WA election: no pay-off in investment in satellite city of Bunbury

The biggest swing to Labor in Saturda­y’s election was in the region­al city of Bunbury.

The biggest swing to Labor in Saturda­y’s election was in the region­al city of Bunbury, where the Barnett government had invested heavily, shifting agencies to the satellite city to create jobs.

Labor’s massive gain there has been partially attributed to the ­retirement of popular Liberal incumb­ent John Castrilli, but there is no such explanation for big swings of more than 18 per cent in five seats on the fringes of Perth where Pauline Hanson’s One Nation­ felt it had its best chance of grabbing a lower-house seat.

In West Swan, on Perth’s eastern outskirts, Labor MP Rita Saffioti won with a 19.4 per cent swing towards her; Local Government Minister Paul Miles lost his seat of Wanneroo, in Perth’s semi-rural north, to Labor with a 19 per cent swing against him; and in Southern River the seasoned campaigner Peter Abetz — brother of federal MP Eric Abetz — lost to Labor with a swing against him of 19.5 per cent.

In Perth’s suburban coastal north, Labor MP John Quigley was earlier thought to be dis­advantaged by a significant redistribution but retained his seat with a swing towards him of 18.9 per cent. In Darling Range, an area that covers the Perth Hills, youth justice officer Barry Urban ousted Liberal Tony Simpson with a swing to Labor of 18.4 per cent.

In an indication that One Nation­ voters may have ignored the party’s how-to-vote cards in big numbers, the swing of 23.4 per cent to Labor in Bunbury co­incides with one of the best results statewide for the Hanson party.

One Nation, which had agreed to direct preferences to the Liberals in the lower house, polled 8.4 per cent in Bunbury compared with 4.7 per cent across WA. With 71 per cent of counting completed last night, there were attempts to explain why most of the biggest swings were in outlying suburbs.

A shock result occurred in the Liberal dress circle of Nedlands, where the Development Minister Bill Marmion retained his very safe seat but suffered a 10.3 per cent swing to Labor. Nedlands is in the western suburbs of Perth covered by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s electorate of Curtin and has long been considered by Labor as impenetrable.

Residents campaigned against Mr Marmion over local issue­s such as building heights, and Labor’s candidate Penny Taylor­, a local geologist and business owner, was a popular alternative.