WA Labor rules out blanket One Nation preference deal
Posted
WA Labor has ruled out a blanket preference deal with One Nation but appears to have left the door open to seat-by-seat deals once candidate nominations close later this week.
After finalising Labor's nominations, state secretary Patrick Gorman issued a statement making it clear there would be no state-wide deal on preferences with One Nation.
"WA Labor will not strike a deal on preferences with One Nation," the statement said.
"WA Labor believes supporters of all parties should make up their own mind."
The impact of Labor's decision is limited, given One Nation had already ruled out a blanket deal with any party.
One Nation has emerged as the wildcard in WA's election with the latest Newspoll, published in The Australian, showing it could attract up to 13 per cent of the primary vote.
The party has already held discussions with the Liberal Party but no preference deal has been announced.
Protest vote could hurt Labor
One Nation preferences could prove critical to the re-election chances of the Barnett Government, which suffered another setback in the latest Newspoll.
The Liberal-National Government trails Labor 54-46 on two-party preferred basis, with Premier Colin Barnett's satisfaction rating languishing at a record low of 32 per cent.
If a uniform swing reflected in the Newspoll is repeated on election day, Labor would win 14 seats, four more than required to take government.
Labor has recognised the risk of a potential boomerang effect of any One Nation protest vote, which could flow back to the Liberals through preferences.
But it is again urging voters to back Labor to ensure Mr Barnett does not fall across the line on preferences on election day.
"Everyone knows that the Liberals and One Nation are doing a deal on preferences," Mr Gorman said.
"It is a sign of how arrogant and out of touch Colin Barnett has become that he thinks nobody would notice he is trying to sneak back into power on the back of One Nation preferences."
A spokesman for Labor said the party would not be making any decisions on potential seat-by-seat deals until it saw the full list of One Nation candidates.
Political parties must nominate their candidates by 12pm on Thursday.
Topics: elections, political-parties, one-nation, alp, wa
