Veteran Labor Minister named Treasurer after shock Cabinet resignations
Premier Peter Malinauskas has unveiled his new line up – hailing it the first time there are more women than men in Cabinet. An old hand takes on Treasury, a new move for the Education Minister and Adelaide MP Lucy Hood will tackle the harmful algal bloom.
Minister Tom Koutsantonis is replacing Stephen Mullighan in the job as the state’s Treasurer after Mullighan and Deputy Premier Susan Close announced their shock resignation from Cabinet on Thursday, saying they would not contest the next state election.
Emily Bourke takes on Koutsantonis’ former Infrastructure and Transport portfolio.
Koutsantonis was Treasurer in the former Labor government in 2014 until 2018 led by Jay Weatherill. He said the state had a “once-in-a-generation opportunity”.
“South Australia is really entering a time when it’s going to grow. My job is to make sure we can sustain that.”
Education Minister Blair Boyer takes on the job as Police Minister while Joe Szakacs was picked to add Close’s Industry, Innovation and Science to his portfolios.
The new team was sworn in at Government House on Friday morning,
Adelaide MP Lucy Hood will tackle the challenging Climate, Environment and Water portfolio – thrusting her into the centre of the state government’s handling of the harmful algal bloom and lobbying for the global climate change conference COP31.
She said she was up for the task, and that her first job was to get “briefed by the experts”.
“The Malinauskas Government was clear that we respect the experts. My first call walking out of Government House Grounds today will be to Professor Mike Steer so I can be thoroughly briefed on the transition.”
Rhiannon Pearce is the state’s new Emergency Services and Correctional Services Minister plus takes on the Recreation, Sport and Racing portfolio.
Premier Malinauskas has taken on Mullighan’s former Defence and Space Industries portfolio.
Kyam Maher was named Deputy Leader of South Australia’s Parliamentary Labor Party. He is the first indigenous Deputy Premier in the state’s history, something he said was “an incredibly proud moment”.
“I’ve been humbled by the messages from Aboriginal elders over the last 12 or 13 hours. It shows anybody can be anything they want to be,” he said.
He said he had “no intention or ambition to move to the Lower House”, noting his position was “not a disadvantage”.
“There’s always a first time for everything, as when Rob Lucas became Treasurer from the Upper House,” he said.
Malinauskas said he was proud to “lead a disciplined and united team, that bats incredibly deep, with a desire to get things done for South Australians”.
“And I am delighted to introduce our refreshed cabinet ahead of the March election,” he said.
“This reshuffle delivers significant new talent and fresh ideas to the front bench, balanced with stability, experience, continuity and strength of leadership.
“My team reflects the rich diversity in our society. I am proud of the fact that for the first time in history we have more women than men in Cabinet.”
He singled out Rhiannon Pearce, Lucy Hood and Nadia Clancy as being “thoroughly deserving of their elevations, and I congratulate them on their appointments.”
“I am fortunate to welcome highly experienced and capable ministers into key roles – Kyam Maher as Deputy Premier, and Tom Koutsantonis as Treasurer, a role in which he has previously delivered nation-leading economic reform,” Malinauskas said.
“Change is never easy, but it is a constant. It is a demonstration of this government’s culture that this significant transition has been executed quickly, decisively and with unity of purpose, as opposed to the division, rancour and chaos that has come to define our opponents.”
Maher, currently the Attorney-General and the government’s leader of the upper house, will be the Premier’s right-hand man in the lead-up to the 2026 state election.
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The Premier announced Member for Elder Nadia Clancy will serve as Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.
Both Mullighan and Close will not stand for re-election when the state goes to the polls next year, with the former saying he wanted to spend more time with his family and the latter noting now was the right time for her to leave public life.
Close will continue in her role as Vice President of the Australian Labor Party.
The full line up:
PETER MALINAUSKAS MP
Premier
Minister for Defence and Space Industries
Member of Executive Council
KYAM MAHER MLC
Deputy Premier
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs
Attorney-General
Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector
Special Minister of State
Member of Executive Council
Leader of Government Business in the Legislative Council
ANASTASIOS (TOM) KOUTSANTONIS MP
Treasurer
Minister for Energy and Mining
Member of Executive Council
Leader of Government Business in the House of Assembly
ZOE BETTISON MP
Minister for Tourism
Minister for Multicultural Affairs
Member of Executive Council
CHRISTOPHER (CHRIS) PICTON MP
Minister for Health and Wellbeing
Member of Executive Council
KATRINE HILDYARD MP
Minister for Child Protection
Minister for Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence
Minister for Women
Member of Executive Council
NATALIE (NAT) COOK MP
Minister for Human Services
Minister for Seniors and Ageing Well
Member of Executive Council
CLARE SCRIVEN MLC
Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development
Minister for Forest Industries
Member of Executive Council
BLAIR BOYER MP
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Minister for Education, Training and Skills
Minister for Police
Member of Executive Council
ANDREA MICHAELS MP
Minister for Small and Family Business
Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs
Minister for Arts
Member of Executive Council
JOSEPH (JOE) SZAKACS MP
Minister for Trade and Investment
Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science
Minister for Local Government Minister for Veterans Affairs
Member of Executive Council
NICHOLAS (NICK) CHAMPION, MP
Minister for Housing and Urban Development
Minister for Housing Infrastructure
Minister for Planning
Member of Executive Council
EMILY BOURKE, MLC
Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
Minister for Autism
Member of Executive Council
RHIANNON PEARCE, MP
Minister for Emergency & Correctional Services
Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing
Member of Executive Council
LUCY HOOD, MP
Minister for Climate, Environment and Water
Member of Executive Council
MICHAEL BROWN, MP
Assistant Minister for Artificial Intelligence (Al), Digital Economy, Defence and Space Industries
NADIA CLANCY, MP
Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention
Opposition questions London trip
The Opposition questioned the timing of Mullighan’s resignation, particularly after his recent trip to the United Kingdom “on a taxpayer funded lavish junket”.
Leader of the Opposition Vincent Tarzia said there were “serious questions… about whether taxpayers should foot the bill for their last hurrah”.
“This is the epitome of a golden goodbye on the taxpayer dollar, with the Treasurer already plotting his exit when he boarded the plane,” Tarzia said.
“South Australians deserve transparency on every cent spent, especially when it’s for a Minister who’s about to walk away from the job he was elected to do.”
Close said yesterday she wanted to take the “remarkable opportunity to choose to leave politics, to be able to do something else with still some energy to give”.
“I didn’t want to make a decision that could hurt Peter or that could hurt the team, but I did need to make a decision for myself,” she said.
“Life is really short. I have been watching my mother disappear into dementia over the last four years, and it was for me an alarm bell reminding me that life is finite and it’s precious and it is way shorter than you think when you’re young.
“I want to do something else. I want to have some freedom, and I feel I’ve given what I can to public life.”
Yesterday, Mullighan said his decision brought to an end more than 22 years of being in state government in South Australia “in a number of different ways”, including 12 as the Member for Lee.
“These are very personal decisions for both Susan and I. But for me, I’m in a position where I’ve lost both my parents and Antonia [his wife] has lost her father.
“It takes a village to raise children and our village is a little bit smaller. I want to make sure while the kids are still young, and I’m relatively young, that I can be around more and be more present as a husband.”
