An anxious look washes over Roger Cook’s two minders as he graciously accepts our photographer’s directions to grab a knife and fork in both hands and face the camera.
“I’m hungry for government,” he says with a grin while holding the cutlery upright.
Premier of Western Australia Roger Cook at The Wellard, Wellard.Credit: Colin Murty
With just five days left in the state election campaign, it’s obvious the Premier is feeling comfortable, and why wouldn’t he be – we are on his home turf.
WAtoday meets the premier for lunch at his local, The Wellard, which “the Dad from Kwinana” boasts is a few minutes from his house.
He says he knows the menu like the back of his hand and orders a cheeseburger with no chips – just salad – and a Side Track XPA from local brewery Gage Roads.
He is watching what he eats, he says. I’m not. I order a parmy.
It’s been 22 months since former premier Mark McGowan resigned, catapulting Cook into the leadership position and sending him into his first electoral test as Labor leader this Saturday.
The sheer number of Labor MPs in parliament makes a Liberal comeback to government near impossible, so Cook will be judged on how many formerly blue ribbon seats he can retain from that 2021 landslide.
He offers the same “we’re not taking any seat for granted” guff but, ultimately, he wants a clear mandate for Labor’s election platform.
Roger Cook facts
Favourite WA holiday destination:
Balingup “Because my dad’s got a place there...it’s our sanctuary.”
Favourite WA musician:
Todd Johnston
Favourite WA wine:
Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay - “It’s off the charts.”
“I don’t sit awake at night wondering if it’s this many seats or that many seats, but we expect in any election, particularly after the 2021 election, that there’ll be some rebalancing,” he says.
“What that looks like is up to the people of WA.”
While Cook says he isn’t taking anything for granted, it is clear he has an eye to March 9 and what his new cabinet will look like.
Finance Minister Sue Ellery, Attorney General John Quigley and Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman have all retired, leaving room for new faces.
As our pub grub arrives, Cook hints that his new cabinet may reach gender parity.
“I want it to be diverse. I think gender diversity in particular is important in relation to the cabinet, and want to make sure that there are a range of voices around the table,” he said.
“It’s an ambition. I have to make sure that we bring more voices in.”
There are 17 cabinet positions, so true gender parity is unachievable, but to bring it closer at least two or all of his new ministers would have to be women.
Roger Cook’s cheeseburger from The Wellard. Credit: Colin Murty
Cook, the youngest of six siblings, sings the praises of gender parity as a positive influence in his entire Labour caucus, which has been remarkably united and disciplined these past four years despite the huge number of MPs needing wrangled.
“I don’t want to make any gender stereotypes here, but I think the fact that 50 per cent of the caucus is made up of women now does make a difference to the way it operates,” he says.
“It’s much less aggressive, and I think people hold each other to a higher standard of behaviour.”
What will be harder to wrangle in the next term is the upper house, which Labor is likely to lose control of. Labor MPs will be replaced with more opposition members, Greens and a smattering of minor parties like Australian Christians, One Nation and Legalise Cannabis.
Cook says he is not worried about this looming new political dynamic.
“There’s only been four years in the entire life of all WA labor governments where we’ve held a majority in upper house. That was the last four years,” he says.
“If we don’t have a majority there, we will do what we’ve always done, which is negotiate and work with the cross benchers and with the opposition parties to get good legislation through.”
The Greens have been vocal over demands to curb the state’s oil and gas industry if the next government wants its support to pass legislation, while Legalise Cannabis want the government to – you guessed it – legalise cannabis.
Cook shuts that down immediately, but says there are things they could negotiate in that space around medicinal cannabis.
To the Greens’ demands he says: “There are areas which, quite frankly, are not up for grabs, such as keeping the economy strong and keeping jobs growth going.”
Cook says day one of the new government will involve acting on promised cost of living supports like the $150 and $250 student assistance payments.
Premier Roger Cook.Credit: Colin Murty
However, much of the next four years will see his government pursue its Made in WA plan, which involves hundreds of millions of dollars spent on establishing green industries here like battery manufacturing, powerline manufacturing and green steel.
It seems like the perfect time to ask him about his future in politics.
“I was only elected 18 months ago, so I’m just getting started. What this election has allowed me to do is to really enhance and accentuate those issues that I see as incredibly important,” he says.
He says Made in WA will take several years to come to fruition, so will he see it out?
“Substantially, yes,” he says.
Cook has had plenty of great days in his short time as premier and some awful ones too.
He says his toughest day in the office and his proudest moment were on the same day – the day after his mother died in June last year.
“I had to greet Premier Li Qiang from China, then the full day of activities that required,” he said.
“I was obviously deep in grief about the loss of my mum just the day before so that was the toughest day of the office, and also one of the proudest.
“I proved to myself that I’m a pretty resilient character, but also I was able to do something that would have made my mom proud.”