Journalist Nathan Hondros to be Zak Kirkup’s chief of staff
The new leader of WA’s Liberal opposition has poached award-winning journalist Nathan Hondros to be his chief of staff.
The new leader of WA’s Liberal opposition has poached award-winning journalist Nathan Hondros to be his chief of staff.
The appointment, understood to have been finalised on Monday morning, will see Mr Hondros leave his role covering WA politics for Nine’s WA Today website less than four months before the state election.
The 33-year-old Zak Kirkup was elected the new leader of the Liberal Party on Tuesday, following the resignation of Liza Harvey.
With WA premier Mark McGowan enjoying strong support within the state over his handling of the pandemic, the Liberal Party faces an uphill battle to avoid seeing its already modest parliamentary ranks further diminished.
He will replace Liberal stalwart Colin Edwards, who quit the role shortly after Mr Kirkup assumed the leadership.
Mr Hondros in 2019 won the Arthur Lovekin Prize for Excellence in Journalism at the WA Media Awards.
The appointment represents a return to politics – albeit on the other side of the fence – for Hondros, who was formerly the chief of staff to Labor’s then-Fisheries Minister Jon Ford.
He departed that role in controversial circumstances after the powerful Corruption and Crime Commission alleged he had disclosed official information to lobbyists Brian Burke and Julian Grill, allegations for which he was ultimately cleared.
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