Labor has held onto power by another overwhelming margin in WA, with the rump of Liberal MPs failing to make significant ground.
While there was a large swing of 18.2 per cent against Labor, this did not even rewind the electoral landslide of the last election held during the COVID period in 2021.
And much of the swing did not go directly to Liberal candidates. As a result the Liberals are on track to win just eight seats in total, with another five for the Nationals.
This is still fewer seats than they held before 2021. It was a humiliation for the Liberal Party.
The Greens increased their vote to 10.3 per cent, their best result in a Western Australian election for 15 years.
They are likely to control the balance of power in the upper house.
But there were warning signs for Labor and Anthony Albanese in the federal election, with bigger swings in outer suburban seats in Perth. Labor lost about 20 per cent of their primary vote in seats such as Armadle, Joondalup and Forrestfield.
It narrowly held the safe Labor seat of Fremantle against independent Kate Hulett after a 21.4 per cent swing.
The cost of living is as big an issue in WA as anywhere. The mining boom has put money into the pockets of mining companies and the rich but driven up rents and housing costs for workers.
Gas company profits
WA Labor has gone all in to back business and give the mining companies everything they want.
In 2023 it dumped new Aboriginal Heritage laws, designed to avoid a repeat of Rio Tinto’s demolition of the Juukan Gorge caves, after a campaign against them by mining and agribusiness companies.
More recently it did the bidding of the mining industry in demanding that Anthony Albanese drop new Nature Positive laws amending federal environment legislation. Albanese complied.
The Labor government is backing a massive expansion of the gas industry, allowing onshore gas mining companies to increase exports and approving a 50-year extension for Woodside’s Northwest shelf Karratha gas plant.
Climate scientist Bill Hare, who is based in WA, said, “I don’t think there was ever a state government so completely and utterly captured by the gas industry.”
The state is already a massive gas exporter. If WA was a country it would have the third highest gas exports in the world, after only the US and Qatar.
As a result WA is the only state where carbon pollution has increased over the last 20 years, up by about 20 per cent.
Mining revenues have boosted government coffers, with a $3.2 billion surplus on track for the 2024-25 year.
The mining companies are making billions but Premier Roger Cook has pledged not to increase any mining taxes or royalties.
As a result the government has handed out only modest measures to relieve the cost of living, such as power bill credits and payments of up to $250 for children’s school costs. It also promised to reduce public transport fares if it won the election.
Cost of living
The cost of living rose 11 per cent for a typical two-parent family and 14 per cent for single parents over the year to August 2024, according to a report by the WA Council of Social Service.
Housing, rents, childcare and insurance have risen by more than the national average in WA since 2021.
Public sector workers have had to fight the government for pay rises.
In late 2022 nurses began strike action, with members voting to demand a 10 per cent pay increase.
But the union called off the campaign after WA Labor threatened it with deregistration for defying Industrial Relations Commission orders.
The union eventually paid a $350,000 fine for defying orders not to strike.
Last year public sector workers including nurses and teachers received pay rises of 5 per cent as part of three-year deals worth 12 and 12.5 per cent. But this is still well behind the cost of living.
Public services are also suffering from underfunding. A report in February showed WA had the worst wait times for patients presenting at emergency departments, with just 32 per cent of those needing urgent care seen on time.
Serious action on the cost of living, public services and climate change will require a much more concerted fightback from the unions and movements for change on the streets.
By James Supple
