Perth is a one-paper town, and the all-powerful WA newspapers are helping out what’s left of the opposition parties to demand Premier Mark McGowan sack ministers they reckon aren’t performing.
The trouble is that the opposition parties keep destroying themselves at successive elections — the Libs are down to two seats in the legislative assembly, the Nats down to four. With only six out of 59 seats, their voice in Parliament is nothing more than a squeak.
The Nats are now the official opposition with their four seats, but that’s an opposition in name only. And following the last federal election, WA is now a Labor stronghold.
With climate the game-changer, The West Australian seemed to be publishing on a wing and a prayer rather than using sound editorial judgment in backing the conservatives to win the May federal election. Perhaps The West thought it wouldn’t be a good look to support Labor in a state whose mining and resources sector is so crucial to both the state and federal economies.
But with pretty much all sectors of the economy now recognising not only the reality of climate change but also the imperative of doing something about their carbon footprint, the flaw in that thinking is only too obvious — and demonstrated how out of tune The West was in reading the electorate.
The McGowan government looks unassailable, with the only real challenge likely to come from within its own ranks. That may be a mix of hubris, incompetence and ministers getting the wobbles.
The opposition and The West have targeted Attorney-General John Quigley, Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan, Community Services Minister Simone McGurk, and Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston.
But University of Notre Dame Associate Professor of politics Dr Martin Drum has told Crikey he doesn’t consider any of these four ministers guilty of sackable offences.
Nationals Leader Mia Davies has called on McGowan to sack Quigley over what Federal Court Justice Michael Lee said was his contradictory evidence in the recent McGowan-Palmer defamation case, for which Quigley has apologised to Parliament.
But McGowan has defended Quigley’s record as a reforming A-G, and Drum describes him as a “very effective” minister.
“When he focuses on specific reforms, he drives them through,” Drum said.
The opposition has regularly targeted MacTiernan, most recently over the threat of foot and mouth disease when she said the disease could result in cheaper meat and milk.
McGowan acknowledged MacTiernan has used clumsy language but also noted she had apologised and that he wouldn’t be sacking her.
Drum says there’s no doubt MacTiernan regrets her comments but that the minister attracts both praise and criticism — “some people are really big fans of Alannah MacTiernan because of the energy she brings”.
Simone McGurk is another minister regularly coming under attack from the opposition. In addition to community services, she also is responsible for child protection, women’s interests, and prevention of family and domestic violence.
In calling for McGurk to resign, Davies has told Parliament that she was responsible for a “litany of failures” in child protection, a portfolio that Drum describes as “a perennially difficult portfolio”.
But with McGurk’s being entrusted with community services for a second term, she is clearly perceived as the woman for what Drum says is “the worst portfolio to have”.
Apart from getting heat from the opposition, Bill Johnston is also copping it from the WA Prison Officers Union, which says his portfolios of mines and petroleum and energy distract from his attention to corrective services, his other portfolio.
Among a range of issues, Johnston has been criticised over the controversial relocation of 20 young offenders to an adult prison after they had self-harmed, threatened staff and destroyed cells at their youth detention centre.
All these ministers have heavy loads with demanding portfolios, and this is where McGowan might look at a bit of redistribution.
But Drum sees a reshuffle unlikely at least until Christmas, which he says is an opportunity to see out retiring ministers coming to the end of their term.
“Christmas tends to be a good time for a reshuffle, allowing new ministers to settle in over the break into their portfolios to get across details,” Drum said.
“The other pressure for change — apart from the opposition and the media — is a very big backbench.
“You’ve got members in the second term of Parliament who are desperate for opportunities.”
With McGowan unlikely to accept the advice of the opposition parties or The West, and in the absence of a sackable offence, the government’s ministry will be in place for the rest of the year.
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