Federal election 2022: Liberal MP Rick Wilson retains seat of O’Connor, sounds alarm for major parties

Liberal incumbent for O’Connor Rick Wilson has retained his seat despite a massive swing towards Labor across WA, but he says the election result should worry both major parties. Mr Wilson had 56.4 per cent of the two-party preferred vote with 69.3 per cent of votes counted by 11am on Thursday, securing a fourth term as the member for an electorate which spans more than 1.1 million sqkm. That represented a 9 per cent swing towards Labor, but it was smaller than the overall swing seen across WA. Mr Wilson said he expected the margin to narrow further with the counting of pre-polling votes. The O’Connor MP’s primary vote was 44.2 per cent, ahead of Labor candidate Shaneane Weldon on 27.4 per cent and Greens WA stalwart Giz Watson on 10.2 per cent. All three of those candidates enjoyed positive swings — a trend which could be partly attributed to the Nationals WA failing to field a candidate. One Nation’s primary vote dropped 1.4 per cent in O’Connor to 7.1 per cent. Addressing his team at his Albany electorate office on Saturday night, Mr Wilson said the Liberal party was losing some star MPs. “Hopefully, at least in WA, we can hang on to a reasonable number of seats because WA has been the jewel in the crown of the Federal Liberal party and it looks like that may be coming to an end,” he said. “I’ve got many, many good friends whose seats are in jeopardy and it’s a bit difficult for me at the moment.” Mr Wilson singled out “superstar” Dave Sharma and Josh Frydenberg — “the most well-liked person in the Australian Parliament” — as two Liberal MPs who would be a huge loss to the party. “No one’s irreplaceable and we’ll rebuild from this but we’ve lost some great people,” he said. He said Labor winning with such a low primary vote was a “watershed moment in Australian politics”, showing that both major parties had work to do. Labor’s nationwide primary vote was 32.8 per cent at 11am on Thursday, compared to 36 per cent for the Coalition. The low primary votes should send a message to Labor and the Coalition that they needed to present a bold vision to the voters, he said. “If you don’t stand for something, then why are people going to stick by you?” he said. “If you don’t give them something to proud of, something to identify with — I think that’s part of the problem with both parties.” Speaking to the Advertiser on Monday, after the dust had started settle, Mr Wilson said he was “deeply humbled” to be given the opportunity to serve a fourth term. He said the popularity of Mark McGowan and WA Labor had worked against the Morrison Government. “The Australia-wide swing was 3.7 per cent and if you take out WA from that number, it’s about 3 per cent across the rest of Australia,” he said. “So obviously WA swung very hard based on the Clive Palmer border challenge and the decision that was made by the then-Attorney General Christian Porter to join Clive Palmer in that case — and the WA Labor Party effectively ran with that. “All of their signage, all their campaign messaging was around Scott Morrison and Clive Palmer and it was a very effective tool.” WA might have delivered Labor a majority government, but Mr Wilson said that cloud had a silver lining. “The ALP are going to be able to govern in their own right and for the sake of the nation I am very pleased about that,” he said. “They need to implement their agenda and we will obviously hold them to account on that agenda but at least they will be able to make decisions based on what is in the best interests of all Australians, rather than for example being held to ransom by the teal independents.” Mr Wilson said climate change had not come across as a high priority for most constituents in his electorate, with cost of living their biggest concern. “Why (climate change) resonates particularly in these teal seats is people living in the seat of Curtin or the seat of Kooyong, they are not concerned about their electricity bill going up, they are not concerned about how much it is costing to fill the family car once or twice a week. So they are focused very much on a particular outcome,” he said. “If you are in government, whether you be the Coalition or the ALP, you’ve got to take all people into consideration.” Labor candidate for O’Connor Ms Weldon said although she was not able to wrest the seat from the Coalition, it was not the end of her fight for O’Connor. “I am out to work hard and challenge Rick in three years time,” she said. “I think that by trimming the numbers, the challenge is going to be a little bit easier now, whereas before we had a huge margin and it was going to be difficult. “I’m not going to just throw the towel in and say that was it. If I have got the energy left I will do it again.” The Shire of Laverton councillor said the swing towards Labor showed an appetite for change. “I think overall, the leadership level of Scott Morrison had an impact on the way people voted,” she said. “And a lot of things that have come into play are that people are struggling. The cost of living is very high and climate change is very real. These are, I think, two factors which have really played heavily on people in the area.” WA Greens candidate Giz Watson, whose two campaigns for O’Connor have marked her party’s best results, said the Greens had established themselves as the third power in Australian politics. “I think the strongest message is that people have got the urgency of needing to act on the climate. I think that is the strongest signal from our vote,” she said. Ms Watson, a political veteran and former Greens WA leader, said she would not rule out another run at Parliament. “I enjoy campaigning and It’s about building a whole movement and a whole need for change,” she said. “I will continue with that message and if that means putting my hand up again, I might well do that.” O’CONNOR PRIMARY VOTE Rick Wilson, Liberal 44.2 Shaneane Weldon, Labor 27.4 Giz Watson, Greens 10.2 Stan Kustrin, One Nation 7.1 Justin Moseley, Australian Christians 2.9 Brenden Barber, Great Australian Party 2.6 Morris Bessant, Western Australia Party 2.4 Tracy Tirronen, United Australia Party 1.7 Isaac Middle, Federation Party 1.5 Source: AEC, 11am Thursday, May 26, with 69. 3 per cent of the votes counted