Top Liberal offers extraordinary explanation for video of him appearing to snort white powder off a plate
Videos and photographs have emerged showing recently ousted South Australian Liberal Party leader David Speirs snorting white powder from a plate.
The images obtained by the Adelaide Advertisershows the former opposition leader hunched over a plate in the kitchen of his Kingston Park home in Adelaide’s south.
Despite the footage being taken from inside and the person in the photo bearing a strong resemblance to Mr Speirs, he says it is not him and suggests the footage could be a ‘deep fake’.
The man in the footage loudly smelled the substance on the plate using what appeared to be a rolled up $5 bill.
The video’s metadata shows it was taken at 4:12 a.m. on June 30, when Speirs was still leader of the Liberal Party.
A second photo, time-stamped two hours later, showed the same man at a kitchen counter, with seven streaks of white powder on his plate and a plastic bank card in his hand.
Daily Mail Australia does not allege that Speirs did anything illegal.
When a reporter confronted him with the images at his home, Speirs insisted it was “certainly not me” and that he was shocked by the “disturbing” photos.
A video has emerged showing former Liberal Party leader David Speirs using a $5 note to sniff a white substance off a plate
“That’s very strange. No, that can’t be,” said Mr. Speirs.
‘No, no, no, absolutely not. I would never have done that. Never, never, never.
‘I’m quite shocked by that.
‘I was really shocked by that. I’m very sorry.’
In a follow-up text he sent to the advertiser, Mr Speirs said he “strongly disputed” the authenticity of the video described.
“I think this is either a deepfake or an elaborate hoax,” he said.
Mr Speirs has strongly denied that he took the images and has raised the possibility that they are ‘deep fakes’.
On Sunday he sent a text message saying he would be abroad for two weeks in June.
“During that time, other individuals had access to my home, making it possible for someone to obtain images from my property,” he wrote.
‘I am extremely disappointed by this and assure South Australians that I will never use illegal substances, I never have and I never will.’
At the time of the photos, Speirs was the leader of the state’s opposition Liberal Party, hoping to defeat Premier Peter Malinauskas in the next election.
Later that day, he attended a press conference at 11am at the Arkaba Medical Centre in Parkside.
Mr. Speirs became leader of the opposition in the state after the Liberals lost the 2022 state election and former Premier Steve Marshall stepped down.
David Speirs said he was shocked by the ‘disturbing’ photos
Mr Speirs announced his surprise resignation last month, saying he had made “a whole bunch” of secret plans to replace him as leader.
“I don’t have the energy to fight for a leadership that, frankly, I don’t want to pursue anymore under the current circumstances,” he said.
‘I was probably a different type of leader for the Liberal Party, a different background… the party has never been led by someone from the southern suburbs before.
“I brought something else… Was it too early for me to lead the party, or was the party just not ready for me to lead it?”
Mr Speirs, who remains a backbench MP representing Black voters, has since called for federal intervention in the South Australian Liberals.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Speirs for comment.