South Australia has its second new racing minister in the space of nine months with a cabinet reshuffle seeing Rhiannon Pearce now appointed to the key role.
Premier Peter Malinauskas was forced to revamp his cabinet after two key members, former Deputy Premier Susan Close and Treasurer Stephen Mullighan, both resigned from their positions this week.
In the shuffle up, Tom Koutsantonis has been appointed South Australian Treasurer, while former Recreation, Sport and Racing Minister Emily Bourke has assumed his infrastructure portfolio.
Pearce and Lucy Hood were both appointed to cabinet.
Bourke had only been appointed to the racing portfolio in January, replacing Katrine Hildyard. She had recently spoken of her passion for the sports at a Racing SA awards night.
Pearce’s connection to the racing industry is as-yet unknown. She grew up in a small town just outside of Port Pirie before moving to Adelaide. She is the sitting member for the electorate of King in the north-eastern suburbs of Adelaide.
She has also been handed the emergency services and corrections portfolios.
The Malinauskas-led Labor government have been in power since 2022 with South Australians set to go to the polls in March 2026.
