Justin Langer’s role in resignation of WA Premier Mark McGowan

Former Australian cricket coach Justin Langer has been implicated in the resignation of WA Premier Mark McGowan.

Outgoing WA Labor Premier Mark McGowan has told his cabinet colleagues about the secret role that former Australian cricket coach Justin Langer had in his resignation, according to the West Australian.

Langer penned a column on Saturday, titled “When you just know it’s time to walk away”, after a raft of high profile resignations in the public eye in the past week, including the ABC’s Stan Grant and Richmond’s Damien Hardwick.

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The column discussed Langer’s experience stepping down as head coach of the Australian men’s cricket team, and that of his former teammates and friends Adam Gilchrist and David Boon when it came to retirement.

The West Australian reports that McGowan told his Labor colleagues that the Langer column helped frame his mind about leaving politics.

“There are times when you feel like you could burst,” Langer wrote.

“The treadmill is constant and unless you find ways of stepping off, you simply don’t. Unless you do.”

Langer’s tenure as the head of Australia’s men’s cricket teams didn’t come without controversy. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Langer’s column wrote with reference to his experience as a head coach, but many of the experiences are applicable to many public positions of leadership, which he notes.

“There is the responsibility, some would say peril, of living in a public position. The scrutiny can be intense,” he wrote.

“Life is fun and games when you are winning, but when you’re not, everyone has an opinion.

“This, at the very least, can be exhausting, at times debilitating.”

Langer also wrote of the toll the abuse takes, beyond that of the public debate, and looked to Stan Grant’s recent departure from the ABC as a result of torrents of racist abuse, institutional racism, and a failure from his colleagues in the media industry to support him.

“Like (North Melbourne coach Alistair) Clarkson, you could see pure despair in the tearful eyes of Grant (in his final Q&A appearance),” he wrote.

“In my opinion, he is a class act. Articulate, thoughtful and a man of great integrity who has the courage to stand for something. He has been consistent in his stance on Indigenous affairs and history for years and for this I have immense respect for him.

“(Abused) just for standing for something he believes so passionately in?

“Where have we gotten to?

“We are educated to be stoic, put on the mask, or display a stiff upper lip but this isn’t usually the solution.

“What I do believe is that when your heart and gut speak to you, and you ‘just know’, then the wise person listens and does something about it.”

Mark McGowan retired from politics in a bombshell announcement, and told cabinet colleagues Justin Langer’s column framed his decision. Pic Colin Murty

Langer has been linked with politics in the past, with reports emerging last year that he had been approached to lead the WA Liberals in 2025, and is himself known as a conservative.

McGowan retired from politics in a bombshell announcement on May 29, citing exhaustion as the reason for stepping down both as premier and the member for Rockingham in Perth’s outer southwest.

“The truth is I’m tired, extremely tired,” McGowan said.

“In fact, I’m exhausted.”

McGowan led WA Labor to election victory in 2017, and was re-elected in an extraordinary landslide in 2021 after which he also appointed himself as the state’s treasurer.

A dominant political force described as a “juggernaut” by the ABC’s Antony Green, McGowan enjoyed immense popularity in his home state during the Covid-19 pandemic, in part due to the strict border policies enacted by his government.

While it was described by then-deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce as a “kind of hermit kingdom”, McGowan argued his approach kept West Australians safe.

Health Minister and member for Morley Amber-Jade Sanderson has emerged as the frontrunner to replace McGowan, telling media on May 30 that she enjoyed the “clear majority” support of her factional colleagues over Deputy Premier Roger Cook.

“I will now reach out to my colleagues, with a focus on unity and stability. We will continue those conversations, I will respect the process,” Sanderson said.