WA election 2025: Peter Dutton claims Roger Cook’s win from predecessor playbook

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton insists Roger Cook led WA Labor to a third term because he stood up to Anthony Albanese over decisions that would “hurt WA”. The Premier claimed an emphatic win on Saturday evening, holding back the Liberal Party’s attempts to rebuild after they were reduced to just two Lower House seats in 2021. But Mr Dutton argued that Mr Cook’s ability to maintain his party’s popularity was by following in the footsteps of predecessor Mark McGowan and locking out the east coast. “Roger Cook has made a number of decisions that were in WA’s best interests, whereas Anthony Albanese and Tanya Plibersek are making decisions that will hurt WA,” he said. “In fact, that’s why Roger Cook has spoken out against some of the decisions around Nature Positive — an anti-mining Bill — and also a number of other issues which I think have plagued the Labor Party Federally. “I think Roger Cook has picked the mood in WA and he’s been opposed to many of the positions taken by Anthony Albanese.” Coalition senator Bridget McKenzie added that the PM’s forced absence from WA because of cyclone Alfred was likely a help rather than a hindrance to Labor’s State campaign. “The Prime Minister was due to come in the last couple of days until the cyclone. I think Premier Cook was very, very glad,” Senator McKenzie told Sky News on Sunday. She said WA Labor had been ducking and weaving Federal decisions that “aren’t in WA’s best interest”, such as the live sheep ban. Despite the resounding return to government, WA Labor did experience swings in voter sentiment, particularly in Perth’s outskirts and in regional WA. WA’s most senior Liberal, Senator Michaelia Cash, said the swings indicated Federal Labor could lose the seats of Pearce and Hasluck, as well as new electorate Bullwinkel. “There are some significant positives we can take from these swings when overlayed on Federal seats, in particular in Bullwinkle, Pearce and Hasluck,” she said. “And to a lesser extent Curtin and Tangney. The further you get from the CBD, the bigger the swing generally gets.” However, Federal Labor MP Tania Lawrence said she wasn’t threatened by the WA election swings. “It’s very positive,” she said. “I’ve been doorknocking pretty consistently. I’m not getting any sense for a move for change, which was very much the feeling three-and-a-half years ago when I was out door-knocking when there was definitely an appetite for change. Labor sources say while they recorded, at last count, a 17 per cent swing away from their 2021 McGowan highs, voters weren’t turning to Liberals as the alternative. Labor Minister and Cowan MP Anne Aly labelled the results somewhat of a “correction” from the pandemic-era vote and issued a cautious not to “overplay” the swings. “I think they’re the big takeaway, really is that whilst people that swing is a correction from 2021, those votes didn’t necessarily go to the Liberals,” she said. “The Liberals still didn’t pick up the seats that they thought they were going to pick up, including those in those outer suburbs. Places like Scarborough Hillary, Joondalup and Kingsley, all stood up.” Among the small number of surprises in Labor’s expected win was that the Greens and independents polled higher than expected. National Greens leader Adam Bandt said the swings to the party in WA marked voters sending a strong message for gas industry and climate action reform. Senator Dorinda Cox said grassroot campaigns appeared to cut through major party noise at the ballot box. “The two-party system isn’t delivering as it should be. There isn’t much sunlight between either of them as far as I’m concerned,” she said. “I think that minor parties, and us being the third largest party in the federal parliament, now shows people that there are other alternatives in the way of voting.” She highlighted Fremantle Independent Kate Hulett’s successful battle against incumbent Labor Minister Simone McGurk as an example of voter’s efforts to look elsewhere. Labor Minister Madeleine King conceded from the results, the newly minted seat of Bullwinkel could prove a challenge for Labor’s hopeful Trish Cook. “Bullwinkel will absolutely be a challenge, but Trish is out there working,” she said. “But you can’t win an election on signs and corflutes. It feels like you’re doing well but if you haven’t done the legwork over many years — and the Liberals haven’t — that won’t get you anywhere.” Labor also did better than expected in seats in the previous Liberal stronghold of Moore, raising questions whether Labor candidate Tom French can snatch the seat currently held by Ian Goodenough at the Federal ballot.

WA election 2025: Peter Dutton claims Roger Cook’s win from predecessor playbook

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