North West Central by-election: Nationals and Liberals to talk about a coalition ahead of 2025 State election

Negotiations between the Nationals and Liberals will begin “in earnest” about the potential for formalising their Opposition alliance into a coalition ahead of the 2025 State election. Discussions will include whether they develop policies and election commitments together, as well as the potential for a Legislative Council “joint ticket” featuring candidates from both parties. Another issue to be resolved is the question of who will be presented as alternative premier at the campaign in two-and-half years — the Nationals’ Mia Davies or Liberal leader David Honey. Preliminary talks were delayed by the North West Central by-election, which culminated on Saturday with publican Merome Beard holding the seat for the Nationals after the retirement of Vince Catania. The result maintained the status quo in Parliament, meaning the Nationals remain the biggest of the two parties in the Legislative Assembly and therefore party leader Mia Davies stays Opposition Leader. Ms Davies said she was pleased by the “collegiate approach” to the by-election — which was not contested by Labor — by both parties, who would now focus on how to maximise their resources at the 2025 poll. The parties opted for an “alliance” after the 2021 election, meaning they are free to take different positions on policy, but there is support for a coalition similar to how the Liberals and Nationals co-operate at a Federal level. Ms Davies said she was not persuaded one way or the other yet about a coalition but was “open minded” to the idea. “I’ve got a history of being staunchly independent for our organisation, but I also have enough history to know that circumstances mean that you’ve got to be flexible,” she said on Sunday. “So if (a coalition) is the best way for us to get there, then I am open to that. We need to work through it, including how we are going to do policy and who is going to contest what seats. All of that is part of the conversation.” Another topic is a potential joint ticket for the Upper House, which could help the Nationals after the six existing Legislative Council electorates — half of which are in the regions — were replaced with a single whole-of-State electorate. Any deal would likely see the Nationals agree not to compete with the Liberals for certain Lower House seats, such as Labor-held Albany, another alliance source said. Clarifying who would be presented as alternative premier at the campaign, given the Liberals would likely be the larger of the two parties after election day, would also be on the table. Ms Davies added: “You’ve got to be realistic about it because you can imagine that the Labor Party are going to start to focus on that and ask who is the alternative premier? “I’m a team player and I’m prepared to do what needs to be done to make sure that we’ve got a better outcome on our side of the ledger for the next election. That’s the focus, because what I’ve seen over the last two years is not tenable for another four (years) after 2025. “It’s not good for the parliamentary process, it’s not good in terms of not being able to cover your portfolios and get into the issues in a deep and meaningful way. “That’s the reality of the way the Opposition is at the moment and that’s very frustrating as somebody who takes the role of parliamentarian seriously but also understanding that there needs to be balance to get a better outcome and to have a contest of ideas.” About half of the 11,000 electors in North West Central cast a vote, which Ms Davies said was in-part due to “very poor” advertising by the WA Electoral Commission that voting was compulsory. The WAEC said by-elections historically attracted lower voter turnout than State elections and confirmed electors who failed to voted, and do not provide a valid reason, may be fined. The penalty for first-time offenders is $20. This increases to $50 if they have previously paid a penalty or been convicted of this offence.