South Australia’s opposition leader has urged his predecessor to report what he says is a “deepfake” video of him appearing to snort a white powder to police.
The video and another photo of former SA Liberal leader David Speirs were published by News Corp today.
The video was reportedly filmed just after 4am on June 30 in the Liberal MP’s Kingston Park home.
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The second image published with the video appears to show seven lines of white powder on a plate with Speirs in the background.
Vincent Tarzia, who took over from Speirs as SA Liberal leader just last month, today said Speirs had insisted he was embroiled in a digital hoax and that the video was a manipulated deepfake video.
“He has assured me that he is of the belief that the footage is that of a deepfake,” Tarzia said.
”My suggestion to David is that if he believes that that is the case, that he reports that to the authorities, and I believe he has taken that on board.”
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SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said the images were “really quite concerning”.
“They are a matter that is exclusively for Vincent Tarzia and the South Australian branch of the Liberal Party,” he said.
Speirs told 9News today that he was staying with friends and would not be providing any further comments.
Speirs did not appear in parliament this afternoon.
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