WA Premier Mark McGowan no mate of ours: union

Leader behind advertising blitz against WA Labor government says Mark McGowan continues to ignore unions.

Jeff Cassar, Sean Patience and Svein Skavik at Fremantle Port. Picture: Colin Murty/The Australian

The union leader behind an ­unprecedented advertising blitz against Western Australia’s Labor government says Premier Mark McGowan has forgotten his union supporters and become too close to big business.

Christy Cain, who stepped down as the WA branch secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia in January as he prepares to ­become the national secretary of the CFMEU, said tensions ­between the Premier and other Labor MPs could emerge if his COVID-inspired popularity began to wane and he continued to ignore the union movement that helped bring him to power.

The CFMEU has been bankrolling weeks of attack ads against Mr McGowan and his government in the lead-up to this weekend’s state election, in an escalation of the tensions that first emerged when union delegates walked out of Mr McGowan’s address at the 2019 state Labor conference.

The union is bitterly opposed to Labor’s plans to replace the port of Fremantle with a new outer harbour in Cockburn Sound in Perth’s south. The plan, the union says, will cost taxpayers billions of dollars, cost port workers their jobs, harm the marine environment and is unnecessary given Fremantle is operating at only a sliver of its maximum capacity.

The government’s $1000 cap on public sector pay rises has also rankled the union movement.

“I had 200 of our members on his polling booths four years ago, we supported him in every way to get him in, and this is the thanks you get,” Mr Cain said.

He added that while other ­unions and Labor MPs were lauding Mr McGowan for the record-high approval ratings that will almost certainly increase Labor’s hold on the WA parliament at this weekend’s election, the Premier was letting down the union movement that had always stood ­behind the party.

Previous tensions with some Labor MPs could resurface if Mr McGowan’s public standing started to turn. “They didn’t love him before COVID, there were all sorts of moves going on there, let me tell you,” he said. “Hopefully he doesn’t get too big-headed and isolate himself from working-class people, which I think he’s doing at the moment.”

Labor’s presidential-style 2021 campaign has focused entirely around Mr McGowan as it seeks to capitalise on his soaring personal approval ratings.

The union boss also said he had deep concerns about the Premier’s ties to the business community.

The government’s home building subsidy has been a massive boon for property developers such as Nigel Satterley, who sponsored a $1500-a-head fundraising dinner for the Labor Party last week. The government also announced a $100m film studio plan for Fremantle, which is set to go to another prominent Perth developer, and a deal to hand the prime riverfront East Perth power station redevelopment to Perth billionaires Kerry Stokes and Andrew Forrest has also come under scrutiny.

Mr Cain said he had concerns that the government’s plans for Cockburn Sound were being driven by developers keen to get their hands on the Fremantle land.

He said that while some in the Labor partyroom shared his views, they were not prepared to speak up given Mr McGowan’s approval ratings. “They’re all terrified to say anything because of his polling. Once you say anything, McGowan’s got a glass jaw. As soon as you say something detrimental, you are on the outer,” he said.

Mr McGowan, who has ­declined to be interviewed by The Australian in the lead-up to the election, said at a press conference on Tuesday he had a good relationship with most unions and led the state for all West Australians.

“My view of government is it should stand for everyone, and it is best to get on with everyone across the community,” he said.

“The best Labor governments, indeed the best governments, are ones that work with everyone to achieve outcomes and I think you’ve seen that over my four years in office. We have been very focused and worked very hard every day, seven days a week, to represent all West Australians.”

Despite his criticisms of Mr McGowan and the ad blitz, Mr Cain said he would still be voting Labor this weekend.

“I have to close my eyes to tick the box for him, but I will do it,” he said.