Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Western Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Every single Australian is fortunate that Mark McGowan will continue to lead the state of Western Australia, keeping the state that I love safe and strong. Australia is fortunate that Mark McGowan will continue to serve in the national cabinet and be the most experienced member of the national cabinet. We are fortunate that Roger Cook, Mark McGowan and the team will continue to lead the Western Australian economy. Western Australia is one-third of our land mass, our biggest exporting state and, objectively, the best state in Australia.

Western Australians will continue to stand against this federal government when they get it wrong—when they get it wrong on stopping the spread of COVID, when they get it wrong in their tourism packages and when they get it wrong all the way to the High Court in supporting Clive Palmer. This election was Western Australians speaking as one voice, a message that every federal member, particularly those on the government benches, should hear. We want strong, decisive leadership, investments in health, education and infrastructure, and clear plans for jobs.

What was the Prime Minister's take? In The West Australian the headline screamed 'Scott Morrison takes credit for Labor win'. The Prime Minister doesn't hold a hose and he's not the police commissioner but he did win the Western Australian state election, apparently. He's seriously out of touch with Western Australians. He is no friend of Western Australia. Even on the booths on Saturday I heard that. People will never forget, in Western Australia, that he and his team and his Attorney-General sided with Clive Palmer to put the health of Western Australians at risk.

An election takes a team, and the energy and discipline of this team was first class. Congratulations to the campaign director, Tim Picton, his deputy, Ellie Whitaker, Guy Houston, chief of staff to the Premier, and his entire team. Congratulations to the party president, Carolyn Smith, Darren Moss, the WA unions and their members, and their volunteer members in particular. I want to try to say thanks to every member and volunteer worker on those campaigns, for every single campaign. I've got 45 seconds.

Thank you to everyone who helped: Rebecca Stephens, Tony Buti, David Michael, Reece Whitby, Dave Kelly, Kim Giddens, Cassie Rowe, Lisa O'Malley, Don Punch, Mark Folkard, John Quigley, Bill Johnston, Paul Lilburne, Michelle Nelson, Christine Tonkin, David Scaife, Jodie Hanns, Gemma West, Hugh Jones, Lisa Munday, Stephen Price, Simone McGurk, Lara Dalton, Caitlin Collins, Yaz Mubarakai, Emily Hamilton, Matthew Hughes, Ali Kent, Divina D'Anna, Jessica Stojkovski, Roger Cook, Margaret Quirk, David Templeman, Lisa Baker, Michelle Roberts, Meredith Hammat, Barni Norton, Amber-Jade Sanderson, Simon Millman, Robyn Clarke, Katrina Stratton, Cherie Sibosado, John Carey, Kevin Michel, Jagadish Krishnan, Mark McGowan, Bradley Willis, Stuart Aubrey, Geoff Baker, Terry Healy, Jessica Shaw, Chris Tallentire, Chris Hossen, Hannah Beazley, Sabine Winton, Paul Papalia, Jane Kelsbie, Rita Saffioti and Peter Tinley.