Premier Mark McGowan is set to enjoy unprecedented dominance in Western Australia, after winning an increased majority for the Labor party in the state’s parliament.
Labor is expected to claim up to 53 out of 59 lower house seats on the back of a stunning 16.9 per cent swing.
It is a nightmare scenario for the Liberals, who are set to be reduced to just two or three seats and lose their opposition status to the Nationals.
With 43 per cent of lower house votes counted, Labor has almost three times the number of first-preference votes of the Liberal party.
No government in WA has enjoyed a parliamentary majority of such a scale.
Promise to govern with ‘great responsibility’
The huge win vindicates Mr McGowan’s tough response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with voters ignoring a Liberal campaign against handing Labor “total control”.
“The magnitude of what happened today is not lost on me,” the 53-year-old premier said in his victory speech.
“With it comes great responsibility. We will continue to deliver stable, competent, responsible and caring government for all West Australians.”
“I promise to work for everyone across Western Australia over these coming four years,” he said.
“You’ve put your trust in my government and I promise we won’t let Western Australia down.”
He said the result, coming after the year of the pandemic, shows that resilience will be rewarded.
“Today is an endorsement of perseverance, hard work, optimism and never giving in.”
Deputy Liberal leader Libby Mettam and David Honey have retained their safe seats of Vasse and Cottesloe respectively.
But Labor remained ahead early on Sunday in the blue-ribbon Liberal seats of Nedlands, Churchlands and Carine.
The notion that a safe western-suburbs seat such as Nedlands could fall to Labor would have been unthinkable even 12 months ago.
Labor supporters celebrate at the Gary Holland Community Centre in Rockingham.
AAP
Federal Labor lauds result
Federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese described Mark McGowan’s landslide victory as “quite extraordinary” and said it was not just about how WA Labor has handled the pandemic with its stiff border closure.
“It’s about the way WA Labor have run the economy, they have produced surpluses, they have created jobs and they have kept West Australians safe,” Mr Albanese told Sky News’ Sunday Agenda program.
“This is primarily about Western Australia, but it has to be good news for federal Labor as well.”
He said the fact a branch of the Liberal party has essentially been wiped off the map shows that they are going to struggle with a lack of resources to run an effective campaign over the next year when a federal election is due.
“They can fit people in a Mini,” Mr Albanese quipped.
Liberals vow to rebuild
Opposition Leader Zak Kirkup called Mr McGowan within two hours of polls closing to formally concede, having lost his own marginal seat of Dawesville.
Mr Kirkup is the first WA Liberal leader to lose his seat since the 1930s and has reiterated that he will not seek re-election at a state or federal level.
“Obviously what has happened with respect to Dawsville is devastating and across the state,” he told the media.
“It is a loss that will be difficult to bear.
“It is a loss that all of us feel. But in so doing we must remember that 2021 is not an end but a beginning.
“When I took up the leadership some 15 or 16 weeks ago, I did so knowing the risks,” he told party faithful on Saturday night.
“I did so understanding what it may cost.
“We are now at a crossroads where we must rebuild.”
“We must do all we can. The next four years will be the most difficult for the Liberal Party that we have ever experienced,” he said.
“But we must not shy away from the task ahead of us because the people of Western Australia depend on it.”
Zak Kirkup is the first major party leader to lose his seat at an election in about 88 years.
AAP
Fellow Liberal David Honey would not say who would lead the party, while former leader Mike Nahan said it would be a period of “cleansing” for the Liberals.
“It will be up to us to get our act into gear,” he said.
“Unfortunately we (have) very few seats to work with.”
A call by the Liberals to open WA borders while the state continued to deal with COVID-19 had done “immense” political damage, Dr Nahan added.
Retiring Liberal MP Dean Nalder said there were real concerns about the influence of conservative powerbrokers over the party.
“There seems to be this sense of anger (among voters),” he told Perth radio 6PR.
“Some people feel that we lost sight of our values as a Liberal party and we need to regain that.”
Former Liberal MP Murray Cowper said the party would require a root-and-branch overhaul in the wake of the result.
“We have a house on fire – do we let it burn to the ground and rebuild from the ground up?,” he told Seven News.
Dr Nahan said the party had failed to pull together as a team, potentially leaving it with nothing more than a “tennis team” in parliament.
Former premier Colin Barnett rejected suggestions the party had been doing well enough to win government before the pandemic struck.
“I doubt that was the case,” he told ABC radio.
