Two clear winners to get the popular vote in WA

Saturday is shaping up as a great day for Labor’s Roger Cook and a good day for Liberal Basil Zempilas.

WA Premier Roger Cook in his office at Dumas House, Perth. Should Newspoll prove correct, Mr Cook will be affirmed as premier in his own right. Picture: Colin Murty

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Saturday is shaping up as a great day for Roger Cook and a good day for Basil Zempilas.

Should Newspoll prove correct, Mr Cook will be affirmed as premier in his own right, and his party should still have a ­commanding grip on the West Australian ­parliament.

Mr Cook has repeatedly spoken this campaign about having been “elected” premier in 2023 – something of a shock to the two million West Australians who only found out who their new premier was after the Labor factions had spent days fighting each other to decide Mark McGowan’s replacement – but will finally be able to say that he has been elected premier in his own right.

Mr Zempilas, meanwhile, will officially be an MP and will be one step closer to his goal of becoming Liberal leader.

The Newspoll swing suggests the Liberals will emerge with 10 lower house seats. That figure has been seen internally as the pass mark for this election, given the party’s meagre resources, but it would still comfortably be the second-worst result in the party’s history.

If Newspoll is accurate – and the same poll accurately forecast the epic capitulation in which the Liberals were reduced to just two lower-house seats in 2021 – the swing would be in the Goldilocks zone for Mr Zempilas’ ambitions.

Such a result would deliver the Liberals enough seats so that Mr Zempilas will have enough talent around him to present the Liberals as a viable alternative to Labor in 2029, but not so many seats that his leader Libby Mettam can demand that she deserves a second crack.

Liberal candidate for Churchlands Basil Zempilas with wife Amy and supporters at Jackadder Lake in Woodlands. Picture: supplied

Mr Zempilas, a prominent media personality and lord mayor of the City of Perth, is at unbackable odds to reclaim the former Liberal stronghold of Churchlands. While he keeps saying he is not looking ahead to the leadership, no one believes it has not entered his head.

While conventional political wisdom would suggest Mr Zempilas would be better served by getting a feel for parliament without the added pressure of the leadership, it is believed he feels he is capable of jumping straight in and using the full four years of opposition to sell the idea of a Zempilas-led Liberal government.

Mr Zempilas’ leadership aspirations have been a headache for Ms Mettam even before he officially joined the party, and the Liberal leader had to again face questions about her position on Thursday less than 48 hours out from the election.

Those questions arose following Mr Zempilas’ comments during a debate on ABC Radio, when he was asked if, in the event of a Liberal defeat, he would challenge Ms Mettam for the leadership.

“I don’t intend to do anything over the next few days other than win the seat of Churchlands, or at least give it my very best,” he said.

He then said he did not want to answer hypothetical questions about whether he would put his hand up as leader in the event Ms Mettam stepped down.

“It’s not a no,” his Labor debating opponent and housing minister John Carey teased. “It’s hardly a yes,” Mr Zempilas replied.

Libby Mettam, leader of the WA Liberals. Picture: supplied

Asked about the exchange, Ms Mettam said she had no issue with Mr Zempilas’ comments and was “comfortable” with her leadership. “He is an asset to the WA Liberal team,” Ms Mettam said. “Clearly he is an obsession of Roger Cook’s, (Treasurer) Rita Saffioti’s and John Carey’s as well.”

The feisty debate was an early indicator of what to expect from WA’s parliament once Mr Zempilas is in there. Whether it is as leader, or whether he is forced to bide his time, Mr Zempilas will not be keeping a low profile from the opposition benches.