WA Liberals facing another term as a minor party

A deadlock between the Liberals and Nationals would leave the latter as the official West Australian opposition party unless Nats leader Shane Love relinquishes his position.

Outgoing Liberal leader Libby Mettam with the likely next Liberal leader Basil Zempilas. Picture: Paul Garvey

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Just a few dozen votes stand ­between the West Australian Liberals and another four years of ­humiliation, with the party at risk of another term without the official status of opposition.

The declaration on Thursday night of two more seats for the ­Nationals following WA’s March 8 election leaves the Liberals and Nationals tied on six lower-house seats each.

Just two seats remain to be ­decided. The Liberals’ Adam Hort leads by 64 votes in the seat of Kalamunda, and if he can maintain that lead he should formally make the Liberals the opposition party.

Preference flows helped propel the Nationals to victory in the seat of Albany late on Thursday, catapulting Scott Leary past controversial Liberal candidate Tom Brough. Mr Leary ran in the seat for the Liberals in 2021, when he lost to Labor’s Rebecca Stephens. It was the first time the Nationals had won the seat since 1953.

But should Labor close the gap in Kalamunda, the Liberals and Nationals could both emerge with six seats each. Such an outcome would spark questions over who should be given opposition party status and the associated trappings of that role.

The Nationals were awarded official opposition party status after the 2021 election, when they won four seats compared to the Liberals’ two. The country party held on to that title after Merome Beard defected from the Nationals to the Liberals and left the parties holding three lower-house seats each. Assuming the Liberals and Nationals remain tied, ­Nationals leader Shane Love will remain opposition leader by default unless he chooses to relinquish the position.

The Nationals’ retention of the opposition party status through the last parliament fuelled further tension between the two parties.

The official opposition leader is paid a higher salary and the official opposition party receives more parliamentary resources. Libby Mettam, who resigned as WA Liberal leader on Thursday, repeatedly lamented her party’s lack of resources during the recent election campaign.

The WA Liberal Party’s likely new leader, Basil Zempilas, said he was confident the Liberals and Nationals would be able to resolve any impasse over the opposition party status.

Speaking on ABC Radio on Friday, Mr Zempilas said a “discussion and negotiation” would follow if the two parties ended up deadlocked.

“That’s not something that I would be fearful of, or would hold any great trepidation of. I think we have seen, at times, a really strong working relationship between the Nationals and the Libs, and I accept at other times it hasn’t been from the outside looking in quite as well-functioning as it could be, but I’ve seen nothing from the Nationals to suggest that they are not prepared to work together with the Liberal Party to achieve that common goal of holding the government to ­account,” he said.

“I’m very optimistic that we would be able to come to a … sensible working relationship.”

Mr Love told reporters on Friday that the Nationals’ retention of the opposition party status after Ms Beard’s defection could be a portend of what would come if the deadlock remained.

Opposition Leader Shane Love.

He said that while he was open to discussions about the leadership, the whole Nationals Party and not just its parliamentary representatives would have to consent to any agreement with the Liberals.

“My focus is on ensuring that the arrangements between the two parties are as cohesive as they can be and co-ordinated as they can be, but also to ensure that my own party has the person power and the financial strength to actually mount a really, really red-hot campaign in 2029,” Mr Love said.

Labor’s Ali Kent leads the Liberals’ Rowena Olsen by 500 votes in the other undecided seat of Kalgoorlie. The ultimate outcome of that race will be decided by preferences, with the Nationals’ Tony Herron and independent Kyran O’Donnell – who formerly held the seat for the Liberals – both polling strongly in their own right.

The confirmation that Labor had lost both Albany and Warren-Blackwood reinforced the party’s disappointing showing in regional WA, with the otherwise dominant party so far losing half its seats outside Perth.

The Cook government’s law changes on guns, fishing and forestry had all proved particularly unpopular in the regions, while the Albanese Government’s ban on live sheep exports also hurt the Labor brand.