Monash expert: What the WA election result means for the federal election

Monash University

Labor has secured another comfortable victory over the Liberals in Western Australia as the federal election looms. Despite big swings against Labor in many seats, the Liberals could not capitalise with independents and the Greens picking up votes.

Dr Zareh Ghazarian, Head of Politics and International Relations Discipline, Monash School of Social Sciences says:

“Labor’s performance in the WA election was very strong. While its primary vote fell by 18 per cent, the party was still able to win 41 of the 59 seats, according to election analyst Antony Green.

“Labor’s loss of primary support did not translate to a gain for the Coalition. The Liberal Party’s primary vote went up by 7 per cent while the Nationals’ vote went up by less than 2 per cent, according to Green.

“It appeared that voters who had previously supported Labor in WA were happy to vote for other parties including the Greens and One Nation. Both parties experienced a rise in their primary vote.

“This puts the major parties on notice, especially as we head into the federal election.

“The message is clear. Australians are increasingly open to supporting non-major candidates which means that the major parties will have to work extremely hard to not only secure the support of their traditional voters, but also attract new voters who are seemingly unimpressed with their performances.”

 

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