‘Stop hiding’: WA parties join to demand probe on election ‘debacle’

The recruitment firm at the centre of a furore over the management of Western Australia’s election claims a letter penned by the state’s political parties to Premier Roger Cook demanding an inquiry is riddled with inaccuracies.

Nationals WA leader Shane Love and WA Liberals leader Libby Mettam are among the signatories to the open letter calling on Cook to probe issues with the election on March 8.

The execution of the WA election has come under fire.Credit: WA Electoral Commission

Singapore-headquartered firm PersolKelly, which was awarded an $86 million contract to recruit, train and manage 7000 election staff for the 2025 election, has come under fire amid reports of ballot paper shortages, poorly trained staff and voters receiving incorrect advice.

According to the open letter, the parties also claim to have received reports that party-appointed scrutineers were drafted to assist in the count.

Love said a bipartisan parliamentary inquiry should scrutinise how the tender came to be awarded, PersolKelly’s training program, and correspondence between the company and WA Labor Party officials.

He also wants the probe to interrogate the $67,000 donated to WA Labor in 2024 by Programmed, which is part of Persol Holdings.

In a statement released on Monday, Love said the rare show of unity from those across the political spectrum — with representatives of the Greens and One Nation also signing the letter — reflected the seriousness of the issues and the desire to protect the integrity of the electoral system.

And he urged Cook to “face up” and commit to an inquiry to help the community understand the “debacle” and ensure it would not be repeated.

“WA’s democratic process is sacrosanct, and we are demanding the premier stop hiding from calls
for a parliamentary inquiry, which is the only mechanism which can compel evidence, call
witnesses, and deliver answers,” he said.

“The people of WA deserve answers into the countless failures and irregularities which have been reported by voters, polling booth staff, and candidates, and which have left many voters disenfranchised and questioning the integrity of our electoral process.

“That this $86 million contract does not appear to be listed or accounted for in any state budget documents is highly irregular.”

The government has already vowed to establish an independent investigation “at an appropriate time”, but a spokesperson for Cook said the priority was completion of the count.

WAEC Commissioner Robert Kennedy has also committed to undertaking an investigation.

PersolKelly has previously rubbished claims the election was “outsourced” to them, insisting it was solely responsible for recruiting and deploying polling staff and was not involved in any other aspect of the election.

The firm expressed its disappointment with the contents of the open letter in a statement on Monday, claiming the company set the record straight in an email to MPs on Friday, and reiterated it was an apolitical organisation.

And it vowed to willingly participate in any review of the project once it is completed.

“PERSOLKELLY Australia would like to reiterate once again that it has not made any donations to political parties in Western Australia… [and] has not engaged with political party officials regarding the awarding of this contract,” the company spokesperson said.

“PERSOLKELLY Australia’s focus remains on partnering with the WAEC to complete the count and finalise the payroll process for our temporary project staff.”

The calls come as new correspondence, obtained by WAtoday, appears to show PersolKelly addressing some election staff who are yet to be paid.

In the email, the company said it was still consolidating timesheets to ensure “accurate and timely payment”, but that the processing of staff wages was dependent on work dates and hours, location and bank processing times.

A spokesperson told this masthead the company was still deploying and rostering support staff to complete the count and remained focused on finalising the payroll process for its temporary project staff in a timely manner.

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