# 2024 Black state by-election

The 2024 Black state by-election was held on 16 November 2024 to elect the member for Black in the South Australian House of Assembly, following the resignation of Liberal Party MP David Speirs.
The Labor candidate Alex Dighton won the seat, with ABC election analyst Antony Green calling the result at 7:26pm ACDT on election night. It would be the second seat Labor has gained from the Liberals in a by-election in 2024, following their victory at the March by-election in Dunstan.

## Background

The by-election was triggered by the resignation on 5 October 2024 of sitting Liberal MP and former Opposition Leader David Speirs, after he was charged with two counts of supplying a controlled substance on 26 September 2024. Speirs maintained his innocence and announced he would fight the charges.
On 15 October 2024, Speirs formally resigned to the Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly, with the election date held on Saturday, 16 November 2024.

### 2022 election result

2022 South Australian state election: Black :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | David Speirs | 11,862 | 50.1 | −0.9 |
| | Labor | Alex Dighton | 9,037 | 38.1 | +7.0 |
| | Greens | Liz Tidemann | 2,785 | 11.8 | +5.2 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 23,684 | 97.4 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 643 | 2.6 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 24,327 | 92.0 | |
| Two-party-preferred result ||||||
| | Liberal | David Speirs | 12,493 | 52.7 | −6.5 |
| | Labor | Alex Dighton | 11,191 | 47.3 | +6.5 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | −6.5 | |

## Candidates

Candidates who nominated for the by-election are (in ballot paper order):
Candidate nominations :
| Australian Family Party | Jonathan Parkin |
| Liberal Party | Amanda Wilson |
| Labor Party | Alex Dighton |
| Greens | Sarah Luscombe |
On 8 October 2024, the Labor Party preselected Sacred Heart College senior leader Alex Dighton, who previously ran for the seat at the 2022 election.
Amanda Wilson, the mayor of Holdfast Bay, was preselected as the Liberal Party candidate. Wilson does not reside in the electorate, but says she has not ruled out moving to Black "in the longer term". Labor accused Wilson of being "parachuted" into the role.
It was revealed that Wilson had been a member of the Greens before joining the Liberal Party one week prior to her preselection. Wilson subsequently revealed that she had been approached by Peter Malinauskas to run for Labor in the seat of Gibson at the 2022 election, which he confirmed, as well as by Penny Wong to run as a Labor candidate for the federal seat of Boothby.
On 17 October 2024, The Greens announced that City of Marion councillor, Sarah Luscombe would run as their candidate.
The Australian Family Party chose pilot Jonathan Parkin as their candidate for the by-election.

## Campaign and controversies

The Liberal Party claimed that Labor had introduced a “Lettuce Tax”, however the ECSA intervened, ordering the posts to be removed, deeming the claim was misleading, inaccurate and breached section 113 of the Electoral Act. Liberal Opposition leader Vincent Tarzia denounced the ECSA findings as “fake news”.
On 11 November 2024 it was revealed that the Liberals had spent $25,000 of public money on internal party polling by Sydney-based Freshwater Partners for the by-election. The Electoral Act requires registered political parties engaged in the public funding regime to abide by a strict spending cap of $94,482 in a by-election.
While the same day, Liberal figure Nicolle Flint accused Labor of sexism, after they released a corflute that stated Dighton was “working with” Malinauskas while Wilson was “working under” Tarzia. Flint called for Labor to remove the advertising.

## Opinion polling
### Voting intention

| Date | Firm | Interview mode | Sample size | Primary vote | Primary vote | Primary vote | Primary vote | 2PP vote | 2PP vote |
| Date | Firm | Interview mode | Sample size | LIB | ALP | GRN | AFP | LIB | ALP |
| 12 November 2024 | The Advertiser (exit poll) | In-person | 100 | 37% | 47% | 16% | 16% | — | — |
| 19 March 2022 | 2022 election | — | 23,684 | 50.1% | 38.1% | 11.8% | — | 52.7% | 47.3% |

## Results

2024 Black state by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labor | Alex Dighton | 10,248 | 47.9 | +9.7 |
| | Liberal | Amanda Wilson | 7,300 | 34.1 | −16.0 |
| | Greens | Sarah Luscombe | 2,799 | 13.1 | +1.3 |
| | Australian Family | Jonathan Parkin | 1,069 | 5.0 | +5.0 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 21,416 | 97.7 | +0.4 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 497 | 2.3 | −0.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 21,913 | 82.6 | −9.5 |
| Two-candidate-preferred result ||||||
| | Labor | Alex Dighton | 12,820 | 59.9 | +12.6 |
| | Liberal | Amanda Wilson | 8,596 | 40.1 | −12.6 |
| | Labor gain from Liberal | Labor gain from Liberal | Swing | +12.6 | |
Result is final.