Western Australian Labor Party

WA Labor Western Australian Labor Party
Abbreviation	WA Labor [1]
Leader	Roger Cook
Deputy Leader	Rita Saffioti
President	Lorna Clarke
Secretary	Ellie Whiteaker
Founded	11–15 April 1899;125 years ago (15 April 1899) [2] [3]
Headquarters	85 Havelock Street, West Perth, Western Australian
Youth wing	WA Young Labor
Membership (2018)	<7,000 [4]
Ideology	Social democracy
Political position	Centre [5] [6] to centre-left
National affiliation	Australian Labor
Union affiliate	Unions WA
Colours	Red
Legislative Assembly	53 / 59
Legislative Council	21 / 36
House of Representatives	9 / 15 (WA seats)
Senate	5 / 12 (WA seats)
Website
walabor.org.au
Politics of Western Australia Elections Politics of Australia Political parties Elections

The Western Australian Labor Party, officially known as WA Labor, ^[a] is the Western Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It is the current governing party of Western Australia since winning the 2017 state election under Mark McGowan.

History

The Western Australian state division of the Australian Labor Party was formed at a Trade Union Congress in Coolgardie in 1899. ^[8] Shortly afterwards the federal Labor Party was formalised in time for Australian federation in 1901. The WA Labor Party achieved representation in the Western Australian Parliament in 1900 with six members, and four years later the party entered into minority government with Henry Daglish becoming the first Labor Premier of Western Australia. ^[8]

Governance

There are five layers of governance in the WA Labor party. These governance layers are filled with people from the party's general membership, as well as delegates from affiliated unions to the party.

The five governance layers are:

1. The Branches
2. The Federal Electorate Campaign Committees (FECC)
3. The State Executive
4. The State Conference, and
5. The Administrative Committee

Of these governance layers, the only level at which ALP members directly participate in their membership capacity is at the branch level. However, branch members are able to be elected as delegates to participate at FECC meetings; and FECC participants in turn may be elected to participate at the State Executive and State Conference. Members of the Administrative committee are at regular intervals during the annual state conferences.

Affiliated trade unions are allocated voting delegates to participate at the State Conference and State Executive layers. Due to these legal rules, the ALP is strongly influenced by its affiliated trade unions. Additionally, union members who are a member of the ALP are allowed to participate in their personal capacity at branch meetings and FECC meetings; which is another, albeit indirect, means of influence at State Executive and Conference.

Of the five governance layers, the State Executive is notable for having the primary responsible for candidate preselection. Mostly for this reason, its control is the primary objective of party factions attempting to exert their influence. As of 2023, it is dominated by the Labor Left.

Branches

Members of the WA Labor Party usually belong to a single branch, chosen by that member. ^[9]

There are two types of branches; (1) Local branches, which are organised around a local geographic area, and (2) Direct branches, which are organised around a political issue or broader community group.

Branch members regularly meet to discuss political issues, socialise, meet ALP politicians, fundraise, and organise campaign activities. They also frequently pass resolutions, which act as public statements regarding the opinion of the branch on an issue.

Annually, each branch will elect a delegate to attend their relevant 'Federal Electorate Campaign Committee' this person will then vote on their behalf at FECC meetings. It is through this delegate that branch members have an indirect influence on ALP preselections.

Federal Electorate Campaign Committees

Australia's federal electorates often contain multiple ALP branches within them. Each branch of the party elects a representative at their Annual General Meeting, and that delegate will attend the FECC covering their federal electorate.

FECCs meet regularly to discuss party issues. Each one elects delegates to represent it at the State Executive. ^[9]

State Executive

The state executive of the party is a singular body made up of various delegates. It meets multiple times per year. It is the chief administrative authority of the party, and is vested with the party's power in-between the annual state conferences. ^[10] It is made up of 175 persons.

Its most noteworthy power is over preselections of ALP candidates for elections.

The State executive comprises

• The State President, who presides and is allowed a casting vote
• All fourteen members of the party's Administrative Committee
• Eighty "political delegates":
  • One delegate from the FPLP
  • One delegate from the SPLP
  • 78 Delegates elected by the FECCs

• Eighty "union delegates" (allocated proportionally according to union membership numbers)

The current composition of the WA Labor State Executive is not publicly available information.

In recent history the WA State Executive has been dominated by the labor left faction, however, this is not always so. Decisions of the State Executive are often determined by whichever ALP factional combination is able to dominate the floor at a given point in time.

State Conference

The party meets annually at its State Conference. It is the ultimate governing body of the State Party. The conference comprises delegates from Branches, affiliated unions, and ALP Parliamentary representatives. ^[10] As the ultimate governing body, it has the power to overrule decisions of the State Executive, although this rarely occurs in practice.

The State Conference floor comprises

• The State President, who presides and is allowed a casting vote
• All fourteen members of the party's Administrative Committee
• 150 "political delegates":
  • One FPLP Delegate
  • One SPLP Delegate
  • The remainder being delegates from the various ALP branches, allocated proportionally based on the membership numbers of each branch. However, every branch with at least 30 or more members is entitled to at least one of the delegates
• 150 "union delegates" allocated by the State Executive in proportion to annual membership of each union in the previous calendar year

The composition of the State Conference floor for 2023 is not publicly available information.

In recent history the WA State Conference floor has been dominated by the labor left faction, however, this is not always so. Decisions of the State Conference are often determined by whichever ALP factional combination is able to dominate the floor at a given point in time.

Administrative Committee

The party's administrative committee is ultimately responsible for the party's management and administration. The committee has 15 members, if the State President (who must preside) is included. At least 50% of committee is reserved for women.

Meetings of the committee are presided over by the State President. The position of State President is elected every two years through a mail-ballot of the party membership. This distinguishes them from other members that are decided instead at State Conference. At meetings of the administrative committee, the president is only allowed a casting vote. ^[11]

The State Treasurer must attend all meetings but does not vote.

Therefore, meetings of the administrative committee are attended by

• Ten members elected annually at State Conference
• Both the State Secretary and the Assistant State Secretary, each of whom are separately elected triannually at State Conference; one of whom must be a woman
• The leader of the State Parliamentary Labor Party ^[b]
• A representative of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party
• The State Treasurer (who does not vote)
• The State President (who merely presides, and is allowed a casting vote)

As of 2023, committee meetings are attended by people in the table below. Because of various factional affiliations, the administrative committee is currently dominated by the Labor Left faction. ^[12]

Role	Name	Note
State President	Lorna Clarke	MLA for Butler
State Secretary	Ellie Whiteaker	WA Labor Campaign Director
Assistant State Secretary	Lauren Cayoun	former advisor to Mark McGowan, former Councillor City of Belmont [13]
State Treasurer	Naomi McLean	former electorate officer to Amber-Jade Sanderson [14]
Leader of SPLP	Roger Cook	WA Premier
Representative of the FPLP	Sue Lines	Senator for WA
Member	Brad Gandy	Australian Workers Union State Secretary [15]
Member	Caitlin Collins	MLA for Hillarys
Member	Carolyn Smith	United Workers Union State Secretary [16]
Member	Clem Chan	Former President of United Professional Firefighters Union of WA
Member	Dominic Rose	United Workers Union National Political Coordinator [17]
Member	Jill Hugo	Australian Services Union Assistant Branch Secretary [18]
Member	Elo Braskic	Communications and Digital Coordinator of the Transport Workers' Union - WA Branch
Member	Margaret Quirk	MLA for Girrawheen
Member	Stephen Catania	CFMEU WA Legal Coordinator [19]
Member	Steve McCartney	Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union State Secretary [20]

Policy committees

The party's policy committees are responsible for the party's development of the party platform between state conferences and elections. The committees are composed of elected convenors who are tasked with facilitating policy development at the party member level and secretaries who work at the parliamentary level. ^[21]

Committee	Convenor	Secretary
Community & Social	Gabrielle Inga	Lorna Harper MLC
Conservation, Environment & Climate Change	Harriet Brooke	Jane Kelsbie MLA
Economics, Industrial Relations & Regional Development	Tim Dymond	Shelley Payne MLC
Education & Training	Mary Monkhouse	Sandra Carr MLC
Health	David Goncalves	Lisa Munday MLA
International Affairs	Hugo Seymour	Simon Millman MLA
Law, Public Administration & Community Safety	Tomas Fitzgerald	David Scaife MLA
Transport, Roads, Infrastructure & Planning	Eloyise Braskic	Jessica Stojkovski MLA

Party leaders

Party leader	Assumed office	Left office	Premier	Reason for departure
Henry Daglish	8 July 1904	27 September 1905	1904–1905	Quit party
William Johnson	4 October 1905	27 October 1905		Resigned
Thomas Bath	22 November 1905	3 August 1910
John Scaddan	3 August 1910	10 April 1917	1911–1916	Quit party
Phillip Collier	16 April 1917	20 August 1936	1924–1930; 1933–1936	Resigned
John Willcock	20 August 1936	31 July 1945	1936–1945	Retired
Frank Wise	31 July 1945	26 June 1951	1945–1947	Resigned to be appointed Administrator of the Northern Territory
Bert Hawke	26 June 1951	31 December 1966	1953–1959	Retired
John Tonkin	31 December 1966	15 April 1976	1971–1974	Retired
Colin Jamieson	15 April 1976	21 February 1978		Lost party room challenge to Davies
Ron Davies	21 February 1978	18 September 1981		Lost party room challenge to Burke
Brian Burke	18 September 1981	25 February 1988	1983–1988	Retired
Peter Dowding	25 February 1998	12 February 1990	1988–1990	Lost party room challenge to Lawrence
Carmen Lawrence	12 February 1990	7 February 1994	1990–1993	Resigned
Ian Taylor	7 February 1994	12 October 1994
Jim McGinty	12 October 1994	15 October 1996		Resigned
Geoff Gallop	8 October 1996	25 January 2006	2001–2006	Retired
Alan Carpenter	25 January 2006	16 September 2008	2006–2008	Retired after 2008 election loss
Eric Ripper	16 September 2008	23 January 2012		Resigned
Mark McGowan	23 January 2012	6 June 2023	2017–2023	Resigned
Roger Cook	6 June 2023	present	2023–

Electoral performance

Legislative Assembly

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Position	Status
1897	None	383	4.38	1 / 44	1	3rd	Crossbench
1901		9,658	25.88	6 / 50	5	3rd	Crossbench
1904	Robert Hastie	28,122	42.57	22 / 50	16	1st	Opposition (1904)
							Minority (1904–1905)
							Opposition (1905)
1905	William Johnson	18,364	35.07	14 / 50	8	2nd	Opposition
1908	Thomas Bath	28,325	37.80	22 / 50	8	2nd	Opposition
1911	John Scaddan	47,558	52.64	34 / 50	12	1st	Majority
1914		40,205	42.12	26 / 50	8	1st	Majority (1914–1915)
							Minority (1915–1917)
							Opposition (1917)
1917	Philip Collier	20,867	24.79	15 / 50	11	1st	Opposition
1921		35,829	36.81	17 / 50	2	1st	Opposition
1924		39,679	40.39	27 / 50	10	1st	Majority
1927		63,687	45.33	27 / 50		1st	Majority
1930		52,824	38.44	23 / 50	4	1st	Opposition
1933		82,702	45.48	30 / 50	7	1st	Majority
1936		57,055	42.33	26 / 50	4	1st	Majority
1939	John Willcock	92,585	45.02	27 / 50	1	1st	Majority
1943		77,567	43.28	30 / 50	3	1st	Majority
1947	Frank Wise	64,377	39.38	23 / 50	7	1st	Opposition
1950		94,055	41.85	23 / 50		1st	Opposition
1953	Albert Hawke	93,157	49.76	26 / 50	3	1st	Majority
1956		116,793	49.70	29 / 50	3	1st	Majority
1959		117,861	44.92	23 / 50	6	1st	Opposition
1962		129,757	44.41	24 / 50	1	1st	Opposition
1965		128,025	42.64	21 / 50	3	2nd	Opposition
1968	John Tonkin	145,605	45.35	23 / 51	2	1st	Opposition
1971		230,653	48.91	26 / 51	3	1st	Majority
1974		248,395	48.10	22 / 51	4	2nd	Opposition
1977	Colin Jamieson	257,730	44.22	22 / 55		2nd	Opposition
1980	Ron Davies	270,165	45.95	23 / 55	1	2nd	Opposition
1983	Brian Burke	342,536	53.16	32 / 57	9	1st	Majority
1986		416,805	53.00	32 / 57		1st	Majority
1989	Peter Dowding	341,931	42.46	31 / 57	1	1st	Majority
1993	Carmen Lawrence	338,008	37.08	24 / 57	7	2nd	Opposition
1996	Geoff Gallop	345,159	35.82	19 / 57	5	2nd	Opposition
2001		382,308	37.24	32 / 57	13	1st	Majority
2005		448,956	41.88	32 / 57		1st	Majority
2008	Alan Carpenter	390,339	35.84	28 / 59	4	1st	Opposition
2013	Mark McGowan	392,448	33.13	21 / 59	7	2nd	Opposition
2017		557,794	42.20	41 / 59	20	1st	Majority
2021		846,116	59.92	53 / 59	12	1st	Majority
2025	Roger Cook	487,211	41.67	41 / 55	12	1s	Majority

Notes

1. The party was formally named the Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch). The party name was officially changed to WA Labor in 2023. ^[7]
2. Or a member of the State front-bench acting as their representative.

References

1. "Registered Political Parties in WA". elections.wa.gov.au. Western Australian Electoral Commission (WAEC).
2. Oliver, Bobbie (2003). "Unity is Strength. A history of the Australian Labor Party and the Trades and Labor Council in Western Australia, 1899–1999". Papers in Labour History (28). Curtin University.
3. Sharp, Moya (14 September 2019). "First WA Union and Labor Congress 1899". outbackfamilyhistoryblog.com.
4. Burrell, Andrew (7 December 2018). "Pierre Yang brings 500 members to the WA Labor Party". The Australian . Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
5. Shine, Rhiannon (14 March 2021). "WA election: Mark McGowan declares Labor will run a 'centrist' government after overwhelming win". ABC News . Archived from the original on 27 March 2021.
6. Rabe, Tom (10 February 2025). "Running the rule over four years of total Labor dominance". Australian Financial Review . Nine Entertainment. Archived from the original on 14 February 2025.
7. "Applications and Notices – WAEC". elections.wa.gov.au. Western Australian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 14 January 2025.
8. "History of WA Labor". WA Labor. Archived from the original on 7 August 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
9. "Party Structure". walabor.org.au. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
10. "Party Structure". walabor.org.au. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
11. "Party Structure". WA Labor. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
12. "Party Structure".
13. "Lauren Cayoun – Assistant State Secretary & Deputy Campaign Director – Australian Labor Party (WA Branch) | LinkedIn". LinkedIn .
14. Liu, Nelson (24 July 2017). "Amber-Jade Rides the Wave of Change". WAMN News . Retrieved 19 June 2023.
15. "Bosses brought back to bargaining table by IR overhaul, talent gaps". Australian Financial Review. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
16. Hastie, Hamish (30 May 2023). "The winners and losers of WA Labor's Gravitron leadership challenge". WAtoday. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
17. Stephen Pratt (27 May 2021). "Address-in-Reply" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Parliament of Western Australia: Legislative council.
18. "Contact". www.asu.asn.au. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
19. "Your CFMEU WA Team". CFMEU Western Australia. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
20. "Our Team". Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
21. "Policy Committee Application". walabor.org.au. Retrieved 4 July 2023.