Western Australia Party

Not to be confused with Western Australian Party or WAxit Party.

The Western Australia Party (WAP) was a regional political party active in Western Australia.

Western Australia Party
Secretary	Stephen Phelan
Founded	2016; 8 years ago (2016)
Dissolved	2 August 2023
Headquarters	19/4 Ventnor Avenue, West Perth, 6005 WA
Ideology	Regionalism Populism
Political position	Centre
Politics of Australia Political parties Elections

The party was founded in 2016 by Julie Matheson, a councillor with the City of Subiaco as Julie Matheson for Western Australia to contest the 2017 state election.^[1] In July 2017, the party's name was changed to the Western Australia Party.^[2]

The party's ideological focus was a combination of centrism, populism and regionalism, drawing from the position of Matheson and John Forrest. Its core policies include reform to Local Government, WA's Family Court, and tax reform.^[3]

The party was deregistered on 2 August 2023.^[4]

History

Matheson unsuccessfully ran for the Australian Senate at the 2016 federal election as an independent candidate. Following her defeat, Matheson registered the Julie Matheson for Western Australia party in order to contest the 2017 Western Australian state election.^[5] The party received just 0.5% of first-preference votes in the Legislative Assembly, and 0.4% in the Legislative Council.^[6]

In 2017, the party rebranded as the "Western Australia Party", with the aim of contesting the next federal election on a platform advocating for Western Australia receiving more GST. The party was reported to have received financial support from a group of local businessmen, with retired barrister and judge Peter Nisbet serving as a spokesman and another retired barrister Bevan Lawrence serving on the party's steering committee; Matheson also remained involved. Nisbet stated that the party's "sole objective is to get a better deal with the GST and, secondly, a better share of defence contracts".^[7]

In the 2018 Cottesloe by-election the new party polled 9% of first preference votes,^[8] and 5.8% of first preference votes in the Darling Range by-election that same year.^[9]

As the party was not registered with the Australian Electoral Commission, Matheson contested the 2018 Perth by-election as an independent candidate. After the by-election, the party applied to be registered on a federal level. This registration was granted on 30 August 2018.^[10]

In 2019, the party contested its first federal election, running 20 candidates across Western Australia. However, the party again fared poorly, gaining only 1.8% in the House of Representatives and 1.2% in the Senate.

On 12 May 2020, the party gained its first member of parliament when former One Nation MP and Legislative Council member for East Metropolitan, Charles Smith, joined the party.^[11]

In August 2021 former Nationals MLC Dave Grills took over leadership of the party from Julie Matheson.^[12]

In 2022 former Liberal party member Anthony Fels announced he would be running in the North West Central for WAP.^[13]

Ideology and positions

The Western Australia Party promoted itself as a centrist alternative to the major parties.^[14][15] Where decisions are made based on what's in the best interests of Western Australia as opposed to party ideology. As such the party has a wide array of political ideas with members coming from many other political parties.

The party's centrist image was reinforced through preferences. The party always used a split-ticket system of preferencing, and at the 2019 federal election, the party's preferences were the most evenly split of any political party in Australia.^[16]

Throughout its history, the party held policies to change taxation laws in Western Australia. Including a 100% per capita share of the G.S.T., removing payroll and capital gains tax, and the removal of fringe benefits tax. Further policies include reform to the Western Australian Family Court and Local Government Systems.^[17]

In 2023 the Party endorsed the No vote during the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum.^{[18][19][20][dead link‍]}

Elected representatives

Current

City of Melville

• Katy Mair (2021−)

City of Nedlands

• Andrew Mangano (2017−)

Former

Western Australian Legislative Council

• Charles Smith (2020−2021)

City of Subiaco

• Julie Matheson (2016−2021)

Election results

The Western Australia fielded 20 candidates in the 2019 Australian Federal Election, however none were elected.

Federal

House of Representatives
Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	# of overall seats won	# of overall seats	+/–	Notes
2019	25,298	0.18 (#18)	0 / 151	0 / 151
2022	33,263	0.23 (#13)	0 / 151	0 / 151

Senate
Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	# of overall seats won	# of overall seats	+/–	Notes
2019	17,213	0.12 (#35)	0 / 40	0 / 76

Western Australia

Legislative Assembly
Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	# of overall seats won	# of overall seats	+/–	Notes
2017	6,145	0.47 (#9)	0 / 59	0 / 59	0
2021	5,276	0.37 (#11)	0 / 59	0 / 59	0

Legislative Council
Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	# of overall seats won	# of overall seats	+/–	Notes
2017	5,270	0.39 (#14)	0 / 36	0 / 36	0
2021	10,496	0.73 (#10)	0 / 36	0 / 36	0

References

1. "Registered Political Parties in WA". Western Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
2. Kerslake, David (13 July 2017). "Approval of Change of Name and Abbreviated Name". Letter. Western Australian Electoral Commission.
3. Western Australia Party (2018), Western Australia Party, Western Australia Party, retrieved 28 November 2022 see also - https://catalogue.slwa.wa.gov.au/record=b5610122~S2, website quote from 2018.. "Formed in 2016, the Western Australia Party is the only party registered with the WA Electoral Commission with the sole purpose of representing the people of WA to get a better deal from Canberra. The formation of the Party is inspired by the original Western Australia Party that operated from 1906 to 1909 to protect the rights of Western Australia, led by Sir John Forrest the first Premier of WA in 1890" -- website (viewed 7 May 2018)
4. "Notice of deregistration - WESTERN AUSTRALIA PARTY" (PDF). aec.gov.au.
5. No. 191, Western Australian Government Gazette, 21 October 2016, p. 4787.
6. "North Metropolitan Region". WA Election 2017. ABC Australia. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
7. Adshead, Gary (21 October 2017). "Retired judge masterminds new political party to fight federal election over WA's GST share". The West Australian. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
8. Ron Norris for Cottesloe: Western Australia Party, see https://catalogue.slwa.wa.gov.au/record=b5610110~S2
9. Laschon, Eliza (25 June 2018). "WA Party plans federal by-election tilt after strong Darling Range GST protest vote result". ABC News.
10. "Registration of a political party: Western Australia Party" (PDF). Notice under s 133(1A)(a) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918. Australian Electoral Commission. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
11. "Charles Smith, former One Nation MP, turned independent, joins new party". Out in Perth. 12 May 2020.
12. "Mayoral hopeful to 'do more for less rates'". PerthNow. 25 August 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
13. Thorn, Meleva (5 September 2022). "EXCLUSIVE: Western Australia Party's dual candidates strategy in the North West Central by-election explained". WAMN News. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
14. "Australian election 2022: from anti-vaxxers to revolutionaries, what do the minor parties running for the Senate stand for?". the Guardian. 18 May 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
15. "Federal Election 2022: Focusing on the minor parties and their values". 6PR. 9 May 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
16. Green, Antony (25 November 2019). "Preference Flows at the 2019 Federal Election – Antony Green's Election Blog". Retrieved 8 October 2020.
17. "Our Policies". Western Australia Party. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
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