Former South Australian Liberal leaderhas been charged with drug offences.
In a, Speirs said he was arrested after armed police raided his home.
Police have since confirmed the South Australian MP was charged with two counts of drug supply.
Speirs, who stepped down as Opposition Leader in August, has been on medical leave for the last month.
“I will fight to clear my name of any allegations,” Speirs said. He will step down from politics in the coming weeks.
Background
Speirs has been a Liberal MP since 2014 and served as Environment Minister under the former SA Liberal Government between 2018-2022.
He became leader of the Opposition after his party lost the SA election in 2022.
At the time, he said his leadership would “provide a fresh approach to what leadership looks like – not just in our party, but in our state”.
Resignation
On 8 August this year, Speirs resigned from the leadership, saying he’d “had a gutful” of ongoing factional issues in the party.
The MP later said he left the leadership “as I had run out of energy”.
In September, a leaked video published by The Advertiser appeared to show Speirs snorting a white powder in his home.
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At the time, he claimed the footage was a ‘deepfake’.
Later that week, Speirs announced he was taking leave from SA Parliament.
He said the incident had “significantly impacted” his mental and emotional health.
“I have consulted with medical professionals… and have been advised that I should take time away from work. I intend to follow that advice and am now on medical leave,” the MP said.
Drug offences
On Friday night, David Speirs announced he’d been arrested on drug offences, and would be stepping down as an MP.
SA Police confirmed in a statement that Speirs was charged with “two counts of supplying a controlled substance”.
“Controlled substances” are highly regulated drugs that may be prescribed in some clinical settings. For example, medicinal cannabis or stimulant medications.
Speirs denies the allegations and says he “believes there’s someone pretty sinister behind this”.
What now?
Speirs asked for his privacy to be respected, and said recent public scrutiny had “hugely” impacted his ongoing “mental health challenges”.
His departure from politics later this month will trigger a by-election in hisin Adelaide’s south-west.
Speirs added he’ll suspend his Liberal membership while he defends the drug allegations, saying he’s still “committed to liberal values”. His profile has been removed from the SA Liberal website.
