Chris Latham, Perth

The ALP retained the WA state seat of Victoria Park in a by-election held on March 11, with its candidate Ben Wyatt polling 61% of the vote on a two-party preferred basis. The by-election was prompted by the surprise resignation of WA Labor Premier Geoff Gallop on January 16, who revealed he was suffering from depression.

Wyatt received 49.38% of the primary vote, a swing to the ALP of 7.93%.

The by-election was characterised by a lack of public interest, reflected in a voter turnout of just 61%. While this low turnout was undoubtedly a result of Victoria Park being a safe Labor seat, having been held by the ALP since 1953, and the election result being unable to change government in the state, it also reflected the uninspiring character of the campaigns of both the ALP and the Liberals. Both were heavily focused on “law and order”.

The Greens vote declined slightly from 8.67% in the previous election in Victoria Park to 8.43%, despite having a high-profile candidate in former senator and WA upper house MP Dee Margetts. The Socialist Alliance’s John Tattersall received 0.83% of the vote.

Tattersall told Green Left Weekly: “Our message of the need to fight to win and defend security for workers, particularly security for casual and labour-hire workers, had a real resonance, because there are a lot of people who have either directly experienced the insecurity of casual work, or have friends and family who have.

“The challenge for the Socialist Alliance is to demonstrate to working people that it is in the fight for the long haul, which is difficult when you’re standing for the first time. So we will be looking to continue to campaign in Vic Park and to build the fight against the Work Choices laws that will spread the insecurity experienced by casual workers to all workers.”

From Green Left Weekly, March 29, 2006.
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