Alex Antic Takes Charge of the SA Liberals, and Canberra Is Watching
Alex Antic has been elected president of the South Australian Liberal Party, defeating Legislative Council leader Nicola Centofanti 119 votes to 73 in a ballot of party delegates. The Guardian described Antic as a right-wing senator who swept to victory as the next SA Liberals president.
The method counts here. The contest was decided by party delegates, which are elected reps from branches, not by a direct vote of all members. That delegate ballot is the normal way organisational control is settled in the SA division. ABC News
The ballot followed the March state election, which left the Liberals with five lower house seats. Former senior Liberals Alexander Downer and Christopher Pyne spoke publicly about the loss after the election. ABC News They called for the party's factions to work together after the result. One analyst described the position the election left the Liberals in as an "existential crisis". ABC News
After winning, Antic installed allies across all four vice-president positions. The Australian He rose through factional state politics in South Australia with backing from conservative religious supporters. He posted to X on Monday describing his win as a "great result".
The response from the polling world was sharp. Tony Barry, RedBridge director of corporate affairs and communications, branded Antic a "vote-losing machine". The Guardian published an analysis headlined "Alex Antic's rise in SA Liberals has coincided with a collapse in the party's vote. Is there further to fall?"
In Canberra the impact showed first in the Senate. Antic was the only Coalition senator to vote for a change to No Jab, No Play legislation, the rules linking vaccination to childcare and preschool access. Four One Nation senators and United Australia Party senator Ralph Babet voted with him. South Australian Health Minister Blair Boyer called on Antic to declare whether he would seek to form a coalition with One Nation.
One Nation described Antic's election as SA Liberal state president as a 'win'. A political strategist said Australia's two-party system has already collapsed amid the rise of One Nation. ABC News For context, ahead of the election, SA Liberals including federal Liberal senator Alex Antic had not been approached to join One Nation. ABC News
The broader context here is an organisation and a parliamentary team pulling in different directions. The presidency does not sit in parliament. Like a board chair rather than a team captain, it sits over the machinery of preselection, funds and campaign rules. When a federal senator known for his stance on issues like No Jab, No Play takes that role with four aligned vice-presidents, talk of factional peace is harder to sustain.
In my view, the questions that matter in the gallery are practical, not philosophical. Who controls candidate selection for the next state and federal contests. Who sets the terms for dealing with One Nation in seats where the Liberals now poll third. Whether a leadership skilled at conservative mobilisation can also speak to the Adelaide metropolitan seats Labor holds and the Liberals must win to be competitive.
Looking at what this means federally, the South Australian division has become a test case. Downer and Pyne urged unity after March. Boyer is demanding clarity on One Nation. Barry is warning about electoral cost. Antic is claiming mandate from delegates. Those claims can all sit side by side. The tension lingers because five lower house seats is a base, not a platform, and a 119-73 delegate win is control, not consensus, while the right vote keeps fragmenting.
