| Vote results are as adjusted for new boundaries by Antony Green at ABC Elections. Seat results are as recorded in 2005 when North Metropolitan and South West had seven members and other regions five, which has been replaced by a system of six six-member regions |
OVERVIEW
The Legislative Council election will be the first under the new system of six six-member regions which was introduced along with the one-vote one-value reforms for the Legislative Assembly. Five elections were conducted under the previous system in which North Metropolitan and South West had seven members and all other regions five. The metropolitan and non-metropolitan zones continue to have equal representation, despite respective enrolment of 935,539 and 258,335. The electoral system is essentially the same as that for the Senate, with quotas of 14.3 per cent of the vote. As with the Senate, an above-the-line option is available and a lot depends on the parties' preference tickets which must be lodged three weeks before polling day.
The regional proportional representation system was introduced by the Burke Labor government in 1987, winning passage through the Legislative Council with the support of the Nationals. The Coalition maintained its long-standing majority at the first two elections under the new system, winning 18 seats in 1989 (when the Dowding Labor government was narrowly returned) and 1993 (when the Court government came to power), although it was reduced to 17 seats from June 1991 until the 1993 election when Reg Davies quit the Liberal Party to sit as an independent. No minor party or independent members were elected in 1989, but their representation has been steadily increasing since. In 1993 Reg Davies retained his North Metropolitan seat as an independent and Jim Scott of the Greens was elected in South Metropolitan, each winning seats at Labor's expense. Despite comfortably retaining power in 1996, the Coalition's loss of an upper house seat cost it its majority, with the Greens winning three seats (Jim Scott in South Metropolitan, Christine Sharp in South West and Giz Watson in North Metropolitan) and the Democrats winning two (Helen Hodgson in North Metropolitan and Norm Kelly in East Metropolitan). Labor MLC Mark Nevill held the balance of power after he quit the party to sit as an independent in August 1999.
The mould was broken at the 2001 election when both parties polled well below 40 per cent in both houses, which resulted in the Coalition losing four upper house seats including two of the three held by the National Party, while Labor gained only one. One Nation won seats at the expense of the Coalition in Agricultural (Frank Hough), Mining and Pastoral (John Fischer) and South West (Paddy Embry), although they were deprived of the balance of power by their own decision to put all major parties last on preferences, which delivered seats to the Greens in Mining and Pastoral (Robin Chapple) and Agricultural (former Senator Dee Margetts) to augment the three they retained in the metropolitan area. All three One Nation members had quit what was left of the party by the 2005 election, and each unsuccessfully sought relection as New Country (Hough and Embry) or independent (Fischer) candidates. The end of the One Nation interruption produced a more typical result in 2005, Labor winning 16 seats against 15 for the Liberals and one National with the Greens' two members holding the balance of power.
The electoral reforms now taking effect were passed in the period between the election and the changeover of Legislative Council members three months later. This was achieved with the support of Alan Cadby, an former Liberal independent member who had been defeated for preselection. Labor's retiring president of the Legislative Council, Nick Griffiths, complained in May that Attorney-General Jim McGinty had “shut out progressive reform in the Council to get an increased chance of winning in the Legislative Assembly” by instituting a system which, “short of a Labor landslide”, guaranteed a conservative upper house majority. He blamed this on McGinty's insistence on cutting a deal with the Greens rather than the Liberals, with the former counter-intuitively prompting for the retention of rural vote weighting. Griffiths' argument seems to overlook the point that the then Liberal leader, Matt Birney, had dealt his party out of the game by refusing to negotiate, so that he could boast the purity of the impotent with respect to one-vote one-value to regional constituents, including those in his own seat of Kalgoorlie.
It's clear that a different seat of Greens MPs would prefer a one-vote one-value deal for the upper house, and such a reform would probably be instituted if the election result gives Labor and the Greens a collective majority. However, the analysis below indicates that the best Labor and the Greens combined can hope for is half the numbers in the new upper house. A creative maneuver by Labor to implement one-vote one-value during the government's first term without the “absolute majority” required for constitutional amendments was ruled invalid by both the Supreme Court and the High Court in 2002 and 2003, so such a result would plainly be inadequate. In any case, it's more likely that the upper house result will deliver Labor and the Greens 16 or 17 seats out of 36 against 19 or 20 to various parties of the right. The latter includes the Christian Democratic Party and Family First, who between them are unlikely to emerge empty-handed and might win as many as three seats.
The tables below identify only candidates who have a strong prospect of being elected. Major party candidates who hold "unloseable" positions on their party ticket are marked in bold. An asterisk indicates that the candidate is a sitting member. Preference tickets provide simplified versions of above-the-line preference calculations, based on assumptions about the likely order of election of major party candidates. Full candidate lists and grouped ticket preference allocations are available from the Western Australian Electoral Commission.
AGRICULTURAL
| Labor | Liberal | Nationals | Others |
| Matt Benson-Lidholm* | Brian Ellis* | Max Trenorden* | Dee Margetts (GRN) |
| Darren West* | James Chown | Philip Gardiner | Anthony Fels (FFP)* |
| Vickie Petersen | Chris Wilkins | Mia Davies | Mac Forsyth (CDP) |
With the exception of 2001, each of the five elections at which Agricultural returned five members produced four seats for the Liberal/Nationals and one for Labor. The 2001 election the Liberals and Nationals each lose one of their two existing seats, with One Nation scoring enough of the vote to elect Frank Hough and deliver a decisive surplus to the Greens candidate, former Senator Dee Margetts. When things returned to normal in 2005 it was the third Liberal candidate and not the second National who won the final seat. The key to this was a 9.4 per cent rebound in the Liberal vote to a historically typical 39.4 per cent, whereas the Nationals' 19.3 per cent was only 0.3 per cent higher than 2001. Labor's vote was up from 20.2 per cent to 26.7 per cent, but their only serious source of preferences was the Greens (4.4 per cent) and they fell short of the 33.3 per cent required for a second seat. Lachlan Dunjey of the Christian Democratic Party narrowly missed out on the fifth seat from just 1.9 per cent of the vote, having been boosted by preferences from Liberals for Forests, One Nation, New Country and Family First. This left him a fraction behind the Liberals' third candidate (who had received preferences over the CDP from the Nationals and the Democrats) at the second last count. Another coat of paint and it would have been a case of Rowe's elimination delivering decisive preferences to Dunjey, and not the other way round.
Despite the increase in seats from five to six the region has in fact been reduced in size by the redistribution, losing Esperance and Ravensthorpe to Mining and Pastoral and the Boyup Brook area to South West. The Liberals are guaranteed two seats (Brian Ellis, who filled a casual vacancy in July 2007, and newcomer James Chown), Labor one (who won a seat in South West from number three on the ticket in 2005), and Nationals' Avon MP Max Trenorden will have little trouble succeeding in his bid to move upstairs. Labor are likely to win a second seat for newcomer Darren West, but could lose it to third Liberal Chris Wilkins if there's a big enough swing. The last seat is likely to go either to Christian Democratic Party candidate Mac Forsyth or Liberal-turned-Family First member Anthony Fels. Both are ahead of the Liberals on most tickets, including the Greens in Family First's case. It's likely to come down to whether Forsyth can either overtake One Nation or outpoll the combined vote for Fels, New Country and independent Shelley Posey. Constructing a scenario where a third Liberal seat comes at the expense of either of these two rather than Labor is surprisingly difficult.
All the major parties' lead candidates from 2005 are retiring, Labor's Kim Chance making way at the top of the ticket by Matt Benson-Lidholm, elected as the third candidate in South West in 2005. Benson-Lidholm was dispatched to Agricultural so that Adele Farina could retain the safe second position in South West, rather than be demoted to precarious number three. Liberal member Bruce Donaldson makes way for Brian Ellis, who filled the vacancy created in July 2007 by the retirement of the number three candidate from 2005, Margaret Rowe. The top end of the Liberal ticket is rounded out by newcomers Jim Chown and Chris Wilkins. The second Liberal from 2005, Anthony Fels, was dumped after the Corruption and crime Commission revealed he moved a motion dictated to him by Noel Crichton-Browne, and will now run as Family First candidate.
Outgoing Nationals member Murray Criddle will be succeeded by current lower house member Max Trenorden, who was ousted as party leader by Brendon Grylls in 2006. The one-vote one-value redistribution merged Trenorden and Grylls' seats of Avon and Merredin into Central Wheatbelt, which Trenorden initially insisted on contesting, threatening to run as an independent if denied preselection. The party took his threat seriously enough that it initially appeared Grylls would either challenge a sitting Liberal in another seat, or seek a berth in the upper house. The situation was ultimately resolved in December when Trenorden agreed to fill Criddle's vacancy, forcing existing candidate Wendy Duncan to contest Mining and Pastoral. Their second candidate is Philip Gardiner, who gave Wilson Tuckey a fright in O'Connor in the November 2008 federal election. Dee Margetts returns in a bid for her third spell in parliament, following her terms as Senator from 1993 to 1999 and Agricultural MLC from 2001 to 2005.
Preference tickets
Labor: Greens; Family First; CDP; Nationals; Liberal; One Nation.
Shelly Posey: Family First; CDP; One Nation; Nationals; Liberal; Labor; Greens.
Citizens Electoral Council: Liberal; Nationals; Family First; CDP; One Nation; Labor; Greens.
Liberal: Nationals; CDP; Family First; Greens; Labor; One Nation.
Greens: Labor; Family First; Nationals; Liberal; CDP.
Family First: CDP; Nationals; One Nation; Liberal; Greens; Labor.
Christian Democratic Party: Family First; Nationals; One Nation; Liberal; Labor; Greens.
Nationals: CDP; Family First; One Nation; Liberal; Labor; Greens.
New Country: Family First; CDP; One Nation; Nationals; Labor; Greens; Liberal.
One Nation: CDP; Family First; Nationals; Liberal; Greens; Labor.
EAST METROPOLITAN
| Labor | Liberal | Others |
| Jock Ferguson | Helen Morton | Alison Xamon (GRN) |
| Ljiljanna Ravlich* | Donna Faragher | Dwight Randall (CDP) |
| Linda Savage | Alyssa Hayden | Stephen Bolt (FFP) |
East Metropolitan returned three Labor and two Liberal members at four of its five elections as a five-member region, the exception being 1996 when Norm Kelly of the Democrats won a seat from Labor. With the addition of an extra member Labor becomes certain of retaining its three seats, with the third a contest between the third Liberal, the Greens or even the Christian Democratic Party if the swing against Labor is just the right size. They will get preferences from Family First, One Nation and serial independent John D. Tucak, who between them were worth over 0.5 of a quota in 2005. If that's repeated this time and the Liberal vote is up from 32.2 per cent to around 35.5 per cent, CDP candidate Dwight Randall will remain ahead of third Liberal Alyssa Hayden and pick up her vote as preferences, which will add up to a quota and deliver Randall the seat. If the Liberal swing is too high, the result will be three Labor and three Liberal; if it's too low, it will be three Labor, two Liberal and one Greens.
Labor's ticket is headed by Jock Ferguson, a veteran leader of the AMWU Left. Ljiljanna Ravlich of the Centre faction has been demoted from top position after a troubled term which saw her dropped from cabinet after hitting stormy weather as Education Minister. She returned as Local Government Minister after Tony McRae and John Bowler resigned in February 2007. Lawyer Linda Savage won the number three position with the backing of Alan Carpenter. The number two and three candidates from 2005, Nick Griffiths and Louise Pratt, are respectively retiring and newly arrived in the Senate. Griffiths' retirement was coloured by the eclipse of his New Right faction, which arrived at the table with two East Metropolitan members and left it without either. The irony of his replacement by 62-year-old Ferguson was widely noted. Pratt's vacancy was filled on a countback by the number four candidate from 2005, Batong Pham, who had been largely incapacitated by a stroke. There was nonetheless a loud outcry when the New Right proved unable to secure him a winnable seat. The Liberal ticket is a shining exception to Liberal rule in being dominated by women: Helen Morton and Donna Faragher (nee Taylor) maintain their positions from 2005, and are joined by Alyssa Hayden. The Liberals have been attempting to counter the “boys' club” perception by boosting the profiles of Morton and Faragher, who are respectively Shadow Women's Interest Minister and the only young woman (32 years old) in the parliamentary party. The Greens candidate is labour lawyer and former Teachers' Union official Alison Xamon.
Preference tickets
Family First: CDP; Nationals; Liberal; Greens; Labor.
Labor: Greens; Family First; CDP; Liberal; Nationals.
Citizens Electoral Council: Liberal; Nationals; Greens; Labor; Family First; CDP.
Liberal: CDP; Nationals; Family First; Greens; Labor.
Greens: Labor; Family First; Nationals; Libreal; CDP.
Tom Hoyer: Nationals; Greens; CDP; Labor; Liberal; Family First.
One Nation: CDP; Family First; Nationals; Liberal; Greens; Labor.
Richard Nash: Greens; Labor; Nationals; Liberal; Family First; CDP.
John D Tucak: CDP; Family First; Nationals; Labor; Liberal; Greens.
Daylight Saving Party: Greens; Liberal; Family First; CDP: Labor; Nationals.
MINING AND PASTORAL
| Labor | Liberal | Others |
| Jon Ford* | Norman Moore* | Robin Chapple (GRN) |
| Helen Bullock | Ken Baston | Wendy Duncan (NAT)* |
| Jim Murie | Mark Lewis | Roger Mansell (CDP) |
Mining and Pastoral covers the greater part of the Western Australian land mass, and has gained new population sources in Esperance and Ravensthorpe with the redistribution. The region reliably returned three Labor and two Liberal members at each election until 2001, when One Nation and the Greens cost both of the major parties a seat. Also in the field were two independents who had quit the Labor Party during the previous term – Mark Nevill, who failed to carry his seat despite polling 9.3 per cent, and Tom Helm, who polled only 1.3 per cent. Preferences from the former helped One Nation's John Fischer achieve a 16.7 per cent quota from 13.9 per cent of the primary vote. The Greens' Robin Chapple got ahead of Labor's third candidate after receiving preferences from Helm and the Australian Democrats, and then secured victory over the Liberals' second candidate due to One Nation's decision to put the major parties last (a result which led the Liberals to contemplate a legal challenge on highly technical grounds which are discussed in this paper by David M. Farrell and Ian McAllister).
The situation returned to normal in 2005, with more than half of the 25.2 per cent vote for independents and One Nation in 2001 returning to the majors. Labor won the final seat because the minor party opposition was split between John Fischer (running as an independent with local legend Graham Campbell second on his ticket), which scored 6.0 per cent of the primary vote and received preferences from the CDP and the Liberals, and the Greens, who scored 7.6 per cent and received preferences from the Public Hospital Support Group, Liberals for Forests and the Democrats. The mutual hostility of these two groups meant the elimination of one was always going to send a decisive quantity of preferences to Labor at the other's expense. However, Labor's primary vote was still markedly below the pre-2001 norm whereas the Liberals equalled their 1996 result. With the addition of an extra seat, much depends here on the destination of the John Fischer-Graham Campbell vote. The region is not traditionally strong territory for the Nationals, but they have a dream run on preferences and Wendy Duncan has at least some chance of overtaking third Liberal Mark Lewis and winning a third conservative seat. There is likely to be a parallel contest for a third “left” seat between Labor's number three and a returning Robin Chapple of the Greens.
Labor's top candidate is Employment Protection Minister Jon Ford, promoted from number two in 2005. Incoming number two candidate Helen Bullock is of Chinese extraction, but is rarely described in the media as anything other than the wife of Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Union official Joe Bullock. Number three is Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union official Jim Murie, who had to be persuaded to stand aside for the unsuccessful Peter Tinley in Stirling at the federal election. The top candidate in 2005 was Shelley Archer, who was forced out of the ALP in November after a parliamentary committee recommended she be charged for leaking confidential information to Brian Burke and providing false evidence. She initially toyed with running as an independent in Kimberley, but evidently saw the writing on the wall. The third candidate from 2005, Vince Catania, will contest the lower house seat of North West.
Norman Moore and Ken Baston have retained their positions from 2005 at the top of the Liberal ticket. Moore is the party's leader in the upper house, but his association with Noel Crichton-Browne has prompted talk that he might face eclipse in a Colin Barnett government. Baston is a former pastoralist from Carnarvon. Number three candidate Mark Lewis was described in the Kalgoorlie Miner as a “Carnarvon-based public servant”.
Preference tickets
Greens: Labor; Nationals; Family First; One Nation; Liberal; CDP.
Nationals: CDP; Family First; One Nation; Liberal; Labor; Greens.
Labor: Greens; Family First; CDP; Nationals; Liberal; One Nation.
Christian Democratic Party: Nationals; Family First; One Nation; Liberal; Labor; Greens.
Liberal: Nationals; Family First; CDP; Greens; Labor; One Nation.
Citizens Electoral Council: Liberal; Family First; One Nation; CDP; Nationals; Greens; Labor.
Family First: Nationals; CDPl One Nation; Liberal; Greens; Labor.
One Nation: Nationals; CDP; Family First; Liberal; Greens; Labor.
Daylight Saving Party: Greens; CDP; Liberal; Labor; Nationals; One Nation.
New Country: Family First; CDP; One Nation; Nationals; Liberal; Labor; Greens.
NORTH METROPOLITAN
| Labor | Liberal | Others |
| Ed Dermer* | Peter Collier* | Giz Watson (GRN)* |
| Ken Travers* | Michael Mischin | Trona Young (FFP) |
| Tim Daly | Liz Behjat | Ruth Nicholls (CDP) |
North Metropolitan was one of the two regions which had seven members under the previous system rather than five. The Liberals won four of the seven at the first two elections under the current system, in 1989 and 1993, but dropped a seat in 1996 and did not recover it thereafter. Labor has been successful in winning three seats at the elections it has won (1989, 2001 and 2005), but were down to two in the opposition years of 1993 and 1996. In 1993 an administrative error meant Labor had no above-the-line voting option, which at least partly explained the loss of a seat to Reg Davies, a former Liberal turned independent. Giz Watson of the Greens and Helen Hodgson of the Democrats each won a seat in 1996, at the expense of the Liberals and Reg Davies, but Labor recovered Hodgson's seat in 2001 while Watson was re-elected. The 2005 election produced the same result, with Labor (42.4 per cent) and Liberal (40.3 per cent) each scoring three quotas on the primary vote without enough of a surplus to freeze the Greens out of the final place. The cut from seven members to six is unlikely to threaten the Liberals' hold on three seats, with either the Greens or the Labor number three set for the chop.
The disappearance of a possible Labor seat was enough to send the number three candidate from 2005, Graham Giffard, to a lower house berth in precarious Swan Hills. Labor's ticket otherwise remains a model of stability, with Ed Dermer and Ken Travers topping the bill for the fourth time running. Neither has troubled the front-bench in government, though they respectively held the shadow portfolios of communications and water resources in opposition. The third candidate is the Australian Workers Union's Tim Daly, who was the unsuccessful number two candidate for Agricultural in 2005. Robert Taylor of The West Australian reports Daly was slotted to again take the number two Agricultural position under a deal before the previous election when he accepted demotion to accommodate Kim Chance. He was instead displaced when Alan Carpenter insisted Adele Farina retain a seat in South West, which was achieved by shifting South West MLC Matt Benson-Lidholm to Agricultural. Taylor put Daly's North Metropolitan preselection down to “a combination of numbers from minor factions, the New Right which normally votes with the Left, and the Centre which is generally aligned to the Right”, with Kevin Reynolds of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union being actively engaged on behalf of the latter. This grouping was opposed by a “grand alliance put together by Mr Carpenter, the Right’s Joe Bullock and the Left’s Dave Kelly”, who favoured Gary Carson of the Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union.
Shadow Education Minister and “Northern Alliance” warlord Peter Collier has been promoted from second to first with the retirement of George Cash. Collier's preselection in 2005 was at the expense of sitting member Alan Cadby, who took his revenge by passing one-vote one-value legislation in the period before the Legislative Council changeover three months after the election. Numbers two and three are newcomers Michael Mischin, a Department of Public Prosecutions lawyer who unsuccessfully sought a Senate berth last year, and Liz Behjat, electorate officer to federal Stirling MP Michael Keenan. The Liberals' strength is such that Family First and the Christian Democratic Party are not likely to get a look-in.
Preference tickets
Brian Peachey: CDP; Family First; Labor; Liberal; Nationals; Greens.
Citizens Electoral Council: Liberal; Nationals; CDP; Family First; Greens; Labor.
Christian Democratic Party: Family First; Labor; Liberal; Nationals; Greens.
Family First: CDP; Nationals; Liberal; Greens; Labor.
John Eyden: Family First; Liberal; Nationals; CDP; Greens; Labor.
Liberal: Nationals; CDP; Family First; Greens; Labor.
Labor: Greens; Family First; CDP; Liberals; Nationals.
Greens: Labor; Family First; Nationals; Liberal. CDP.
Douglas Greypower: Family First; CDP; Greens; Nationals; Liberal; Labor.
Eugene Hands: Greens; Liberal; Nationals; CDP; Family First; Labor.
Wally Morris: Nationals; Family First; CDP; Liberal; Greens; Labor.
Daylight Saving Party: Greens; Liberal; Family First; Labor; CDP; Nationals.
Christopher King: Family First; Greens; CDP; Nationals; Liberal; Labor.
One Nation: CDP; Family First; Nationals; Liberal; Greens; Labor.
Julie Gray: Greens; Labor; Liberal; Nationals; CDP; Family First.
SOUTH METROPOLITAN
| Labor | Liberal | Others |
| Sue Ellery* | Simon O'Brien* | Lynn McLaren (GRN)* |
| Kate Doust* | Nick Goiran | Frank Lindsey (FFP) |
| Fiona Henderson | Phil Edman | Brent Tremain (CDP) |
South Metropolitan returned two Labor, two Liberal and one Greens member at three of its five elections as a five-member region, with Labor winning a third seat at the Greens' expense in 1989 and 2005. The Greens member from 1993 to 2004 was Jim Scott, who stepped aside to run for the lower house seat of Fremantle. His place at the top of the Greens ticket was taken by Lynn MacLaren, who bowed out six months later after failing to retain the seat at the election. The 2005 election produced the same result, with Labor (42.4 per cent) and Liberal (40.3 per cent) each scoring three quotas on the primary vote without enough of a surplus to freeze the Greens out of the final place. The talk of the early count was the prospect that the final seat would go to Murray McKay of the Fremantle Hospital Support Group, who polled just 1.3 per cent. However, a resurgence by the Liberals later in the count ironically ensured that the seat stayed with Labor. This was because the Liberals had the Christian Democratic Party ahead of FHSG on preferences, which ultimately allowed the CDP to get their nose ahead of FHSG at a crucial point in the count. The distribution of preferences after the CDP's elimination would otherwise have put the FHSG ahead of the Greens, whose preferences would then have got them ahead of Labor. Instead, the elimination of the FHSG unlocked the preferences of left-leaning parties who had favoured the Greens over the CDP, whose subsequent elimination unlocked the preferences of right-leaning parties who had favoured Labor over the Greens.
It will be a pretty grim evening for Labor if they can't retain their three seats here, while the Liberals aren't so weak the CDP are likely to have an entry. The question is who wins the final seat out of Liberal number three Phil Edman and Lynn MacLaren, returning as Greens candidate. Edman will win the seat if the combined vote for the Liberals, CDP, Family First, One Nation and CEC adds up 42.9 per cent or three quotas. The first three collectively polled 41.0 per cent in 2005 (the CEC didn't run), so MacLaren might again find the going tough. The top of the Labor ticket has somersaulted for the third successive election, with Sue Ellery of the Left faction recovering the top position she lost to Kate Doust of the Old Right in 2005. Sheila Mills is making way in number three position for Fiona Henderson, daughter of Lawrence government minister Yvonne Henderson.
Shadow Planning and Infrastructure Minister Simon O'Brien retains top spot on the Liberal ticket, while former number two Barbara Scott will retire (she had to rely on State Council intervention to save her from Court government minister Doug Shave's comeback bid in 2005). She is succeeded by the fairly low-profile figure of Nick Goiran, described by The West Australian as “lawyer and active Canning branch member”. Number three candidate Phil Edman was a twice-unsuccessful federal candidate for Brand.
Preference tickets
Citizens Electoral Council: Liberal; CDP; Family First; Nationals; Labor; Greens.
Labor: Greens; Family First; CDP; Liberal; Nationals.
Christopher Oughton: Liberal; Greens; CDP; Family First; Nationals; Labor.
Christian Democratic Party: Family First; Liberal; Labor; Nationals; Labor; Greens.
Family First: CDP; Nationals; Liberal; Greens; Labor.
Eric Miller: CDP; Family First; Liberal; Nationals; Labor; Greens.
Liberal: Family First; CDP; Nationals; Greens; Labor.
Greens: Labor; Family First; Nationals; Liberal; CDP.
Nationals: Family First; CDP; Liberal; Labor; Greens.
Daylight Saving Party: Greens; Liberals; Family First; CDP; Labor; Nationals.
Steve Walker: Liberal; Labor; Nationals; Greens; Family First; CDP.
One Nation: CDP; Family First; Nationals; Liberal; Greens; Labor.
SOUTH WEST
| Labor | Liberal | Others |
| Sally Talbot* | Robyn McSweeney* | Paul Llewellyn (GRN)* |
| Adele Farina* | Nigel Hallett*( | Colin Holt (NAT) |
| John Mondy | Barry House* | Dan Sullivan (FFP) |
One of the two seven-member regions under the old regime, South West returned four Coalition members (three Liberal and one National) from 1989 until 2001, when Paddy Embry of One Nation was elected at the expense of the Nationals member. Labor won three seats in 1989 and 1993 before dropping one in 1996 to Christine Sharp of the Greens, who was re-elected in 2001. Paul Llewellyn retained the Greens seat upon Sharp's retirement in 2005 with help from the Nationals, who gave them preferences ahead of Family First (much to the chagrin of Wilson Tuckey), while Embry's seat was won by Labor – thus producing South West's first four-three split in favour of the left. Unless there's a fairly solid swing against Labor, the left-right split this time should be three-all. If there's a third left seat, it will go to either Labor's number three or Greens incumbent Paul Llewellyn. If the right win four, three will go to Liberal and one to Liberal-turned-Family First member Dan Sullivan, unless the Nationals perform very strongly in which case their candidate Colin Holt might edge ahead of Sullivan. If they win three, the third seat will be down to Sullivan and third Liberal Barry House.
The top two positions on the Labor ticket have produced a swap between Sally Talbot, state party president and member of the Left, and Adele Farina of the Centre . Farina owes her position to Alan Carpenter, who insisted she be accommodated by shifting Matt Benson-Lidholm, the third member elected in 2005, to the top of the Agricultural ticket. In December 2006 Farina told the Corruption and Crime Commission her career was “severely at risk” because she refused to do the bidding of Brian Burke. It was reported in January that she was angling for the lower house Morley preselection, having “forged a strategic alliance” with the LHMWU Left of Jim McGinty. The Liberal ticket features the same personnel as last time in a different order: Shadow Child Protection Minister Robyn McSweeney, Nigel Hallett and Barry House, as opposed to House, McSweeney and Hallett. All won preselection ahead of former leader Paul Omodei, who refused to stand and fight for the lower house seat of Blackwood-Stirling. Family First candidate Dan Sullivan is the outgoing independent member for the abolished lower house seat of Leschenault and a former Liberal deputy leader, who quit the party shortly after Troy Buswell became leader. The Nationals candidate is agricultural scientist Colin Holt.
Preference tickets
Nationals: Family First; CDP; One Nation; Liberal; Labor; Greens.
Family First: CDP; Nationals; One Nation; Liberal; Greens; Labor.
Labor: Greens; CDP; Nationals; Family First; Liberal; One Nation.
Christian Democratic Party: Family First; Nationals; One Nation; Liberal; Labor; Greens.
Elaine Green: Family First; CDP; One Nation; Nationals; Liberal; Labor; Greens.
Greens: Labor Family First; Nationals; One Nation; Liberal; CDP.
Citizens Electoral Council: Liberal; Nationals; Family First; CDP; One Nation; Labor; Greens.
Liberal: Family First; CDP; Nationals; Greens; Labor; One Nation.
One Nation: CDP; Family First; Nationals; Liberal; Greens; Labor.
Filip Gugilemana: Family First; CDP; Liberal; Nationals; One Nation; Labor; Greens.
Daylight Saving Party: Greens; Liberal; Family First; Labor; Nationals; One Nation.
|
|