 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Registered | 11,189 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turnout | 42.2% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Map showing the electoral district of North West Central within Western Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A by-election for the electoral district of North West Central in Western Australia took place on 17 September 2022 following the resignation of the sitting member, Nationals MP Vince Catania, on 8 August 2022. The election was won by National Party candidate Merome Beard.
Vince Catania was initially elected to the electoral district of North West Central in 2008 as a Labor Party candidate, but he defected to the National Party in 2009. He had since won the 2013, 2017 and 2021 state elections as a National Party candidate. His margin at the 2021 election was only 259 votes, making it one of the closest seats in the state. In June 2022, Catania announced his intention to resign from Parliament in August 2022. [1] [2] [3] At the time, he was one of four National Party members in the Legislative Assembly. As the Liberal Party only had two members in the Legislative Assembly, the National Party was the senior party in the opposition alliance.
Catania tendered his resignation to the speaker on 8 August 2022. The election was scheduled to occur on 17 September 2022. [4] [5]
The National Party chose Carnarvon hotel and pub owner Merome Beard as their candidate in late June. She was the only person nominated for preselection. [6] [7]
The Liberal Party chose Will Baston as their candidate on 13 July. He is the nephew of Barnett government minister Ken Baston and manager of the family's Jimba Jimba Station, a cattle station 150 kilometres (93 mi) east of Carnarvon. He was the only person nominated for preselection. If he were to win the by-election, the National and Liberal parties would have three seats each, making it unclear which party would be the opposition party. The opposition leader and deputy opposition leader are determined by who is the leader and deputy leader of the opposition party. The opposition party also gets additional staff and resources. There is no known precedent or tiebreaker for when multiple parties have the same number of seats. [8] [9]
Labor was yet to decide if it will put forward a candidate as of mid-July, with there being little upside to winning considering the party already had 53 out of 59 seats in the Legislative Assembly. [9] Premier Mark McGowan was opposed to fielding a candidate, whereas cabinet minister Alannah MacTiernan was strongly in favour. By 8 August, Labor had decided not to field a candidate, with McGowan saying that by-elections historically have been difficult for governments to win. [4] [10] Out of the 11 by-elections from 2008 to 2022, incumbent governments have not contested five. [11] The opposition used Labor's lack of candidacy to suggest that the government doesn't care about regional areas. [12]
The Greens preselected Exmouth local Niels Glahn-Bertelsen, an educator and environmentalist. [13]
In total, there are 12 candidates, a record number for North West Central. Out of those candidates, three live in the electorate: Beard, Baston and Glahn-Bertelsen. [11] The full list of candidates, in ballot order, is as follows:
| Party [11] [14] | Candidate [11] [14] | |
|---|---|---|
| The Greens (WA) | Niels Glahn-Bertelsen | |
| Western Australia Party | Andrea Randle | |
| Small Business Party | Peter Baker | |
| The Nationals | Merome Beard | |
| Pauline Hanson's One Nation | Gerald Laurent | |
| Legalise Cannabis Western Australia Party | Leanne Lockyer | |
| Liberal Democrats | Jake Adkins McCoull | |
| Western Australia Party | Anthony Fels | |
| No Mandatory Vaccination | Aaron Horsman | |
| Independent | Peter D Dunne | |
| Independent | Tony Stokes | |
| Liberal Party | Will Baston | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National | Merome Beard | 2,042 | 40.2 | +0.4 | |
| Liberal | Will Baston | 1,353 | 26.6 | +18.7 | |
| Greens | Niels Glahn-Bertelsen | 635 | 12.5 | +8.4 | |
| Legalise Cannabis | Leanne Lockyer | 269 | 5.3 | +5.3 | |
| Western Australia | Andrea Randle | 202 | 4.0 | +4.0 | |
| One Nation | Gerald Laurent | 197 | 3.9 | +0.9 | |
| Western Australia | Anthony Fels | 108 | 2.1 | +2.1 | |
| No Mandatory Vaccination | Aaron Horsman | 82 | 1.6 | +0.6 | |
| Independent | Peter Dunne | 55 | 1.1 | +1.1 | |
| Small Business | Peter Baker | 55 | 1.1 | +1.1 | |
| Independent | Tony Stokes | 44 | 0.9 | +0.9 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Jake McCoull | 42 | 0.8 | +0.8 | |
| Total formal votes | 5,084 | 95.3 | −0.2 | ||
| Informal votes | 251 | 4.7 | +0.2 | ||
| Turnout | 5,335 | 47.7 | |||
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| National | Merome Beard | 3,071 | 60.5 | +8.8 | |
| Liberal | Will Baston | 2,008 | 39.5 | +39.5 | |
| National hold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Cherie Sibosado | 3,114 | 40.2 | +13.5 | |
| National | Vince Catania | 3,075 | 39.7 | +3.6 | |
| Liberal | Alys McKeough | 611 | 7.9 | −7.9 | |
| Greens | Sandy Burt | 318 | 4.1 | −1.5 | |
| Shooters, Fishers, Farmers | Stefan Colagiuri | 233 | 3.0 | +2.6 | |
| One Nation | Robert Tonkin | 232 | 3.0 | −8.4 | |
| No Mandatory Vaccination | A. Agyputri | 81 | 1.0 | +1.0 | |
| Independent | Henry Seddon | 40 | 0.5 | +0.5 | |
| WAxit | Brendan McKay | 37 | 0.5 | +0.2 | |
| Total formal votes | 7,741 | 95.5 | +0.1 | ||
| Informal votes | 367 | 4.5 | −0.1 | ||
| Turnout | 8,108 | 73.8 | −5.5 | ||
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| National | Vince Catania | 3,997 | 51.7 | −8.4 | |
| Labor | Cherie Sibosado | 3,738 | 48.3 | +8.4 | |
| National hold | Swing | −8.4 | |||
North West Central is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.
Peter Charles Tinley is an Australian politician and former soldier. Peter has been a Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since November 2009, representing the electorate of Willagee.
Alannah Joan Geraldine Cecilia MacTiernan is a former Australian politician. From 1988 to 2023, she has served in politics at a federal, state, and local level, including as a minister in the Western Australian state governments of Geoff Gallop, Alan Carpenter, and Mark McGowan. She is best known for her role as the minister for planning and infrastructure during the construction of the Mandurah line. Born in Melbourne, she moved to Perth to study at the University of Western Australia, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and later with a law degree. She worked for the Department of Employment before practising as a lawyer between 1986 and 1992. During this time, she also served on the Perth City Council. In 1976, MacTiernan joined the Australian Labor Party, and at the 1993 Western Australian state election, she was elected to the Legislative Council's East Metropolitan Region. She became a shadow minister in October 1994, and she was transferred to the Legislative Assembly at the 1996 state election, winning the seat of Armadale.
Vincent Alexander Catania is an Australian former politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 2008 to 2022. He was previously a member of the Legislative Council from 2005 to 2008. Catania represented the Labor Party until July 2009, when he switched to the National Party.
Roger Hugh Cook is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current premier of Western Australia since 2023. He has been the leader of the Western Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since 2023 and a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the electoral district of Kwinana since 2008. He was previously deputy premier of Western Australia from 2017 to 2023.
Rita Saffioti is an Australian politician. Representing the Australian Labor Party, she has been the member for the electoral district of West Swan in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Western Australia, since 6 September 2008. Since June 2023, she has been the deputy premier of Western Australia, the treasurer of Western Australia, the minister for transport, and the minister for tourism. From March 2017 to June 2023, she was the minister for transport and minister for planning. From March 2021 to June 2023, she was also the minister for ports. From March 2017 to December 2018, she was also the minister for lands.
The 2013 Western Australian state election was held on Saturday 9 March 2013 to elect 59 members to the Legislative Assembly and 36 members to the Legislative Council.
Mia Jane Davies is an Australian politician who was the Leader of the Opposition and leader of the National Party in Western Australia from March 2021 to January 2023. She has been a member of the state Legislative Assembly since 2013, having previously served in the Legislative Council from 2009 to 2013. Davies was elected deputy leader of the Nationals in November 2013, and replaced Brendon Grylls as leader in March 2017 following his defeat at the 2017 state election. As a result of the Liberal Party's electoral wipeout at the 2021 state election, she became leader of the opposition after Premier Mark McGowan gave her party the official opposition party funding, the first member of her party to hold the role since Arthur Watts in 1947. She resigned as leader of the opposition and leader of her party in January 2023, and said she would not recontest her seat at the 2025 election.
The 2017 Western Australian state election was held on Saturday 11 March 2017 to elect members to the Parliament of Western Australia, including all 59 seats in the Legislative Assembly and all 36 seats in the Legislative Council. The eight-and-a-half-year two-term incumbent Liberal–WA National government, led by Premier Colin Barnett, was defeated in a landslide by the Labor opposition, led by Opposition Leader Mark McGowan.
Amber-Jade Sanderson is an Australian Labor Party politician who is the member for Morley in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Western Australia. Since 21 December 2021, she has been Minister for Health and Minister for Mental health. From 19 March 2021 to 21 December 2021, she was Minister for Environment, Minister for Climate Action and Minister for Commerce. She rose to prominence when she chaired the Joint Select Committee on End of Life Choices. From 22 May 2013 to 5 February 2017, she was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council, the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, for the East Metropolitan Region.
Elizabeth Mettam is an Australian politician. She has been the leader of the Western Australian Liberal Party since 30 January 2023 and the member for Vasse in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since 18 October 2014.
Zak Richard Francis Kirkup is an Australian former politician. He was a member of the Western Australian Liberal Party, and served as a member for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for the electoral district of Dawesville from 2017 to 2021.
The 2021 Western Australian state election was held on Saturday 13 March to elect members to the Parliament of Western Australia, where all 59 seats in the Legislative Assembly and all 36 seats in the Legislative Council were up for election.
This is a list of members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2021 to 2025.
The 2025 Western Australian state election is scheduled to be held on 8 March 2025 to elect members to the Parliament of Western Australia, where all 59 seats in the Legislative Assembly and all 37 seats in the Legislative Council will be up for election.
The Western Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia held a leadership vote on 24 November 2020 to determine its leader. The election was conducted among Liberal Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia. It came after its previous leader, Liza Harvey, resigned following poor opinion polling. Deputy leader Bill Marmion also resigned on the same day. The main candidates touted ahead of the election were Dean Nalder, a member of parliament since 2013 and a minister in the Barnett Ministry, and Zak Kirkup, a member of parliament since 2017. Nalder declined to nominate for the leadership after it became clear he did not have the full support of the Liberal Party caucus. As a result, Kirkup won the leadership unopposed, becoming the state's leader of the opposition. Libby Mettam was elected unopposed as the deputy leader.
Tania Lawrence is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2022 federal election, representing the Western Australian seat of Hasluck. She was a ministerial adviser and corporate manager before her election to parliament.
Merome Beard is an Australian politician, representing the electoral district of North West Central in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since 17 September 2022. She was elected as a member of the National Party, but she resigned from the party on 31 October 2023 and joined the Liberal Party.
The Davies shadow ministry was the shadow ministry led by Mia Davies in the Parliament of Western Australia.
A leadership election for the Western Australian Labor Party occurred on 6 June 2023 following the resignation of party leader and premier of Western Australia Mark McGowan in June 2023. The three contenders to replace McGowan were Roger Cook, Amber-Jade Sanderson and Rita Saffioti. Saffioti withdrew on 30 May in exchange for being Cook's deputy, and Sanderson withdrew on 30 May, leaving Cook as the sole nominee for leader.
