Brian Burke calls for change to save ‘inept’ Liberals
The controversial former Labor premier at the centre of the West Australian Liberal Party’s ‘own goal’ says the latest saga shows the need for a leadership change.
The controversial former Labor premier at the centre of the West Australian Liberal Party’s extraordinary own goal says the latest saga shows the need for a leadership change.
Brian Burke, the WA Inc-era premier who has long been a contentious figure in WA political circles, told The Australian responsibility for the sequence of events that forced deputy leader Steve Thomas to stand down lay with party leader Libby Mettam.
Ms Mettam’s month-long attack on the Cook government over its interactions with Mr Burke ended up forcing the resignation of Dr Thomas from his leadership role and opposition Treasury spokesman portfolio after it emerged he had several phone calls with Mr Burke and had used him to organise a meeting with prominent Perth businessman John Poynton.
Another senior upper house Liberal MP, Tjorn Sibma, was overlooked as Dr Thomas’s replacement after it emerged he had also engaged in email correspondence with Mr Burke.
First-term upper house MP Steve Martin has now been named deputy leader.
Mr Burke said it was Ms Mettam who deserved to be held responsible for the farce, given she had failed to check if any of her colleagues had interacted with him before she launched her attack on the government.
“The leader of the Liberal Party took aim at the Premier and mortally wounded her own deputy. That she did so is testament to her ineptness,” he said.
“Libby Mettam failed to make the preliminary inquiry of her members about any conversations that they had with me, and as a result her attacks on the Premier were always going to end in tears.”
The disaster has reignited talk about whether the WA Liberal Party needs to consider taking the extraordinary step of installing celebrity candidate Basil Zempilas as leader before the next election.
Mr Zempilas, a longstanding media personality who is also the Lord Mayor of the City of Perth, will be the party’s candidate for the historically blue-ribbon seat of Churchlands after he was the only person to nominate ahead of Wednesday’s deadline.
The party’s constitution makes it difficult for Mr Zempilas to become leader while outside parliament, but the events of this week have prompted some of those close to Mr Zempilas to encourage him to keep an open mind to the possibility.
Mr Burke said a change in Liberal leadership would give the party the best chance of making inroads into Labor’s unprecedented parliamentary position – it currently holds 52 of the 59 lower house seats.
“There’s no doubt the Liberal Party will win seats at the next election. It’s unlikely to seriously challenge the government, and with Libby Mettam as leader it has no hope,” Mr Burke said.
“In normal circumstances, the Liberal Party will win between six and 12 seats, but with new, able leadership and an excellent slate of candidates, it could seriously challenge the government.”
Ms Mettam said she was comfortable with her handling of the situation.
“I’m confident in my leadership,” she said.
“I’ve taken swift action. I have illustrated the standard that I expect of my team going forward and my resolve to call the Cook Labor government to account, as well as pursue issues such as Brian Burke profiting from Cook Labor government grants.”
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