Jessica Page: Plan Basil Zempilas failed. Now what?

Plan Basil had no plan B and now the WA Liberal Party has to stick with plan Libby and live with any consequences. Libby Mettam’s leadership remains seriously wounded, perhaps irreparably. Disunity is death in politics and her performance since January 2023 was not enough to convince her own team to stop muck-raking. They will now, surely. Surely? Yet from the shadows, again on Tuesday afternoon, one insider said the Liberals had been “sleepwalking” into an election disaster but are now “striding” towards it. Put up or shut up, indeed. Basil Zempilas failed to completely rule out acting as “campaign leader” if the unity doesn’t last. “It’s not something I’ve considered... it’s just not smart business to be talking about things that are out of your control,” he said. The theory that was shot down during a two-hour party room meeting on Tuesday was for two leaders. A campaign leader and a parliamentary leader. Throw in a third with the Nationals’ Shane Love as official Opposition Leader and colour voters thoroughly confused. Strewth. Ms Mettam has blamed Federal party meddling and a mystery businessman for a “discredited” poll, but they were encouraged from within the tent. The wagons had been circling for weeks. The opinion poll that warned a Mettam-led Liberal Party could gain zero seats, versus a Basil Zempilas-led party that could gain five, might be proven right or wrong. Other polls were nowhere near that bad, but none of them have been good. All have suggested the 2025 election is unwinnable. The fact this poll existed at all is proof Mettam’s leadership was already unravelling within. Up against overwhelming numbers in State Parliament, she was always on the back foot and appeared to be slowly wilting under pressure. Under friendly fire, she seized the opportunity to go on the attack, came out firing and came out on top. “Cowards in the shadows” was a punchline that is now certain to feature in WA Labor’s re-election campaign. It was the performance nervous backers wanted to see long ago. An attempted Labor coup by another outsider was the making of Mark McGowan in 2016. This could be the Liberal party’s Stephen Smith moment that heralds a new team spirit. As Liberal candidate for Churchlands, the Perth Lord Mayor and Seven West Media employee Basil Zempilas has maintained plausible deniability and Ms Mettam is still backing him as an “outstanding” and “crucial’ part of her team. “I believe people on their record, Basil’s public record states he’s 100 per cent behind me,” she said. “Constant undermining of leaders, especially from the shadows within, is a sad reality in politics today. “But rather than weaken me it has made me stronger and more determined to succeed.” She has refused to set a target of winnable seats to measure success at the polls since launching her own leadership coup in January 2023 and taking on a poisoned chalice. Party powerbroker Nick Goiran remarked — moments before the party room met to vent on Tuesday — that he was likely the Liberal MP with the biggest axe to grind, after being exiled by Mettam over his role within the notorious factional group known as “The Clan”. “Be very careful who you choose as your leader, once you’ve chosen them you stick with them,” he said. “Not a complicated philosophy.” Like him or not, his political radar is spot on. This is one time the rest of the party should heed his advice. Instead, since Colin Barnett’s second coming ended, they have had a revolving door of leaders in opposition: Mike Nahan, Liza Harvey, Zak Kirkup, David Honey, Libby Mettam. Each one was elected unopposed after backroom jostling and promised loyalty. None of them received it. They start the 2025 election race blindfolded, hands tied and a long way back. But more than the Liberal leadership is on the line and more than the potential political careers of candidates who want to back a higher-profile name. Voters have their lives and livelihoods on the line and depend on a vigorous Parliament to protect them. That has been sorely lacking since the McGowan-led Labor landslide in 2021. The Liberal Party must get its own house in order to win back some seats. Some, at least. Enough to actually mount a viable opposition. Trust and credibility might be harder to restore, but that work must begin now. “We can always do better,” Mettam said. Understatement. For the sake of the State, they must.