The Malinauskas Government announced a short time ago that Irene Pnevmatikos had told the Labor Party of her intention to resign.

“It is with much regret that I intend to resign as a member of the Legislative Council due to ongoing health issues,” Pnevmatikos said in a statement.

“I take this opportunity to sincerely thank everyone who has supported me over the years.

“I wish the incoming member all the best. I know they will serve the people of South Australia well.”

The government said Pnevmatikos would provide more details about her resignation in an address to parliament later this week.

Pnevmatikos, a member of Labor’s Left Faction, was first elected to the Upper House in 2018 after a career in law.

She has since chaired parliament’s Legislative Review Committee and other inquiries into wage theft and the gig economy, as well as a government taskforce into the gender pay gap.

Her resignation opens up a casual vacancy for the government in the Upper House.

By-elections are not held to replace casual vacancies in the Upper House, with the party from which the MP resigned instead getting to nominate the preferred replacement.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said he would have more to say about this in due course.

“During her five and a half years in the Legislative Council, Irene has been a passionate advocate for social justice and a fair go,” Malinauskas said in a statement.

“She has fought hard to represent those whose voices have not been heard.

“Irene’s enthusiasm, conviction and advocacy will be missed. I thank her for her service to the State.

“I will have more to say on Irene’s career, and on the process to fill a casual vacancy in the Legislative Council, in due course.”

Pnevmatikos was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2022 and had one of her kidneys removed. In an address to parliament earlier this year, she called on her own government to fund more dialysis beds in regional areas.

“Dialysis is not readily available everywhere, and in places where it is, it is not likely that they will have a chair available due to local use,” she told parliament on March 22.

“Patients have differing needs, and we need to be able to accommodate them as much as possible.

“Dialysis creates extreme restrictions in the lives of patients and their lifestyles, and we should not further be restricting them.”

Pnevmatikos was also present at some of the protests against the Malinauskas Government’s new protest laws which passed parliament in May. 

She told InDaily at the time she wanted to hear the protestors’ concerns about the government’s Bill.