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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.
Mark McGowan has been leader of the Western Australian Labor Party from January 2012 and premier of Western Australia from March 2017. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he achieved record levels of popularity and won the 2021 Western Australian state election in a landslide, winning 53 out of 59 possible seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly and a majority in the Western Australian Legislative Council for the first time in the Labor Party's history. The next election is due in 2025. [1]
On 29 May 2023, McGowan announced his resignation as premier and member for Rockingham, saying that "the truth is I'm tired, extremely tired. In fact, I'm exhausted", and that he did not want to lead the party into the 2025 state election. [1] [2] He was amongst a minority of the WA Labor caucus to be factionally unaligned, [3] and was said to be seen as being "above" the factional system. [4]
ABC News, WAtoday, Business News and The West Australian reported that the most likely candidates to replace McGowan are Deputy Premier Roger Cook, Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson and Transport Minister Rita Saffioti. Cook and Sanderson are both part of the Labor Party's left faction, which is the dominant faction within WA Labor. Saffioti is unaligned factionally, but is closely allied with McGowan. The remaining faction is the right faction, also known as progressive Labor. [5] [6] [7] [8]
Cook confirmed his intention to run for the election on 29 May. [6] [9] Cook has been the member for Kwinana since September 2008, deputy leader of the WA Labor Party since September 2008, and a minister in the McGowan government since March 2017. He was in the prominent position of Health Minister from March 2017 to December 2021, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. [6] [10]
Saffioti said on 29 May that she was considering putting herself up as a candidate for leader but has not confirmed anything yet. [11] She has been the member for West Swan since September 2008 and a minister in the McGowan government since March 2017, most notably as Transport Minister and Minister for Planning. [6] [12]
Sanderson has been the member for Morley since March 2017 and a minister in the McGowan government since March 2021. Before that, she had been a member for the East Metropolitan Region in the upper house from May 2013 to February 2017. In December 2021, she was promoted to the prominent position of Health Minister. [6] [13]
Unpublished polling conducted by Painted Dog Research for The West Australian in January 2023 found that Cook was favoured by 15 percent of voters to succeed McGowan if he were to retire. Saffioti was favoured by 13 percent, Sanderson was favoured by 6 percent, and 37 percent had "no idea". [8]
Labor's left faction holds 45 out of the party's 75 seats. The faction consists of the United Workers Union (UWU) and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU). [8]
An emergency meeting of the Labor caucus will be called. Nominations must be made within the three days after that meeting. Candidates must receive written support of at least 20 percent of the caucus. A ballot will then be held in which the caucus will have 50 percent of the vote and the rank-and-file party members will have 50 percent of the vote. This process could take up to four weeks, unless there is only one candidate, in which case there will not be a vote. [8] These rules were instituted following the political instability of the Rudd and Gillard federal Labor governments. Cook expressed a desire for the party to unite behind one candidate so that the process could be completed by the end of the week. [4]
26 Labor MPs affiliated with the UWU held a meeting on the morning of 30 May to determine who to support. They chose to support Sanderson over Cook, 17 votes to 11. [4] [14] [15] The 17 AMWU members held a meeting on the afternoon of 30 May, unanimously choosing to back Cook to be leader and Saffioti to be deputy leader and treasurer. [4] [16] [17] After that, Saffioti withdrew from leadership contention and put her support behind Cook, [18] and Sanderson withdrew from contention, leaving Cook as the sole nominee. [19] [20]
The right faction met on 31 May and chose to support Cook. [21] [22]
Cook and Saffioti were confirmed as the new leader and deputy leader, respectively, on 6 June 2023. [23]
McGowan formally resigned on Thursday 8 June and Cook and his ministry were sworn in on that day. [24] Cook was the first premier of Western Australia from Labor's left and the first Labor premier since Brian Burke to be factionally aligned. [25]
Had Saffioti and Sanderson not stood aside, either could have balloted the entire WA Labor membership leaving the State with an interim premier for up to two months. In October 2023, a review recommended that Labor caucus have sole responsibility for selecting a new premier when Labor is in government, sidelining rank and file members. A full ballot would still be held when the party is in opposition. As well as McGowan's abrupt departure, the example of the election of Liz Truss the previous year in the UK's ruling Conservative party was a factor in the proposed rule changes. [26]
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.
Mark McGowan is an Australian former politician and naval officer who served as the 30th premier of Western Australia from 2017 until his retirement in 2023. He was the leader of the Western Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2012 to 2023 and a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the district of Rockingham from 1996 to 2023.
Suzanne Mary Ellery is an Australian politician who has been a Labor Party member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia since 2001, representing South Metropolitan Region. She is the current Minister for Finance, Minister for Commerce, and Minister for Women's Interests in the McGowan government, having previously served as a minister in the government of Alan Carpenter from 2007 to 2008.
Roger Hugh Cook is an Australian politician who is the current premier of Western Australia, in office since June 2023 as leader of WA Labor. 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.
Nicolas Pierre Goiran is an Australian politician who has been a member for the South Metropolitan Region of the Western Australian Legislative Council (MLC), the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, since 22 May 2009.
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.
The First McGowan Ministry was the 36th ministry of the Government of Western Australia. Led by the Premier Mark McGowan and Deputy Premier Roger Cook, it succeeded the Barnett Ministry following the 2017 election.
John Newton Carey is an Australian politician. A member of the Australian Labor Party, Carey has been the member for Perth in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Western Australia, since 11 March 2017. Since June 2023, Carey has been the minister for planning, minister for lands, minister for housing, and minister for homelessness. He previously served in other ministries from March 2021 to June 2023. From 19 October 2013 to 30 January 2017, he was the mayor of the City of Vincent.
David Robert Michael is an Australian politician. He has been a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since the 2017 state election, representing Balcatta. Michael is the WA Parliament's first MP of Finnish descent.
The Morley–Ellenbrook line is a planned suburban rail service between the Perth central business district and Ellenbrook in Western Australia. Construction began in 2021 as part of Metronet.
Patrick Possum Gorman is an Australian politician, elected as an Australian Labor Party representative for the Division of Perth at the 2018 Perth by-election.
The Western Australian Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch) and commonly referred to simply as WA Labor, is the Western Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party. It is the current governing party of Western Australia since winning the 2017 election under Mark McGowan.
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.
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Benjamin Letts Dawkins is an Australian politician who is a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council. He succeeded Alannah MacTiernan as a member for the South West Region on 20 March 2023. His appointment to parliament was controversial as he had pleaded guilty to breaching a violence restraining order one month prior. Originally a member of the Labor Party, he was suspended from the party just prior to taking his seat in the Legislative Council and was expelled from the party on 24 April 2023.
The Western Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia had a leadership spill on 30 January 2023. Libby Mettam defeated David Honey to become the leader of the Liberal Party in Western Australia.
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