Emails show battle lines in bitter fight for SA Liberal presidency
Two key figures fighting for the party’s state presidency are making their first pitch to members, as polling shows the Liberals grappling with relevancy.
Emails show what the two candidates running for President of the South Australian Liberal Party are pitching to members ahead of a hotly anticipated vote on September 19.
Federal Senator for SA Alex Antic and Leader of the Opposition in the SA upper house Nicola Centofanti are battling to win the role at the Annual General Meeting, in the wake of harsh DemosAU polling results revealed by InDaily this week.
In emails seen by InDaily, Centofanti called for party unity “around our values” while Antic delivered a stark warning about the rising threat of One Nation on the party’s right flank.
Antic told party members he wanted to “create genuine mechanisms so that our members have a proper say in the policy direction of the party”.
“Our members have been ahead of the curve for some considerable time,” he wrote.
“In fact, the push to abandon Net Zero began with our South Australian membership and was eventually adopted by the Federal Party.
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“That pattern shows us that much political wisdom resides in the membership and that the views of our members should be respected.”
Centofanti – who entered SA parliament in 2020 – last week confirmed she was the mystery rival taking on federal backbencher Antic, following weeks of rumours around who might be challenging Antic for the role. Her bid follows reports that current president Leah Blyth had been issued a warning against running.
“I have seen our party at its best,” Centofanti, who has served the Liberals for almost three decades in various roles including a current role as Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, said in her pitch.
“We are at our best when we are united around our values, respectful to our members and focused on one task: earning the trust of South Australians. The next chapter must be about bringing people together.”
Antic highlighted the “challenges we face and how we must respond”, citing polling showing One Nation’s lead over the Liberals federally and the right-wing party’s recent win in last weekend’s Secret Harbour by-election in Western Australia.
He said these two events “should be a massive wake-up call” for the Liberal Party.
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DemosAU polling results exclusively revealed by InDaily yesterday showed Labor’s primary vote had increased two points since a June 2026 poll to 37 per cent, One Nation polled 25 per cent, losing one per cent support, and the Liberals support fell one per cent to 17 per cent support.
“In South Australia, the Liberal Party finished third at the recent state election. Our primary vote collapsed. These results did not appear overnight. They were predictable,” Antic wrote.
He described the vote as a “sink-or-swim moment”.
“I am asking for your vote because I will put our members first, defend Liberal values without apology, face the realities of our electoral position and rebuild from the membership outward,” he said.
“I want to get this party back on track. The choice is yours, but the consequences will be shared by us all.”
The news follows months of inter-party bitterness, including threats issued to current President and SA Senator Leah Blyth from one anonymous senior Liberal source who said her “career would be totally finished” if she dared to run against Antic.
Chapman attempted to stop the event from being filmed, Howe later calling the former AG a “feminist dinosaur”.
The SA Liberal Party AGM was delayed by a month, with state director Alexander Hyde saying around 200 Liberal delegates were originally expected at the Piccadilly cinema on August 29 but the venue was no longer available.
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