David Speirs looking to overcome drugs sentence and return to South Australian parliament

Just over 10 months ago former Liberal opposition leader David Speirs walked out of the Adelaide Magistrates Court a convicted criminal, having pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying drugs.

In less than one week, he could be back as a member of South Australia's parliament.

"I gave this a lot of consideration … and I felt I had a reasonable level of support in the community, I feel well in myself [and] I've got a lot of things I think I can still contribute," Speirs told 7.30.

Speirs will contest the seat of Black as an independent – the electorate he represented for most of his time in parliament – until his resignation in 2024 after a video emerged of him snorting from a plate. 

Speirs was subsequently charged by police, although those charges didn't relate specifically to the video.

He had initially claimed the video was a deep fake before later admitting he took cocaine to escape the pressure of being the state opposition leader.

"There would be leaks to the media, not necessarily about me, but about things in the party, there was infighting, I just didn't think I could ever get clear air.

"I don't regret becoming opposition leader because someone needed to pick up the pieces after the [2022] election but it took a massive personal toll on me.

"I was out of the house by 6am most mornings. I often wasn't back by 10pm.

Now, Speirs is hopeful that the community that voted him in three times can move past his criminality.

"It's in the past now, but I made bad mistakes, I surrounded myself with people that I shouldn't have," Speirs told 7.30.

"I'm owning it, I'm saying sorry to the people that I failed … and I failed a lot of people, but I failed myself as much as anything.

"Second chances are not given lightly, they're earned and … I feel I've gotten that second chance from this community, and that gets me out of bed every morning."

'Should be ashamed'

But as 7.30 joined Speirs while he campaigned at the local Hallett Cove shops, two constituents made it clear they were not ready to give the 41-year-old another chance.

"Don't talk to us, you shoot through, we don't want to know you, get going," Geoffrey Boumard told Speirs as he approached him while he was sitting at a local coffee shop.

"I hope nobody votes for him because he doesn't deserve to have a job and that's the end of the story."

But there was support too for Speirs, who was a local councillor in the area, before he ran for parliament.

"Well, I don't need every vote … I need 50 per cent plus one to get across the line, with or without preferences. I don't expect everyone to feel that they can trust me, I don't expect everyone to back me," Speirs said.

Speirs also responded to criticism he's faced over supplying drugs to people in his home but was reluctant to go into details.

"Those are fair concerns to raise and I apologise to anyone who feels concerned about that; they should be, but at the end of the day there's a lot more to that story than has ever been fleshed out fully. I don't think it ever will be.

"I'm certainly not going to talk about that widely because there has been a significant amount of innuendo and misinformation put into the public domain about that. I'm willing to accept responsibility for what I was accused of.

"I am willing to say that illicit substances shouldn't have been in my home, and other people shouldn't have had access to it. I paid the price for that.

"I apologise that people feel that way, but it is in the past now."

Is he even eligible?

There have also been questions raised over whether Speirs should be eligible to run.

Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Sydney Law School, Anne Twomey, said the SA legislation on candidate eligibility isn't clear.

"There are ambiguities in the South Australian legislation," Professor Twomey said.

South Australian Electoral Commissioner Mick Sherry said under his interpretation of the law, Speirs is eligible because his crime is in the past.

"The Constitution Act makes various references to the qualifications of a candidate; it primarily relates to if a member of parliament was sitting at the time a number of circumstances (criminal offences) would take place, it would deem them ineligible to continue to sit … it doesn't refer to at the time of nomination," Mr Sherry said.

"I am confident that he is qualified to stand for the election." 

Speirs's comeback has been made even more difficult by the fact that both major parties are preferencing him last on their how-to-vote cards.

Flinders University political scientist Rob Manwaring said while Speirs can be elected, it will be difficult without receiving preferences.

"Given the relative recency of the events which engulfed him and his leadership, he faces a really significant uphill battle to get over the finishing line," Mr Manwaring said.

Speirs has conceded he has a less than 50 per cent chance of winning.

"There is a lot of support for me in the community," he said.

"But is a lot of support, 20 per cent, 30 per cent, or is it ... higher than that?

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