The 2021 Western Australian state election was held on Saturday 13 March to elect members to the Parliament of Western Australia, where all 59 seats in the Legislative Assembly and all 36 seats in the Legislative Council were up for election.
The incumbent Labor Government, led by Premier Mark McGowan, won a second consecutive four-year term in office in a historic landslide victory. Their primary challengers were the opposition Liberal Party, led by Opposition Leader Zak Kirkup, and the National Party, led by Mia Davies. Several minor parties also contested the election in the Assembly and Council.
ABC News psephologist Antony Green called the election for the Labor Party 42 minutes after the polls closed, with 0.7% of the vote counted. Labor won 53 seats in the Assembly, outdoing its previous record of 41 seats in 2017, whilst the Liberals suffered a wipeout loss and won only two seats, suffering a 14% two-party preferred swing. The Nationals claimed the four remaining seats and became the largest opposition party in the Assembly for the first time since the 1940s.
To date, the election is the most decisive result at any Australian state or federal election since Federation in terms of the percentage of lower house seats controlled by the governing party (89.8%), and two-party preferred margin (69.7%–30.3%). Labor's unprecedented victory extended to the Legislative Council, where the party claimed an absolute majority of the seats for the first time.
Candidates were elected to single-member seats in the Legislative Assembly via full-preferential instant-runoff voting. In the Legislative Council, six candidates were elected in each of the six electoral regions through the single transferable vote system with group voting tickets. The Western Australian Electoral Commission conducted the elections.
Results Legislative Assembly
+Legislative Assembly (IRV) – Turnout 85.46% (CV) PartyVotes%SwingSeats +/– Labor 846,116 59.92 17.72 53 13 Liberal 300,796 21.30 9.92 2 11 Greens 97,713 6.92 1.99 0 Nationals 56,448 4.00 1.40 4 2 No Mandatory Vaccination 23,178 1.64 New 0 Australian Christians 20,869 1.48 0.62 0 One Nation 17,824 1.26 3.67 0 Shooters, Fishers, Farmers 9,669 0.69 0.62 0 WAxit 7,984 0.57 0.43 0 Liberal Democrats 7,159 0.51 0.46 0 Western Australia 5,276 0.37 0.09 0 Legalise Cannabis 4,996 0.35 New 0 Sustainable Australia 1,356 0.10 New 0 Socialist Alliance 726 0.05 0 0 Liberals for Climate 552 0.04 0.13 0 Independents 11,328 0.80 1.04 0 Formal votes 1,411,990 96.24 0.78 Informal votes 55,169 3.76 0.78 Total 1,467,159 59 Registered voters / turnout 1,716,732 85.46 2.06 Two-party-preferred vote Labor 983,299 69.68 Liberal/Nationals 427,812 30.32 14.14
Although the Liberals and Nationals did not contest the election as a coalition and are separate parties, the two-party-preferred calculation aggregates Labor/Liberal and Labor/Nationals contests.
Seats changing parties Seat Pre-2021 Swing Post-2021 Party Member Margin Margin Member Party Bateman Liberal Dean Nalder 7.8 14.5 6.7 Kim Giddens Labor Carine Liberal Tony Krsticevic 10.2 12.6 2.4 Paul Lilburne Labor Churchlands Liberal Sean L'Estrange 11.7 12.5 0.8 Christine Tonkin Labor Darling Range Liberal Alyssa Hayden 3.5* 16.5 12.9 Hugh Jones Labor Dawesville Liberal Zak Kirkup 0.8 14.7 13.9 Lisa Munday Labor Geraldton National** Ian Blayney 1.3 12.9 11.6 Lara Dalton Labor Hillarys Liberal Peter Katsambanis 0.4 19.3 19.0 Caitlin Collins Labor Kalgoorlie Liberal Kyran O'Donnell 6.2 18.2 12.0 Ali Kent Labor Nedlands Liberal Bill Marmion 8.0 10.8 2.8 Katrina Stratton Labor Riverton Liberal Mike Nahan 4.2 13.2 9.0 Jags Krishnan Labor Scarborough Liberal Liza Harvey 5.7 16.1 10.4 Stuart Aubrey Labor South Perth Liberal John McGrath 7.2 17.3 10.1 Geoff Baker Labor Warren-Blackwood National Terry Redman 12.8 14.1 1.3 Jane Kelsbie Labor Members listed in italics did not contest this election* Darling Range was won by Labor at the 2017 state election, but was regained by the Liberals at a 2018 by-election. The margin here is based on the by-election result.** Ian Blayney defected from the Liberal Party to the Nationals in 2019. The margin shown here is the two-party margin Blayney achieved as a Liberal at the 2017 state election.
Labor's victory was built on a near-sweep of Perth. Labor had gone into the election holding 33 of Perth's 43 seats (having lost one at a by-election). It won an additional nine in 2021, some on swings of over 10 percent, leaving Cottesloe as the only non-Labor seat in the capital. Many of Labor's gains came in seats long considered Liberal heartland. For example, Nedlands, the seat of former Liberal premiers Charles and Richard Court, fell to Labor for the first time since its creation in 1930, while South Perth was taken by Labor for the first time since its creation in 1950.
Among the more prominent casualties was Opposition Leader Zak Kirkup, who was heavily defeated in his own seat of Dawesville on a swing of over 14 percent, and former opposition leader Liza Harvey, whose seat of Scarborough fell to a 16 percent swing.
On paper, Labor was left as the only party with official status in the legislature, as no other party won at least five seats. However, McGowan promised that the Nationals would be properly resourced as an opposition, envisaging that they would divide opposition funding with the Liberals.
Legislative Council
+Legislative Council (STV/GVT) – Turnout 85.50% (CV) PartyPrimary votes%SwingSeats +/- Labor 868,374 60.34 22 8 Liberal 254,380 17.68 9.03 7 2 Greens 91,849 6.38 2.22 1 3 National 40,285 2.80 1.63 3 1 Legalise Cannabis 28,473 1.98 New 2 2 Australian Christians 28,051 1.95 0.01 0 One Nation 21,259 1.48 6.71 0 3 Shooters, Fishers, Farmers 21,210 1.47 0.89 0 1 No Mandatory Vaccination 16,094 1.12 New 0 Western Australia Party 10,496 0.73 0.34 0 Animal Justice 9,732 0.64 0.42 0 Liberal Democrats 9,218 0.64 1.13 0 1 Liberals for Climate 7,515 0.52 0.08 0 WAxit 4,924 0.34 0.21 0 Sustainable Australia 4,405 0.31 New 0 Daylight Saving 3,485 0.24 0.44 1 1 Great Australian 3,397 0.24 New 0 Health Australia 3,105 0.22 New 0 Socialist Alliance 948 0.07 0.04 0 Independents 11,486 0.80 0.35 0 Other 482 0.03 New 0 Formal votes 1,439,168 98.05 0.76 Informal votes 28,577 1.95 0.76 Total 1,467,745 36 Registered voters / turnout 1,716,732 85.50
Distribution of seats
Electoral region Seats held Agricultural East Metropolitan Mining and Pastoral North Metropolitan South Metropolitan South West
Daylight Saving Greens Labor Legalise Cannabis Liberal National
Background
The 2017 state election saw Labor win one of the most comprehensive victories on record at the state or territory level in Australia. Labor won 41 of the 59 seats in the Legislative Assembly—a 23-seat majority—both WA Labor's strongest result ever, and the largest government seat tally and largest government majority in Western Australian parliamentary history. Additionally, Labor exceeded all published opinion polling, winning 55.5 percent of the two-party-preferred vote from a state record landslide 12.8 percent two-party swing.Labor 55.5% 2PP vote and +12.8% 2PP swing sourced from Antony Green's temporary estimate within provided ABC link published 30 March 2017, which states "The two-party preferred count is based on estimates for Baldivis, Moore and Roe. Actual two-party preferred counts for these seats will be available at a later date." – Final 2017 WA Election Results plus a New Electoral Pendulum: Antony Green ABC 30 March 2017 The Liberals were hit by a 15.8% swing against them on the primary vote and lost 18 seats to Labor, finishing with just 13 seats, the lowest share of seats the party has won in any election. The Nationals won the remaining five seats. Labor also became the largest party in the Legislative Council with 14 of the 36 seats, ensuring it required at least five additional votes from non-government members to pass legislation.
Two by-elections were held during the term of parliament, both in 2018. The Liberal Party held the seat of Cottesloe and picked up the seat Darling Range, increasing the Liberal/National bloc in the Assembly to 19 and decreasing the Labor Party to 40. In August 2019, Liberal MP Ian Blayney resigned from the party and joined the Nationals, thus returning the Liberal vote bloc to 13 and increasing the National vote bloc to 6.
In the lead up to the election, Premier Mark McGowan had high approval ratings over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Opinion polls pegged the McGowan Government as unbackable favourites for a second term, and suggested that Labor would be re-elected by a record majority. Labor enjoyed support approaching 70% in the two-party preferred polls, and McGowan maintained a personal approval rating of 88%. On 25 February 2021, 16 days before Election Day, Leader of the Opposition Zak Kirkup conceded that the Liberals could not win the election, citing polling indicating immense popularity for McGowan and the Labor Government. Kirkup said that his main priority was ensuring the Liberals would be able to form a credible opposition, arguing that a Liberal party room reduced to the single digits would be in no position to stop Labor if it went "too far."
Electoral system Candidates are elected to single-member seats in the Legislative Assembly via full-preferential instant-runoff voting. In the Legislative Council, six candidates are elected in each of the six electoral regions through the single transferable vote system with group voting tickets.
Registered parties The following parties contested the election:
Animal Justice Party Australian Christians Daylight Saving Party Great Australian Party Greens Western Australia Health Australia Party Labor Party Legalise Cannabis Western Australia Party Liberal Party Liberal Democratic Party
Liberals for Climate National Party of Australia No Mandatory Vaccination Party Pauline Hanson's One Nation Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party Socialist Alliance Sustainable Australia WAxit Party Western Australia Party
Key dates Election dates are set in statute with four-year fixed terms, to be held on the second Saturday of March every four years.
Key dates for the election are:
Date Event 29 January 2021 Dissolution of the Legislative Assembly 3 February 2021 Writs issued 11 February 2021 Close of party nominations (12pm) and close of electoral rolls (6pm) 12 February 2021 Close of nominations (12pm) and draw of ballot paper positions 15 February 2021 Deadline for group voting ticket lodgement 22 February 2021 Early voting begins 13 March 2021 Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm 18 March 2021 Last day for receipt of postal votes by 9am
Retiring MPs
Labor Janine Freeman MLA (Mirrabooka) – announced 25 November 2020 Josie Farrer MLA (Kimberley) – announced 18 August 2020 Fran Logan MLA (Cockburn) – announced 31 August 2020 Mick Murray MLA (Collie-Preston) – announced 9 February 2020 Peter Watson MLA (Albany) – announced 10 February 2020 Ben Wyatt MLA (Victoria Park) – announced 16 November 2020 Adele Farina MLC (South West) – lost preselection, announced retirement 26 June 2020 Laurie Graham MLC (Agricultural) – announced 21 July 2020
Liberal John McGrath MLA (South Perth) – announced 30 October 2019 Mike Nahan MLA (Riverton) – announced 2 December 2019 Dean Nalder MLA (Bateman) – announced 1 December 2020 Ken Baston MLC (Mining and Pastoral) – announced 2 December 2019 Simon O'Brien MLC (South Metropolitan) – lost preselection 3 February 2020, did not renominate
Nationals Jacqui Boydell MLC (Mining and Pastoral) – announced 21 February 2020 Colin Holt MLC (South West) – announced 19 August 2020
Greens Robin Chapple MLC (Mining and Pastoral) – announced 27 February 2020
Campaign/candidate controversies