Changes to State Cabinet

The Deputy Premier Susan Close and Treasurer Stephen Mullighan will today stand aside from State Cabinet, after each informed the Premier of their intention to retire from State Parliament at the March election.

The two ministers have each held senior frontbench portfolios for more than a decade, delivering significant leadership and results for South Australians.

Susan Close has served as Deputy Leader of the South Australian Labor Party for seven and a half years and Deputy Premier for three and a half years, working in close partnership with Peter Malinauskas throughout.

Dr Close has been Minister for Climate, Environment and Water and Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science since March 2022. She has also served Minister for Workforce and Population Strategy since April 2024.

First elected to the seat of Port Adelaide in 2012, Dr Close served in a variety of ministerial roles in the Weatherill Government, including Minister for Manufacturing, Innovation and Trade, Minister for Education and Child Development, and Minister for Higher Education.

Susan Close has delivered significant education, environment and social policy reform throughout her parliamentary career, including new STEM facilities for public schools, the introduction of phonics checks in Reception, advocating for introduction of three-year-old preschool, delivering a new university and Biodiversity Act, banning puppy farms, tripling RSCPA funding and enshrining emissions reduction and adaptation planning in Climate Change legislation.

Stephen Mullighan has served as Treasurer since 2022, returning the budget to surplus and keeping it there, improving the state’s credit rating outlook, delivering the nation’s best performing economy and winning business endorsement as the best state in which to operate.

Mr Mullighan has also served as Minister for Defence and Space Industries since April 2024 and Minister for Police since January.

First elected as the Member for Lee in 2014, Stephen Mullighan became only the second Labor MP in history to immediately enter Cabinet, serving as Minister for Transport and Infrastructure and also later Minister for Housing and Urban Development in the Weatherill Government.

In addition to funding the state’s biggest ever infrastructure project in a non-stop South Road, Mr Mullighan also played a crucial role in delivering previous major projects including the Torrens to Torrens, Darlington, and Northern Connector projects, along with the O-Bahn city access project and city tram extension.

The resignations of Susan Close and Stephen Mullighan provide the Premier an opportunity to refresh the State Cabinet to contest the March election, with details of the reshuffle to be announced tomorrow.

Quotes

Attributable to Peter Malinauskas

This is a significant day in our state’s political history.

It has been my immense honour and privilege to have worked so closely with both Susan and Stephen over the past decade.

Both have demonstrated formidable intellect, incredible leadership, competence and loyalty.

Their determination to get things done have delivered results for South Australians now, but have also set our state up for the long term.

Susan Close and Stephen Mullighan are more than trusted colleagues. They are my close confidantes and friends.

It goes without saying, that I would love both to stay. But politics is not forever. Both have served in highly demanding roles for an extended time, notwithstanding the pressures that places on their families, friends and loved ones.

They should be deeply proud of their public service achievements.

I have had the fortune of leading a strong, stable, disciplined and united team. It speaks to the quality and integrity of both Susan and Stephen that they have informed me of their intentions ahead of time, presenting an opportunity for orderly renewal ahead of the March election.

I’ll have more to say on the shape of Cabinet tomorrow.

Attributable to Susan Close

Leaving this job, this government and this premier is the hardest decision I have ever made.

I know that leaving politics at a time of my choice and still with enough energy to embrace the next challenge, is a rare privilege. Yet I have wrestled with the decision.

I had always planned to leave with fuel left in the tank, not to stagger to the finish line but to still have something to offer. I realise that the time for that must be now - leaving a strong government, an incredible Premier and a team full of talent more than capable of replacing me.

I will miss so much the Premier and the extraordinary working partnership we have had for nearly 8 years; the Labor team in Parliament and the wider labour movement that carries the aspirations of all decent working people; the staff I have had the privilege to work with over the entire 14 years of my time in parliament; and the public servants in the education, state development and environment portfolios who make South Australia stronger, fairer and better every day.

I leave confident of a government and a South Australia with a bright future in safe hands.

I continue to have the honour of representing the people of Port Adelaide into next year, and will have more to say about that community nearer the election.

Attributable to Stephen Mullighan

I realise this will come as a surprise to many people but after working at senior levels of government over 22 years, it is time for change.

I’m a strong believer in getting in, having a crack and getting as much done as possible, and the handing over the reins.

I am extremely grateful for the opportunities I’ve had in my career and I’ve sought to get as much done as a local MP and as a minister.

We’ve got the budget back into surplus and kept it there.

We’ve improved our credit rating outlook and it’s the best of all states bar WA.

We’ve kept our commitment to not increasing taxes or introducing new ones.

We’ve got the best performing economy in the nation and we’re regarding as the best place in the nation to do business.

Now is the right time for me to go for both me, my family and the government.

We have a once-in-a-generation leader in Peter.

We have a strong, united and competent government and a back bench brimming with talent.

I’d like to thank my constituents, who have supported me at three successive elections, my colleagues in the broader Labor movement, my staff and my friends, but most of all my family – my wife Antonia, Ben, Isaac and Olivia.