THE POLL BLUDGER
Western Australian Legislative Assembly Election 2008

NORTH WEST Labor 3.1%
Previously named North West Coastal Upper house region: Mining and Pastoral Federal divisions: Kalgoorlie/O'Connor
	LEX FULLARTON Independent PETER SHAW Greens VINCENT CATANIA Labor (top) ROD SWEETMAN Liberal (bottom) TOM DAY Nationals

North West takes in all the territory previously covered by North West Coastal, further extending deep inland through Murchison to Meekatharra and Mount Magnet. This adds 1024 actual voters along with 6136 “phantom” ones as part of the “large district allowance” that allows electorates of more than 100,000 square kilometres to maintain below average enrolment. The dominant coastal areas display a sharp divide between Labor-voting Karratha, Dampier, Roebourne and Wickham in the north, and Liberal-voting Exmouth and Carnarvon in the south. North West Coastal was created at the 2005 election in place of abolished Burrup and Ningaloo, which in turn had replaced Ashburton and Northern Rivers in 1996. Its member was Legislative Assembly Speaker Fred Riebeling, who came to the seat via Burrup and Ashburton (which he had done very well to retain for Labor at a 1992 by-election, held in the dying year of the Burke-Dowding-Lawrence government). Riebeling announced his intention to retire at the coming election in February. This has made the seat available to Mining and Pastoral upper house MP Vince Catania, son of former Balcatta MP Nick Catania, whose number three ticket position has in turn gone to Jim Murie of the Electoral Trades Union. Riebeling told The West Australian he would have preferred that the nomination go to Roebourne Shire president Brad Snell.

Ningaloo was held for the Liberals through its two-term life by Rod Sweetman, whose surprise win in 1996 was thought in Labor circles to have been a reaction against Geoff Gallop's pre-emptive concession of defeat two days before the election. This may have been selling Sweetman short, as he again demonstrated vote-winning abilities by picking up primary and two-party swings against the trend of the 2001 election. However, in 2005 he was not content to try his luck with North West Coastal and its notional Labor margin of 5.4 per cent, instead hunting without success for berths in Dawesville, Riverton and South Perth. The Liberals seemed relaxed at the time about his acceptance of an offer to become state leader of Family First, which reportedly formed part of a deal struck between the two parties during negotiations over federal election preferences. Sweetman hoped to become the party's candidate for the upper house district of South Metropolitan, but the deal fell through when Family First backers rebelled due to his support for legislation decriminalising abortion in 1998. His record as a vote-winner evidently continues to stand him in good stead with the party, which has now accepted him for the North West nomination he spurned in 2005.

The Nationals candidate is Tom Day, described on the party website as “a long time member of the Carnarvon horticulture industry”.

ASSESSMENT: LIBERAL GAIN