Western Australian State Election 2013

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Western Australian State Election 2013 Parliament of Australia Department of Parliamentary Services BACKGROUND NOTE 2 May 2013 Western Australian State Election 2013 Brenton Holmes Politics and Public Administration Section Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 1 Background .............................................................................................................................................. 2 The WA electoral framework .............................................................................................................. 2 2008 state general election ................................................................................................................ 2 The 2013 campaign .................................................................................................................................. 4 The state of the parties prior to the official campaign ....................................................................... 4 The unofficial campaign intensifies .................................................................................................... 8 The main election campaign begins ................................................................................................. 12 One month to go ............................................................................................................................... 15 Three weeks to go ............................................................................................................................. 19 The leaders’ debate ..................................................................................................................... 20 Two weeks to go ............................................................................................................................... 22 The final week ................................................................................................................................... 23 The outcome .......................................................................................................................................... 24 Legislative Assembly .................................................................................................................... 24 Legislative Council ....................................................................................................................... 26 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 26 Appendix 1: 2013 WA state election timeline ....................................................................................... 28 Appendix 2: Table of current registered parties .................................................................................... 29 Appendix 3: Poll logistics ....................................................................................................................... 30 Appendix 4: Social media and the 2013 election ................................................................................... 32 Western Australian State Election 2013 Introduction This Background Note provides a narrative account of the issues, dynamics and outcomes of the 2013 Western Australian (WA) state election. It draws extensively on newspaper and electronic media coverage of the election campaign, and information and data provided by the Western Australian Electoral Commission (WAEC). The 2013 WA state general election—held on 9 March 2013—was the first election to be held after legislation was proclaimed in 2011 to fix the date of state general elections as the second Saturday in March, every four years.1 Previously, the Legislative Council had fixed four year terms, but the Legislative Assembly was elected for up to four years commencing from the date of its first meeting following a general election. The Electoral Amendment and Constitution Act 2011 passed through the WA Parliament in 2011 and was proclaimed on 20 December 2011. It amended the Electoral Act 1907 and the Constitution Acts Amendment Act 1899 to enable this fixed date for state general elections in Western Australia.2 New electoral boundaries applied for the 2013 WA election. After a review in 2011, boundaries were drawn in line with local changes in elector numbers.3 Election analyst Antony Green summarised the effects of the redistribution as follows: The most significant change between the draft and final boundaries was the undoing of a proposal to transfer Mandurah from South West region to South Metropolitan Region. In undoing this change the Commission has reverted to using the metropolitan region boundary in place since 1989. Other changes of note were redrawing Joondalup to bring it close to the boundaries it had at the 2008 election, a decision that weakens the Liberal margin in neighbouring Ocean Reef. Based on booth results from the 2008 election, the redistribution converts the seat of Morley from marginal Liberal to marginal Labor, while North West is re-named North West Central and becomes a National seat. This change brings the seat into line with the decision of MP Vince Catania to switch from Labor to the Nationals after the 2008 election.4 The last state general election was held on Saturday, 6 September 2008. The next state general election is due on Saturday, 11 March 2017. 1. WA Electoral Commission (WAEC), ‘Election facts and figures’, website, viewed 17 March 2013, http://www.elections.wa.gov.au/media/election-facts-and-figures 2. WAEC, ‘Fixed election dates’, website, viewed 17 March 2013, http://www.elections.wa.gov.au/media-election-facts- and-figures/fixed-election-dates 3. A Green, 2011 redistribution Western Australia: analysis of final electoral boundaries, Western Australian Parliamentary Library, Election Papers Series No. 1 / 2011, October 2011, viewed 17 January 2013, http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/intranet/libpages.nsf/WebFiles/Publications+2011+Final+boundaries+AG/$FILE/ WA2011_Redistribution+Nov+2011.pdf . More information is available at www.boundaries.wa.gov.au. 4. ‘2011 Western Australian redistribution’, ABC News, ‘Western Australian election’, website, viewed 22 January 2013, http://www.abc.net.au/elections/wa/2013/guide/redistribution.htm 1 Western Australian State Election 2013 Background The WA electoral framework The WA Parliament is a bicameral legislature. There are 59 districts for the Legislative Assembly, each electing one member (59 in total). There are six regions for the Legislative Council, each electing six members (36 in total).5 The following legislation contains the rules of conduct in elections and for political financing arrangements: Electoral Act 1907 Electoral Regulations 1996 Electoral (Ballot Paper Forms) Regulations 1990 Electoral (Political Finance) Regulations 1996 Constitution Acts Amendment Act 1899 Candidates are elected to the Legislative Assembly through full preferential voting. Proportional representation is the voting system used in the Legislative Council. 2008 state general election The ALP had been in power in Western Australia since 2001 and during that time the Liberals had experienced instability within the party. In Antony Green’s analysis predicting the outcome of the 2008 poll he had written: In calling one of the earliest elections in West Australian history, Premier Alan Carpenter is hoping to use the Liberal Party’s chronic leadership instability as a stepping stone to win a third successive election for his Labor government. A third term would be a remarkable achievement for a government that won a surprise victory in 2001, struggled to win re-election in 2005, and has since been battered by a string of ministerial resignations.6 Barely a month before the 2008 election, the then Opposition Leader, Liberal Troy Buswell, was replaced by his deputy—and former WA Liberals leader—Colin Barnett after a series of controversies. In particular, Buswell admitted to snapping the bra of a Labor staffer in mid-2007 and 5. WAEC, ‘State elections’, website, viewed 17 January 2013, http://www.waec.wa.gov.au/elections/state_elections/ 6. A Green ‘Election summary, 2008 Western Australian election, ABC Elections, website, viewed 17 January 2013, http://www.abc.net.au/elections/wa/2008/ 2 Western Australian State Election 2013 sniffing the chair of a Liberal staffer after she had been sitting in his office in 2005.7 At the time of Barnett’s re-elevation to the Liberal leadership he was contemplating retirement from politics.8 Labor had occupied the Treasury benches since 2001, and the 2008 state election produced a hung parliament. Neither of the main parties won a majority (that is, 30 of the 59) seats in the Legislative Assembly. The Australian Labor Party won 28 seats, the Liberal Party 24 seats, the National Party four seats, and there were three Independents elected—Janet Woollard (Alfred Cove), Elizabeth Constable (Churchlands) and John Bowler (Kalgoorlie).9 A total of 21 new members were elected— 13 for the Liberals and eight for Labor.10 In the Legislative Council, Labor won 11 seats, Liberals 16 seats, the Nationals five and the Greens four seats (up from two in 2005). Thirteen new members were elected to the Council.11 In the event, the Nationals threw their support behind the Liberals, and with the additional support of the Independents, Colin Barnett was able to form a government.12 A key element of the Nationals’ deal with
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