George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

The answer to your question, Senator Sterle, is that these decisions are made by the state executives and the state divisions of the Liberal Party. Senator Sterle, that is a fact. It is entirely a matter for the state executive of the Western Australian division of the Liberal Party to decide whom it should preference. The Liberal Party and the National Party, I am advised, will be preferencing one another in every lower house seat. I am also advised that, in relation to upper house seats, it has not been uncommon for the National Party to preference the One Nation party ahead of the Liberal Party, as occurred in the 2008 election.

As you know, Senator Sterle, being a Western Australian yourself, the Liberal Party and the National Party are not in coalition government in Western Australia. They are in alliance for the purposes of forming a government but they are not a coalition. There have been occasions in the past, in particular in 2008, when the National Party in Western Australia has, in the upper house, preferenced the One Nation party ahead of the Liberal Party. These decisions are made by the state divisions of political parties, depending on the political circumstances at the time. But I can assure you, Senator Sterle, one thing the Liberal Party in Western Australia is determined to do—and although I do not speak for them, I am sure one thing the National Party in Western Australia is also determined to do—is keep out of office the job-destroying, ruinous policies of the Australian Labor Party.