Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Western Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Every Australian is fortunate that Mark McGowan was re-elected Premier of Western Australia. He is the most experienced member of the national cabinet, and the result on Saturday was a huge endorsement of his achievements as Premier. But, in the world of the Prime Minister, he would probably want me to come in here and congratulate him. If you read the West Australian, you would read this:

ScoMo takes credit for LABOR Premier's massive victory

I don't remember the Prime Minister coming over to campaign for either side during the state election. In fact, he hasn't been to Western Australia for some 18 months. A simple 'Congratulations, Mark' would have been fine, but instead we have this Donald Trump style claiming credit, in an election that the Prime Minister definitely did not win, for a Labor victory.

When the Prime Minister does eventually come back to Western Australia—and I note that he has cancelled his own planned cabinet meeting that was due to take place in Western Australia after the Perth bushfires—maybe he could apologise to the people of Western Australia for helping Clive Palmer in the High Court. He is no friend of Western Australia, and he needs to listen to the people of the west. This was the people of Western Australia speaking as one and saying, 'Give us clear plans for jobs, support our tourism industry, make sure that you invest in our schools, make sure you invest in our hospitals—and we do not want the member for Tangney's ridiculous Roe 8 road to nowhere.'