A by-election was held on 29 August 2026 to elect the member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for the electorate of Secret Harbour, following the resignation of minister Paul Papalia because of family issues.
The by-election was called for One Nation by the ABC at 10:30p.m. local time (4 hours after polls closed), with Luke Herdegen claiming victory for the party. He became the first One Nation candidate elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly.
Background Commentators framed the by-election as a test of One Nation's rising support in national opinion polls.
Electorate profile Secret Harbour is located in the southern suburbs of Perth and is a replacement for the former seat of Warnbro. Differing from its predecessor, Secret Harbour crosses the boundary of metropolitan Perth by taking in parts of Mandurah. The electorate takes in the suburbs of Golden Bay, Karnup, Lakelands, Madora Bay, Port Kennedy, Secret Harbour, Singleton and Warnbro, and takes in part of the local government area of the City of Rockingham.
Secret Harbour was first contested at the 2025 state election with a notional margin for the Labor Party of 31.3%. Papalia, the MP for the outgoing electorate of Warnbro was elected as Secret Harbour's inaugural member following the election, with an 11.5% two-party-preferred margin.
Former member On 6 July 2026, Papalia announced his resignation from his ministerial portfolios and as an MP, thereby triggering the by-election. Papalia was first elected as the member for Peel in the 2007 by-election, held the seat when it was changed to Warnbro and finally Secret Harbour.
Landsdale MP Daniel Pastorelli was awarded a spot in Cabinet, in place of Papalia.
Electoral system As with all elections in Western Australia, full preferential voting will be used where casting a ballot is compulsory. In the full preferential system used, a candidate must receive an absolute majority, over 50% of the votes. A voter needs to mark all of the boxes listed on their ballot paper.
Key dates On 14 July, the writ was issued by Stephen Price as Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. Dates relevant to the by-election are listed below. Postal vote applications opened on 7 July at 6 pm Nomination of candidates closed at midday on 21 July Close of electoral rolls at 6 pm on 21 July Postal votes began being sent to voters on 28 July Mobile polling began on 16 August Early voting began on 17 August at 8 am Postal vote applications closed on 26 August at 6 pm Polling day was on 29 August from 8 am until 6 pm The last day for receipt of postal votes was 3 September at 9 am The results were declared on 9 September. Last day for return of the writ is 10 October
Previous result
Candidates Candidates are listed in ballot order. PartyCandidateBackgroundLiberalRyan RobertsonCouncillor for the City of Rockingham and real estate agentLibertarianMatthew BartonNavy veteranGreensRhi DaviesLegalise CannabisCraig Robert BuchananPolitical stafferShooters, Fishers and FarmersTim HamiltonLaborGeorgia TreePolitical stafferIndependentPaul HowardLeader of the unregistered Australian Patriots PartyChristiansRobert Burdett2025 candidateAnimal JusticeNeil JensenIndependentTeresa van LieshoutPerennial candidateIndependentPaul Gullan Disendorsed Legalise Cannibis candidate for Collie Preston at the 2025 WA state electionWA FirstAnthony FelsFormer MLC, perennial candidateIndependentJayne PalmerFormer Finance Manager CPA, Current Mathematics High School TeacherOne NationLuke HerdegenAnytime Fitness franchiseeIndependentPeter D. DunnePerennial candidateIndependentBrett Murrell Newcastle-based mechanical engineer and member of the unregistered Sovereign Australia Party
Labor On 9 July 2026, the Western Australian Labor Party announced that Georgia Tree, a former advisor for federal resources minister Madeleine King, will be their candidate. Tree has also worked with gas company Woodside. Premier Roger Cook said that the by-election will be "tough for Labor".
Liberal Western Australian Liberal Party leader Basil Zempilas formally decided to field a candidate on 9 July. Their candidate is Ryan Robertson, a councillor for the City of Rockingham.
Greens The Western Australian Greens expressed an interest in fielding a candidate for the by-election, with their leader Brad Pettitt criticising Papalia's management of the prison system and said that the state needed a minister focused on "reinvestment, rehabilitation and diversion" rather than "increasing police powers". The Greens ultimately preselected Rhi Davies for the by-election.
One Nation Western Australian One Nation announced their candidate would be Luke Herdegen, a gym owner. WA One Nation leader Rod Caddies said that One Nation are the "favourites" to gain the seats of Kwinana and Secret Harbour.
Nationals The Western Australian National Party have indicated an intention to field more candidates in metropolitan seats but leader Shane Love stressed that "The decision on which seats the Nationals WA contest is ultimately one for our state council". They decided not to field a candidate, and instead to endorse the WA Liberals.
How-to-vote cards Western Australia uses a preferential voting system for Legislative Assembly elections, where voters must rank every candidate on the ballot in the order of their preference. How-to-vote cards are small leaflets distributed by party supporters suggesting the order voters should preference candidates. In Western Australian elections, how-to-vote cards must be registered with and approved by the WAEC prior to their distribution.
Independent candidates Teresa van Lieshout, Paul Gullan, and Brett Murrell, as well as WA First candidate Anthony Fels, did not register a how-to-vote card.
Legalise Cannabis candidate Craig Robert Buchanan, as well as independent candidate Jayne Palmer, ran an open ticket, with no further directions for preferences beyond "1" for themselves.
Conservative lobby group Turning Point Australia also registered a how-to-vote card, recommending voters preference One Nation "1", but with different preferences to the party itself. Candidate How-to-vote cards (read column top down) LIB LBT GRN LCA SFF ALP ACP AJP WAP ONP TPA Ryan Robertson (LIB) 9 7 11 10 8 3 12 57 Matthew Barton (LBT) 4 10 2 11 4 5 14 473 Rhi Davies (GRN) 13 12 14 2 15 3 1514 Craig Robert Buchanan (LCA) 9 8 6 10 4 9 12 2 8211 Tim Hamilton (SFF) 5 2 12 12 6 4 3114 Georgia Tree (ALP) 10 4 15 14 10 15412 Paul Howard (IND) 7 10 14 9 14 8 7 6136 Robert Burdett (ACP) 2 4 13 4 13 3 14 2102 Neil Jensen (AJP) 12 13 2 15 3 14 13 14313 Teresa van Lieshout (IND) 15 14 15 7 15 13 10 1195 Paul Gullan (IND) 14 6 11 6 9 12 11 4 101210 Anthony Fels (WAP) 6 7 9 5 5 7 6 8 785 Jayne Palmer (IND)811312811791199 Luke Herdegen (ONP)333221514 Peter D. Dunne (IND)1551361051215 Brett Murrell (IND)1158875961368
Results
References
External links Are you in for the Secret Harbour State By-election? Western Australian Electoral Commission