The Labor candidate Alex Dighton won the seat, with ABC election analyst Antony Green calling the result at 7:26pm ACDT on election night.[2] 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.[3]
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.[6]
It was revealed that Wilson had been a member of the Greens before joining the Liberal Party one week prior to her preselection.[10] 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.[11]
On 17 October 2024, The Greens announced that City of Marion councillor, Sarah Luscombe would run as their candidate.[8]
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”.[12]
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.[13]
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.[14]
^Green, Anthony (16 November 2024). "Black by-election 2024 Commentary". ABC News. Archived from the original on 17 November 2024. 19:26 - I've called a win for Labor's Alex Dighton. A 13.9% swing on two polling places, 10% more than needed, and on the five polling places reporting primary votes, the drop in Liberal vote continues around 18%. No way back from here.
