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Rob Johnson leaks peculiar Katsambanis voicemail after bitter fight for Hillarys

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Former Police Minister Rob Johnson has leaked an extraordinary phone message reportedly left by his bitter rival and newly-elected Liberal member for Hillarys, Peter Katsambanis.

​The two have been involved in a very public spat - accusing each other of dirty tactics in the lead up to a hotly contested election.

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Peter Katsambanis' voicemail message to Rob Johnson

Rob Johnson has leaked a voicemail message believed to be from the new Hillary's MP Peter Katsambanis.

At a debate in February, organised by the Joondalup Business Association the pair refused to shake hands and spent most of the night tearing strips off one another.

Mr Katsambanis was one of the few bright lights for the Liberals picking up the seat of Hillarys after the Liberal party got smashed at the polls.

So it appears he then decided to leave a message on Mr Johnson's home phone at 2.49am on Sunday morning.

"Hello Rob Johnson," he says, with perhaps a few red wines under his belt. "Have a great day. Enjoy the rest of your life. Bye, Bye."

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In a statement sent to WAtoday Mr Johnson added: "This [voicemail] demonstrates exactly why I ran for the seat in yesterday's election - I believe the people of Hillarys deserve better.

"This phone message and his comments to the media last night and this morning were deplorable."

With Mr Katsambanis on the verge of victory on Saturday night, he told Radio 6PR the people of Hillarys and the people of Western Australia would celebrate the fact Mr Johnson had been given the boot.

"I've just had a very, very tough campaign where I've tried to promote a positive message for the local electorate and I have been embraced by the local people who've probably perhaps voted Liberals for the first time just to make sure they had someone who cared about their area and who cared about their electorate," he said.

"The vibe that I got for the entire time of this campaign - the strongest motive going through the Hillarys electorate - was a very strong desire to see the back of Rob Johnson."

"Rob Johnson today handed out three how to vote cards with three sets of instructions to his voters. Confusing and deliberately done to destroy any chance I had of winning. And that was I would say the last act of bastardry that he could perform on the Liberal Party and he did it."

Mr Katsambanis said he "tried to run a positive campaign".

"For the first time local people were being listened to for what they wanted," he said.

"And that's what we promoted to the public. Unfortunately, our opponents chose a different path - they chose the low road, and that was their choice. I'm just glad they haven't been rewarded. Tonight I'm just hoping to win this seat for the Liberal Party so that they don't deliver the ultimate act of treachery and hand what is a great seat, a good seat for the Liberal Party over to our political opponents in Labor."

In May, Mr Johnson labelled Facebook comments made by Mr Katsambanis' wife Karalee - criticising the preselection process in Hillarys - as "deplorable".

Ms Katsambanis - a radio personality and former Fairfax Media journalist - took to Facebook after her husband lost preselection for the blue ribbon seat of Hillarys to businessman Simon Ehrenfeld.

"F***ing ropeable," Mrs Katsambanis wrote.

"Being "threatened" because I am in the media to keep quiet...yeah right! F**k with my husband and family...you have me to deal with and trust me, that's not a path anyone would want to choose."

Ironically, Mr Katsambanis was formally preselected for the seat in May after the party dumped Mr Ehrenfeld.