By Anthony Benbow
PERTH — Richard Court's Liberal-National Coalition won a second term in the Western Australian elections on December 14. Despite their increased majority in the Legislative Assembly, however, the vote against the major parties exceeded 20%, flowing mainly to the WA Greens and the Democrats.
Court's campaign relied on advertising saturation. The central theme blasted from every billboard, newspaper, radio and TV station was "responsible economic management" — shorthand for the program of privatisation, contracting out, funding cuts and higher taxes and unemployment that Western Australians have endured for the last four years.
The Coalition's full-page newspaper ads obscured welfare agencies' reports that they are being swamped by demand for food, blankets and clothing. Anglicare and the Salvation Army have both reported increases in the number of people needing assistance and say that, for the first time in decades, they are unable to help all who ask.
No amount of excuses about electorate boundary changes, small advertising budgets and Labor leader Geoff Gallop taking the lead only weeks before the election could obscure the disastrous result for the ALP. In major towns in the north-west — previously Labor strongholds — the ALP vote decreased. Labor now has no seats at all in the southern region of the state.
It is clear that many people still remember the massive corruption of the WA Inc years (the Coalition exploited this to the full with "Labor costs too much" billboards), and also that the Labor Party began many of the cuts that Court continued.
The ALP attempted to whitewash the results. State secretary Mark Nolan conceded defeat three days before the election and then said the campaign was a win for Labor because everybody thought the result would be far worse.
All this meant that the relatively high vote for the Greens and Democrats was no surprise. Other alternative candidates did not do so well. None of the disaffected "independent Liberals" standing in the lower house, for example, had much success.
The racist Australia First Party, backed by federal MP Graeme Campbell, received a low vote. In the Perth metropolitan area, Australia First was clearly beaten by the "Racism No!" ticket.
The Democrats' campaign focused on the upper house and their performance in federal parliament — pictures of a beaming Cheryl Kernot and the slogan "Let's get things straight" were everywhere. Their preferences were allocated opportunistically, however, going straight to the Coalition in many seats. They won two upper house seats in the Perth metropolitan area.
The Greens also focused on the upper house with the slogan "Restore the balance". However, their lower house campaign and focus on important social issues was stronger than the Democrats', and they gained a higher vote. The Greens retained their one upper house seat and won two more. The Greens' Liz Watson is the first open lesbian elected to the state parliament.
Having lost the majority in the upper house, the Coalition is now trying to change the house voting rules to retain control, causing outrage — even amongst Coalition members.
The election of three Greens is a very positive development. Given the Coalition's manoeuvring, and Labor and the Democrats' tendency to do parliamentary deals, however, the "balance of power" is likely to prove elusive.
The Greens will have to maintain and strengthen their links with the progressive movements which can mobilise broader opposition to the government's attacks if they are to be an effective parliamentary opposition.