‘Disastrous’: WA election results rock Liberals

WA Labor leader Roger Cook has claimed victory in the state election.

WA Labor leader Roger Cook has claimed victory in the state election.

“Earlier this evening, I received the call from Libby Mettam. She offered her congratulations to our WA Labor team for being elected to form a new government and wish us well,” Mr Cook said.

“I congratulated Libby on the tireless work she put into this campaign on the campaign trail.

“And look, she’s a decent person who, like most of us who go into life, does it for the right reasons, and I look forward to working with her and the leader of the National Party in the parliament very shortly.”

The ABC’s election analyst, Antony Green, described it as a “disastrous” night for the Liberal party.

This marks Labor’s third consecutive term governing the state and will be the first test for Mr Cook to retain as many seats as possible after the party almost wiped out the WA Liberal Party in 2021.

The WA Premier is a member of Labor’s left faction and has strong union ties, which helped him step into the state’s top job after former premier Mark McGowan’s shock resignation in May 2023.

Labor’s landslide win was under Mr McGowan, who was riding a monstrous wave of public approval for his Covid response. He then suddenly resigned “exhausted” midterm.

The Liberals walked away from the 2021 election with just two of the 59 seats in the Legislative Assembly and did not fare much better in the upper house, with just seven of the 36 seats in the Legislative Council.

Labor snatched historically conservative seats from the Liberals and Nationals for the first time, including the metro seats of Churchlands, Nedlands and South Perth.

This time around, it’s still unknown how many seats the Liberal Party can regain.

To regain respectability, experts say the Liberal Party needs to win those seats along with Scarborough, Carine, Bateman and the Darling Range in the Perth Hills.

The Nationals are looking at seats on the metro outskirts and regions, including Murray-Wellington, Dawesville, Warren-Blackwood, Kalgoorlie, Albany and Geraldton.

Vying for one of those lost metro seats is Perth Lord Mayor and Seven West media personality Basil Zempilas.

Perth Lord Mayor and Seven West media personality is running for the Liberals in the seat of Churchlands.

He will be running for the Liberals in Churchlands, which covers suburbs in Perth’s west extending from West Leederville to City Beach.

Labor won the seat for the first time at the last election, with Christine Tonkin stepping into the Legislative Assembly, but the Labor member faces a battle to retain the seat given its history and Mr Zempilas’s high profile.

The only metro seat the Liberals retained at the last election was in the affluent seaside suburb of Cottesloe, which was won by outgoing MLA David Honey.

Former Property Council executive director Sandra Brewer will contest that seat for the Liberals at this election.

The safe regional seat of Vasse in the state’s southwest was in 2021 retained by party leader Libby Mettam, who is expected to win again.

WA Liberal Party leader Libby Mettam will try to win back as many seats as possible across the state after bloodbaths at the last two elections. Picture: Pool / NewsWire / Kelsey Reid

Ms Mettam will try to win back as many seats as possible across the state after the Liberals suffered its worst two losses in history at the last two elections.

The hardworking party leader faces an uphill battle but has remained optimistic about her party’s chances.

Ms Mettam has campaigned on the state’s health, crime and housing crises at a time when WA has recorded huge surpluses.

With 11 Labor MPs retiring, it opens up another opportunity for her party to reclaim seats in the Legislative Assembly.

Curtin University Institute of Public Policy executive director John Phillimore said a similar move backfired on Alan Carpenter’s Labor government in 2008 when the party was almost certainly going to be re-elected and it used that opportunity to retire off sitting members and put in new candidates.

“That turned out to rebound against the Labor Party and they lost two or three seats where they had sitting members,” Professor Phillimore said.

“Those sitting members actually had a personal vote which would have got them across the line in that close election. It basically lost Labor government.

“So this time round there’ll be a big change of faces and if there is any personal vote which pertains to those people, that might put Labor under pressure.

“But if you’re ever going to do that, now’s the time to do it when you’re sitting on a big margin.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joins Premier Roger Cook and his deputy Rita Saffioti on the newly opened Ellenbrook train line. Picture: NewsWire / Sharon Smith

Mr Phillimore said the first seat the state would be watching with anticipation was Churchlands.

He said it was very likely Mr Zempilas would win, but sometimes being high profile worked against you.

“It is a case of maybe you do or maybe you don’t, but that will be the very first seat we’ll be looking at,” he said.

“Put it this way, if the Liberals don’t win Churchlands, they are definitely not going to get back to 2017 numbers.

“In some respects, all legends start from scratch, there’s no guarantee, so there’s still the potential to be surprised.

“But it would be a surprise, not a shock, and it certainly won’t be an earthquake, but let’s wait and see if it is an earthquake.

“There doesn’t seem to be a mood for change and the electorate doesn’t have baseball bats out against the government, it hasn’t made huge mistakes.

“Of course, over eight years all governments accumulate all sorts of mistakes and need to do better, but having a new leader has helped them rejuvenate and that’s allowed them to make a case there’s still more to be done.”

Mr Zempilas’s high profile could also work against him. Picture: The West

Mr Phillimore said Mr Cook had done reasonably well without any major complaints after a shaky start with the Aboriginal cultural heritage legislation.

He said the Premier had kept a remarkably united caucus of 53 members, and they would run on the perception they were an experienced team who knew what they were doing.

“They can contrast that with the Liberal position; in that sense he has a pretty good advantage over his opponent,” Mr Phillimore said.

“The downside is always they will be tired, but if you change your premier halfway through the second term you’re not quite so tired and you’ve got a bit more of a refreshed look.”

He said if the Labor Party did better than the 2017 result of 41 seats it would be “over the moon”.