The South Australian Liberal Party has been dealt another blow with Member of the Legislative Council Jing Lee quitting the party. Her resignation is the latest in a series of departures from the party over the past 12 months.
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00:00Treading a well-worn path to announce another party resignation.
00:07This time, member of the Legislative Council, Jing Li, has decided to go independent effective immediately.
00:14She's decided after 15 years that she wants to go into a different direction.
00:19Obviously, we're very saddened by that.
00:21The sixth member to leave the party since early last year, the MLC was nowhere in sight but released a statement.
00:29After much consideration, I have decided to resign as a member of the Liberal Party.
00:34I took the time to reflect on my parliamentary and community obligations and responsibilities,
00:39what matters most to South Australians, how I can best represent our community and whether we can do politics differently.
00:46The first Malaysian Australian to be elected to State Parliament, Ms Li joined the Legislative Council in 2010.
00:53Her resignation means she relinquishes her position as Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Council
00:59and as Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Tourism.
01:03I was one of the, quite frankly, hardest working members of Parliament.
01:07There wasn't a multicultural event that Jing Li wasn't at.
01:10The announcement also comes months after apologising to State Parliament
01:14for reneging on a pair deal with colleague Michelle Lensing,
01:17while voting on a controversial bill to change the state's abortion laws.
01:22The decision to renege on the deal over concerns of her political future.
01:26I make an unthinkable decision under pressure because I had a grave concern
01:30about my Upper House pre-selection arising out of the various media reports.
01:35After 15 years of state politics, it's certainly taken its emotional toll on Jing Li.
01:41I want to reflect on Jing Li's contribution to the South Australian Liberal Party.
01:47The State Government wasting no time pointing to internal party politics at play.
01:53I think she's sick of them. I think she's fed up with them.
01:55Two Deputy Leaders in three weeks? Surely that's a record.
01:59Ms Li will serve as an independent MLC until the next state election in 2026.