, or ministers, are up to no good, they're not going to pencil in their play dates in their diaries.

So many more important issues that affect our every day lives.

[Bobski]

At least he's stopped pretending the video was an AI deep fake

Former SA Liberal leader David Speirs started using cocaine "as a form of escapism" about two months before supplying it to two adults on two different occasions, a court has heard.

David James Speirs, 40, appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday where his lawyer, William Mickan, told the court his client started using cocaine in June 2024, when it was offered to him by a "third party" to cope with stress.

Last month, Speirs pleaded guilty to two charges of supplying a controlled substance to another person between August 1 and August 10, 2024, at Kingston Park.

Speirs was arrested at Berri, in the state's Riverland region, in September.

This came after a video, published by News Corp, showed the former MP snorting from a plate. The charges do not relate to the video

The former Liberal leader resigned from politics after the charges were laid.

...

"The media didn't destroy this man's reputation … he did," [DPP Martin Hinton KC] said.

"It is very much in the public interest that they report on this, you cannot put yourself up for public office, accept public office, hold public office, and then expect that you will not be held to the standards that go with holding public office.

"He gets to sit in parliament, debate how the rest of us should conduct ourselves, tell us how we should conduct ourselves, contribute to the debate, set the maximum penalty and then expect it to be enforced.

"There's an element of hypocrisy in then coming into this court and saying 'however don't apply that to me'."

Mr Mickan told the court that Speirs has good prospects for rehabilitation and has plans to walk the Kokoda Track.

"The reason for that is two-fold: one is to raise money for men's mental health, but he also wants to do it for his own rehabilitation and restoration," he said.

He also asked for a conviction not to be recorded against his client, so he can travel overseas, but said a fine or a good behaviour bond would be appropriate.

Meanwhile, Mr Hinton asked the court to impose a conviction against Speirs and asked for a "significant" fine to be imposed.

Speirs will be sentenced on April 24

Source