Prime minister dodges WA byelection dominated by One Nation

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has insisted he doesn’t campaign in state byelections after his absence from Secret Harbour was mocked by the WA Liberals, who paraded life-sized ‘Where’s Albo’ cardboard cutouts at the pre-polling booth.

The byelection, in Perth’s south, will have little impact on the makeup of the WA Parliament, but its political ramifications continue to bleed into national discussions of One Nation’s surging support in outer suburban areas, with its candidate tipped to claim the seat.

The state electorate also overlaps senior Liberal Andrew Hastie’s federal electorate, which One Nation has identified as a target.

Albanese landed in Perth on Sunday and attended two fundraising dinners and a cabinet meeting during his two-day trip as well as an AUKUS announcement 20 kilometres north of Secret Harbour on Monday.

Both One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and Opposition Leader Angus Taylor have visited the electorate and Albanese’s failure to make the trip further south prompted WA Liberal leader Basil Zempilas and his candidate Ryan Robertson to create the ‘Where’s Albo’ cutouts.

Speaking on ABC Perth radio on Tuesday, Albanese said he did not campaign in byelections and quickly pointed out his appearance at the Rockingham byelection in 2023 following the resignation of former WA Premier Mark McGowan was for the opening of an urgent-care clinic.

Asked about the ‘Where’s Albo’ signs, he accused the Liberals of running dead in the campaign and One Nation of not standing for anything.

“The Libs are running dead. One Nation don’t know what they stand for. I don’t know who their candidate is, but I’m sure if he was asked about migration policy, if they can’t get that right, they can’t get anything right at all,” he said.

“You know what major serious leaders of major political parties want? They want their party to win. I want my party to win. Does Basil? I don’t think so.

“I think it’s rather sad that the Liberal Party, the once great Liberal Party, there were two great parties of government in Australia. One of them has essentially folded themselves into One Nation.”

One Nation candidate Luke Herdegen’s prospects for Saturday’s byelection have also led to ructions between Hastie and Zempilas.

The byelection is considered a three-way contest between Herdegen, Robertson and Labor candidate Georgia Tree.

Speaking to the Australian Financial Review last week, Hastie lamented the effort put into the campaign by his state colleagues after Zempilas admitted One Nation was a force to be respected in WA politics and that a One Nation win would send a message to Labor.

He reiterated those comments on the ABC’s 7.30 on Monday night and said he disapproved of Zempilas’ strategy.

“I think this is a state election contested on state issues, and I don’t accept this idea that a win for One Nation is a win for the Liberal party,” he said.

“Basil Zempilas said a win for One Nation would be an opportunity; I don’t see that at all. I think we should be fighting to win in every contest we enter, or we shouldn’t enter the contest.

“I think we could have signalled to voters that we’re fighting for them, we’re fighting for a better deal for outer-metropolitan Western Australians.”

Zempilas denied his party was running dead and said it had spent more than $100,000 on the campaign, adding it was odd that a talking point by Labor would be reused by Hastie.

“That’s really what this is, because those lines don’t match the reality,” he said.

“We have worked our backsides off now, and we’re very proud of our campaign.

“We put ourselves in the mix because we’ve got the best candidate, and we’ve been very pleased and proud to stand with him and continue to push the message that people are frustrated by Labor.

“This is Labor heartland, and if they lose this Labor heartland, that will be a victory for all of those who are frustrated by this Labor government.”

Zempilas said he was not bothered by Hastie’s comments.

“I hope we continue to work well into the future. This is a state byelection. Hastie’s right to say that, and the campaign is best left to us, and that’s what we’ve been doing,” he said.

WA Premier Roger Cook latched onto Hastie’s 7.30 comments.

“I think Andrew Hastie hit the nail on the head. The Liberals are running scared and running dead in Secret Harbour. They just don’t have the guts to actually stand up for what they believe in,” he said.

“What they are doing is simply waving the white flag, hoping that One Nation gets elected off the back of their preferences and quite frankly, I’m not quite sure what role Basil’s Zempilas is playing in this state.

“He’s either a political leader or he’s a follower, and in this case, he’s following Pauline Hanson.”