Voters have begun casting their ballots in the Western Australian state election with Labor poised to end the eight and a half year run of the Barnett Liberal government.
Heading into election day polls have shown that the team lead by Opposition Leader Mark McGowan will gain more that enough seats to form the next WA government. The most recent poll published in The Australian put the Labor ahead 54-46 on a two party preferred basis.
Election results have been unpredictable in recent times, and politicians point towards unexpected results in the USA and Britain as reasons not to ‘count your chickens’ too early.
To form government the Labor team must gain at least ten additional seats. Some election analysts have suggested that they pick up as many as twenty, which would be a disastrous result for the Liberals.
Premier Colin Barnett made a last ditch plea to voters via video posted to his Twitter account. Barnett’s video listed the building projects achieved by his government and the Premier said his work was not yet complete.
“Don’t take a step backwards, don’t settle for mediocrity or bad ideas, and don’t got back to Dullsville.” Premier Barnett said, referring to the tag that Perth used to be one of the most boring cities in the nation.
Labor’s Mark McGowan started his morning in the electorate of Southern River, dropping by the polling station at Huntingdale Primary School.
McGowan joined high school teacher Terry Healy who is contesting the seat in Perth’s south eastern suburbs. The seat was previously considered a safe Liberal seat, but changes to electoral boundaries have reduced the margin that two-term Liberal member Peter Abetz had build up.
Abetz, a leading voice of conservative politics, has regularly spoken about his opposition to marriage equality and the Safe Schools program. The former pastor has also argued that transgender primary school children should be excluded from competitive sports.
As voters arrived at Huntingdale Primary School this morning both Peter Abetz and Terry Healy were present, shaking voter’s hands and trying to persuade as many people as possible to cast their ballot in their favour.
The Liberal campaign has also been dogged by the preference deal the party made with Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. The preference swapping arrangement with One Nation have been questioned by supporters of both party and described as a ‘failed experiment’ to drum up right wing support for the government that has served eight and half years.
If the Barnett Liberal government falls with a landslide result to Labor, there will be increasing pressure in Canberra on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to distance the federal Liberal party from One Nation.
Image: Mark McGowan – Twitter
