Speirs’ fear after ‘white powder’ video

The former leader of the South Australian Liberal Party has broken his silence following the release of shocking footage and imagery that appeared to show him snorting a white powder substance at his home in June.

The footage, revealed by The Advertiser on Monday night, appears to show David Speirs in his kitchen in the early morning snorting a substance off a plate and standing next to some white powder arranged in lines.

Mr Speirs has previously denied the veracity of the video and there is no allegation he has engaged in any wrongdoing.

In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Speirs said he was feeling “exceptionally vulnerable and at risk.”

“The last few days have been exceptionally distressing for me and my loved ones,” he said.

“This comes on top of a long period in the public eye, including four years as a minister and two as Leader of the Opposition.

“I left the leadership of the party as I had run out of energy and the feeling of burnout has been compounded in recent days.

“As a consequence, my emotional health and wellbeing has been significantly impacted, leaving me feeling exceptionally vulnerable and at risk.

“I have always put South Australians first but now I must take some time to focus on my own health and wellbeing as any other person should.

“I have consulted with medical professionals in the last 24-hours and have been advised that I should take time away from work to concentrate on my health.

“I intend to follow that advice and am now on medical leave, but will be regularly consulting medical professionals.

“I am deeply grateful for the overwhelming support that I have received from parliamentary colleagues, from Liberal Party members and from my community.

“I do not plan to make any further statements regarding this matter and I have engaged legal counsel to assist me to navigate this difficult matter.”

Mr Speirs earlier told The Advertiser the video was a “deepfake”, or artificially altered footage, and he was the victim of an “elaborate hoax”.

But a report delivered to The Advertiser from digital forensics analyst Dr Matthew Sorell concluded the video was authentic.

“Based on my detailed technical review, the photographs and video appear to be authentic, internally consistent, and without indications of tampering of content, metadata or file structure,” he said.

The footage shows Mr Speirs snorting the unidentified substance on June 30 at 4.12am.

Mr Speirs, who represents the southern Adelaide electorate of Black, was leader of the Liberal Party at the time and appeared at a public event the same day at 11am.

He stepped down in early August and has been replaced by Vincent Tarzia.

When Advertiser reporters approached Mr Speirs for comment on the video, he said: “I would never have done that”.

“I would never have done that,” he said.

“Never, never, never.

“I’m quite horrified by that.

“I’m really troubled by that. I’m very, very sorry about that.”

Mr Tarzia said he had spoken with Mr Speirs and Mr Speirs had told him the footage was a deepfake.

Mr Tarzia said he had urged Mr Speirs to report the video the police.

NewsWire understands the SA Police have not received a report about the video.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, responding to the video on Tuesday, said it was “all a bit breathtaking”.

“The images that we see on the front page of The Advertiser this morning are clearly quite concerning but they are a matter that are exclusively for Vincent Tarzia and the SA division of the Liberal Party,” he said.

“The dysfunction, the division, the chaos, that is a matter for Vincent Tarzia and the Liberal Party.”