WA in election mode

What’s making this election interesting? Not much really. The gas explosion on Varanus Island in June has cost WA billions in economic losses to industry, so the Liberals have put out a missing person’s announcement for energy minister Fran Logan who appears to be in hiding so he can’t answer questions relating to state government responsibilities. Carpenter has admitted that some people see him as arrogant, but is reluctant to change his determination to make strong decisions for the benefit of electors (which he says is the cause of the perceived arrogance).

Because of the electorate redistribution, the Liberals are unlikely to win government, even if they win a majority of votes. The ABC’s Anthony Green predicts that a 2.4 per cent swing away from the ALP will give the Liberals 50.1 per cent of the votes but they’ll still lose by one seat (assuming the two expected winning independents support them) - see here.

In summary, the Liberals have pulled back from electoral disaster by replacing the talented but flawed Troy Buswell with the safer but less exciting Colin Barnett (although leader # 2 Paul Omodei would have produced a similar result if the powerbrokers had left him in charge, with the original long-term plan seeing Buswell taking over after the election defeat, but this never had a sniff of a chance).

I predict a return of the Carpenter ALP government but with a reduced margin. Should this happen, the immediate post-election period should be far more exciting than the election itself, with Carpenter stating he wants to select his own cabinet and do away with Labor caucus’ role in nominating ministers. Since he’s also hand-picked a talented crew of new non-union candidates to contest safe ALP seats, the next term of Labor government promises much in the way of inexperienced ministers setting a new agenda for the state of excitement.