2020 Western Australian Liberal Party leadership election

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2020 Western Australian Liberal Party leadership election
24 November 2020 2021 →
Leadership election
 
Nominee Zak Kirkup
Caucus vote Unopposed
Percentage 100%
Seat Dawesville
Leader before election

Liza Harvey

 Elected Leader

Zak Kirkup

Deputy leadership election
 
Nominee Libby Mettam
Caucus vote Unopposed
Percentage 100%
Seat Vasse
Deputy Leader before election

Bill Marmion

 Elected Deputy Leader

Libby Mettam

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.

Background[edit]

The Liberal Party, led by Colin Barnett, lost the 2017 Western Australian state election in a landslide victory by Labor. From Barnett's resignation on 21 March 2017 to the 2020 leadership vote, the party has had two leaders: Mike Nahan, who resigned in June 2019, and Liza Harvey.[1][2][3]

In May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Harvey called for Premier Mark McGowan to relax Western Australia's border restrictions with the rest of the country. At that point, Western Australia was almost virus free with only a few restrictions in place, one of which was the strict border controls.[4] She proposed that Western Australia first open up to South Australia and the Northern Territory, which McGowan said would be unconstitutional as it would be discriminating between states/territories.[5] Harvey's comments were heavily criticised, and a poll published by The West Australian showed that nine in ten Western Australians supported the government border.[6]

On 11 June, The West Australian published an opinion poll by Painted Dog Research which gave Harvey's approval rating as 19% and disapproval rating as 37%, compared to Premier McGowan's approval rating of 87%.[7] On 8 September, The West Australian published an opinion poll by Painted Dog Research which gave Harvey's approval rating at 10%, behind Premier McGowan's approval rating of 91%.[8] Utting Research released an opinion poll on 1 October which gave Harvey's previously safe seat of Scarborough a two-party-preferred vote of 66–34 in favour of the Labor Party.[9]

Leadership vote[edit]

On 22 November 2020, Harvey announced her resignation as leader of the Liberal Party and leader of the opposition. Dean Nalder and Zak Kirkup both stated their intention to nominate for the party's leadership. David Honey stated he would not nominate himself. Deputy leader Bill Marmion also resigned that day. A special partyroom meeting was called for 24 November for the voting to happen.[10][11][12][13]

Nalder was a 54-year old MP who had been in the Legislative Assembly since 2013, first for the seat of Alfred Cove and later for the seat of Bateman. He had been the minister for transport, minister for finance and minister for agriculture and food in the Barnett Government.[14][15] Kirkup was a 33-year MP who had been in the Legislative Assembly since 2017, representing the marginal seat of Dawesville, which he won in 2017 by a margin of 0.9%.[13][14][15]

Ahead of the vote, Kirkup was favoured as he had the support of key powerbrokers Peter Collier and Nick Goiran, who helped him gain at least 12 votes.[16][17] Nalder held support from the business community.[17] The West Australian newspaper reported on 24 November that Kirkup had the support of Harvey, Marmion, Collier, Steve Thomas, Libby Mettam, Goiran, Peter Katsambanis, Jim Chown, Tony Krsticevic, Tjorn Sibma and Michael Mischin; Nalder had the support of Kyran O'Donnell, John McGrath, Sean L'Estrange, Simon O'Brien, Nahan, Honey and Ken Baston; and Alyssa Hayden and Donna Faragher were undecided.[16]

At 9:00 am on 24 November, Nalder withdrew his nomination after it became apparent that he would not win. Kirkup won the leadership later that day unopposed. Mettam won the deputy leadership unopposed as well. At 33 years of age, Kirkup became the youngest person to lead the Liberal Party in Western Australia, and the second youngest person to ever be the leader of the opposition in Western Australia.[18][19][20]

Aftermath[edit]

On 1 December 2020, Nalder announced he would retire and not contest the 2021 state election. In his statement, he criticised the factional forces within the Liberal Party, who backed Kirkup over himself. He said that he could never become leader in the future as he did not have the backing of Collier and Goiran.[21][22] Days later, he quit his shadow cabinet roles, including shadow treasurer.[23][24] It was revealed in August 2021 that Collier and Goiran were using a group called "The Clan" to influence the election.[25]

At the 2021 state election on 13 March, the Liberal Party was left with just two seats in the Legislative Assembly. Kirkup's seat of Dawesville, Nalder's seat of Bateman, and Harvey's seat of Scarborough were won by the Labor Party.[26] A leadership vote occurred after that election to determine who should succeed Kirkup as leader, which Honey won.[27]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Kagi, Jacob (21 March 2017). "WA Liberal leadership: Mike Nahan says party learned lessons of election decimation". ABC News. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  2. ^ Shine, Rhiannon; Kagi, Jacob (12 June 2019). "Mike Nahan quits as WA Opposition Leader two years after landslide Liberal election loss". ABC News. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  3. ^ Gubana, Benjamin; Shine, Rhiannon; O'Flaherty, Alisha (13 June 2019). "Liza Harvey becomes WA Opposition Leader after Mike Nahan quits as head of WA Liberals". ABC News. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  4. ^ Carmody, James (20 May 2020). "Row over coronavirus border closures escalates as WA Premier hits back at NSW with Ruby Princess jibe". ABC News. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  5. ^ Laschon, Eliza (1 June 2020). "WA relaunches tourism campaign amid coronavirus pandemic, but hard border to stay". ABC News. Archived from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  6. ^ Kagi, Jacob (2 June 2020). "Coronavirus WA border closure calls from Liza Harvey leave Liberals bewildered and confused". ABC News. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Harvey stuck on 19 percent as McGowan is flying high". The West Australian. 11 June 2020. pp. 1, 4.
  8. ^ Law, Peter (8 September 2020). "Liza Close to Rock Bottom". The West Australian. pp. 1, 6.
  9. ^ Zimmerman, Josh (1 October 2020). "WA Liberal Party leader Liza Harvey risks losing Scarborough seat as new polling reveals McGowan voter love". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  10. ^ Kagi, Jacob; Weber, David (22 November 2020). "WA Opposition Leader Liza Harvey announces decision to step aside, citing Liberal Party election strategy". ABC News. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  11. ^ Ramsey, Michael (22 November 2020). "WA opposition leader Liza Harvey resigns". Mandurah Mail. Australian Associated Press. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  12. ^ Cowan, Sean; Murray, Jordan (22 November 2020). "Harvey quits as opposition leader". Business News. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  13. ^ a b Law, Peter (23 November 2020). "Can a new leader get Libs Zak on track?". The West Australian. pp. 8–9.
  14. ^ a b Hondros, Nathan (23 November 2020). "Kirkup in box seat as leadership battle heats up ahead of party room meeting". WAtoday. Archived from the original on 9 December 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  15. ^ a b Mckenzie, Matt (23 November 2020). "Nalder, Kirkup head to head". Business News. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  16. ^ a b Zimmerman, Josh (24 November 2020). "Guess Who's Got Votes". The West Australian. pp. 1, 6–7.
  17. ^ a b "Zak Kirkup poised to become WA Liberals first Indigenous leader". National Indigenous Times. 24 November 2020. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  18. ^ Hondros, Nathan; de Kruijff, Peter (24 November 2020). "'A game for fighters': Zak Kirkup is new WA Liberals leader". WAtoday. Archived from the original on 16 March 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  19. ^ Raphael, Angie (24 November 2020). "First-term MP becomes new WA Liberal Party leader months before state election". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  20. ^ Blom, Amy (27 November 2020). "Meet the new leader of the WA Opposition". CGM Communications. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  21. ^ Hastie, Hamish (1 December 2020). "'It's not in my nature to play games': Dean Nalder quits politics". WAtoday. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  22. ^ Kagi, Jacob (2 December 2020). "Dean Nalder, former Barnett government minister, to quit politics ahead of WA election". ABC News. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  23. ^ Rimrod, Fran; Hastie, Hamish (5 December 2020). "Dean Nalder quits shadow treasury just days after announcing retirement". WAtoday. Archived from the original on 24 December 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  24. ^ Law, Peter (7 December 2020). "Sean L'Estrange named as Dean Nalder's replacement as shadow treasurer in Zak Kirkup's new Liberal frontbench". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 7 December 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  25. ^ Zimmerman, Josh; Law, Peter (20 August 2021). "Leaked WhatsApp texts between WA Liberals group 'The Clan' expose Mathias Cormann, Peter Collier, Nick Goiran". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  26. ^ "Western Australia Election 2021 Results". ABC News. Archived from the original on 11 February 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  27. ^ Raphael, Angie (23 March 2021). "David Honey appointed new WA Liberals leader after party's state election wipe-out". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
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