Make no mistake, Labor is on the back foot

Friends,

I want to begin by thanking everyone who volunteered in the Secret Harbour by-election, those who doorknocked, set up booths, handed out how to vote cards, and put time and effort into what was a campaign we can all be proud of.

And of course, on behalf of all WA Liberals, I thank Ryan Robertson for his efforts in a hard-fought campaign. As I said on election night, we have unearthed a star in Ryan, and I am very confident that he is just beginning his political journey.

Obviously, it wasn’t the ultimate victory we were aiming for. But there were a lot of positives to take away from that campaign.

We had an outstanding candidate in Ryan Robertson, a Navy veteran, local councillor, and small business operator. Ryan is a strong reminder of how carefully choosing the right candidate is so important. And while Ryan didn’t get over the line, what we saw in Secret Harbour was a red seat, that had been held by Labor since its creation in 1989, fall over.

And even with Labor spending around $500,000 on this campaign, including a shameless ad campaign of lies and misinformation, their primary vote collapsed by over 20 points. West Australians aren’t buying what Labor’s selling. And this result shows what happens when a community is fed up with being taken for granted and ignored. Make no mistake, Labor is on the back foot.

Our job is to listen, be present in these communities that feel ignored and disrespected, and earn their trust.

The result in Secret Harbour shows that West Australians are turning away from Labor in droves. It’s up to us to seize that opportunity to ensure they turn to the Liberal Party. Part of the way that we will do this is also by championing common sense ideas to improve our great state. While we will of course announce our full policy suite in the lead up to the 2029 election, you can see some of what we are pushing for here.