Today the newly elected Leader of the South Australian Liberal Party, Vincent Tarzia MP, announced his Shadow Cabinet.
New additions to the Shadow Cabinet include Mount Gambier based Legislative Councillor Ben Hood and Member for Bragg Jack Batty.
Ben Hood will take on the Infrastructure and Transport, Regional Roads and Government Accountability portfolios. Jack Batty MP will take on Community Safety, Police and Correctional Services, as well as Road Safety and the Future Economy. Jack Batty will also take on the role of Manager of Opposition Business.
“We know from our engagement across the community that cost of living is having a significant impact on households and small businesses,” said Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia.
“Households are almost $25,000 worse off per year under Labor. We will be working tirelessly until 2026 to push the Government to do all it can to ease the cost of living burden on South Australians.
“That’s why the Opposition has appointed a Shadow Minister for Cost of Living, Heidi Girolamo, who will also continue with Finance, and Tax Reform portfolios.”
Ashton Hurn MP will remain as Shadow Minister for Health, holding the Government to account on its election promise to “fix ramping”. Last month we had the worst month of ramping recorded in our state’s history of 5539 hours, bringing the total ramping hours under Peter Malinauskas to over 100,000. The Leader of the Opposition will act as the Shadow Minister for Health until Ms Hurn’s return from maternity leave later this year.
Australia’s most successful Paralympian, with 13 gold medals, Matt Cowdrey OAM will take on the Sports portfolio along with Environment.
Sam Telfer will take on the Treasury portfolio in addition to Local Government. Josh Teague will take on the portfolio of Industrial Relations.
Deputy Leader of the Opposition, John Gardner will take on the additional portfolio of Workforce and Population Strategy, holding Deputy Leader Susan Close to account to ensure South Australia has the capacity to build and deliver critical projects and services.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, Nicola Centofanti, will also take on the portfolio of Veterans Affairs.
“The new Shadow Cabinet strikes a balance between youth and experience. It is energised and will take a fresh approach to tackling some of the biggest challenges we currently face as a community,” said Mr Tarzia.
“Since being elected as Leader, I’ve been working closely with all my colleagues to make sure we have the right people in the right positions across our Shadow Cabinet.”
“My team will work every day to represent all South Australians and take the fight to Labor in 2026.”
