Basil’s ‘10 things’ megaphone may be about to be taken from him

It’s been the thorn in the WA Labor government’s side for several years – 10 bullet points shot from the hip of Perth Lord Mayor and Liberal candidate for Churchlands Basil Zempilas published in a daily newspaper every Friday.

The tactic has been deployed during two successful mayoral campaigns and now his state politics tilt, but could Basil’s Top Ten column’s days be numbered?

Perth Lord Mayor and Liberal Candidate for Churchlands Basil Zempilas.Credit: Trevor Collens

WAtoday understands The West Australian is considering the future of the column. WA Labor has heard the same.

The Seven West Media personality has been authoring the column in The West Australian every Friday since 2019.

But his media profile and the stream of column inches in The West Australian has incensed Labor ministers, who have been applying pressure on his employer to scrap it – particularly as the March state election nears.

Since announcing his intention to run for the WA Liberals for the seat of Churchlands in January this year, his column has become increasingly political and has offered him a megaphone to shout down critics.

In last week’s column, Zempilas – who also used to host 6PR and Triple M’s breakfast shows – used his first three points to explain his position following the failed leadership challenge of Liberal leader Libby Mettam and turned the cannon on the Cook cabinet.

“In the middle of one of those breathless ‘head is about to explode’ rants this week, [Housing Minister John Carey] called for my resignation as Lord Mayor. I’ll be right thanks John. But while we’re on the subject of people managing two things at once, how’s Premier Roger Cook’s chief of staff who is also the Labor candidate for Landsdale going?” point two reads.

In the last few weeks of parliament, Police Minister Paul Papalia began referring to the column as Zempilas’ “Ten Commandments”.

The same ministers applying pressure on The West have also voiced similar concerns about 6PR’s regular Friday The Mayor on Air segment, which has been running on presenter Gary Adshead’s mornings program since his mayoral career began. 6PR is an arm of the Nine Entertainment Group, which also publishes this masthead.

Those concerns resulted in Carey appearing on the Friday show in the now fortnightly Question Time with John Carey segment.

It is unclear what will happen with Zempilas’ 6PR spot in 2025 with Adshead moving to the ABC’s drive program.

Liberal leader Libby Mettam also authors a weekly column in The West Australian and Labor’s Education Minister Tony Buti pens a regular column for the paper titled Running with Tony Buti.

What is clear is that the argy-bargy between Labor and Zempilas is set to continue, with WA Labor releasing a questionable fake Spotify list from “B list Basil” on social media on Thursday.

The Labor Party itself wants us to believe they aren’t concerned about Zempilas’ column being used as a campaign weapon.

WA Labor posted this image to Facebook.Credit: WA Labor

Insiders say they are not aggrieved over Zempilas’ media spots after the Liberal Party’s leadership turmoil.

They say it is inherently a space for Zempilas to pursue his own self-interests, leaving opportunity for him to stray from the party line and resulting in competition for air time between himself and Mettam.

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