DemosAU offers the rare spectacle of a Western Australian state poll, which finds Labor down three points since the last such poll in February to 33%, with the Liberals up two to 23%, the Nationals down two to 2% and One Nation up one to 18%. Labor holds a 53-47 lead over the Liberals on two-party preferred, in from 57-43 at both the previous poll and the March 2025 election. Roger Cook leads Basil Zempilas 44-33 on preferred premier, in from 43-30. Roger Cook is up one on both approval, to 35%, and disapproval, to 29%, and Basil Zempilas is up three on both approval, to 31%, and disapproval, to 34%. The Cook government scores net negative ratings for its performance across eight issue areas, ranging from minus three on education and schools to minus 54 on housing.
The West Australian has a report on the poll, and the pollster should shortly be publishing a release with detailed voting breakdowns. The poll was conducted May 29 to June 11 from a sample of 1015.
UPDATE: Full report here.
Can we please keep this thread for discussion of WA state politics. The open thread for general discussion is here.
Still a lot of time to go, I suspect Basil is one of those leaders where the more of him people see the less they like him.
What will the labor brain trust come up with for a third term? More metronet? Actually do the climate change action they’ve slow pedalled so far?
Time will tell we will see.
You have to wonder if ‘it’s time’ really makes much difference in WA, popular government in a state that has no real reason to chuck them out. This poll is interesting for not showing ONP making such an impact and the Liberals well clear in 2nd, big drop on primary for Labor who might be suffering the effects of federal drag in this poll specifically. I think an election held tomorrow would see them comfortably returned but Basil is arguably posing a more potent threat than what was left after 2021 as you would expect
Max
With a competent government and a local economy in better shape, One Nation has less to work with. Less resentment means less One Nation.
As someone has mentioned, a long way to go in WA. Not sure Basil is the answer, but he is well-enough know so I guess this may be a plus or minus.
On these numbers the Nationals appear to be on the verge of disappearing – largely to ON one supposes.
I am amazed the figures do not show LNP on 60 and Labor on 40 as a result of the daily attack of the West newspaper and its editor on Labor at both State and Federal level.
I am told by others on the East side of our fair nation that the West newspaper is not the worst national daily so this does not say a lot for those papers and zilch for the West.
https://yapms.com/app/aus/wa/2025067/blank?m=27xgcw3wrduqts9
15/06/2026 prediction for the 2029 Western Australian state election.
Tricot at 9.25am.
“I am told by others on the East side of our fair nation that the West newspaper is not the worst national daily so this does not say a lot for those papers and zilch for the West.”
Spot on. Cave Dwellers have sensitive bullshit detectors when it comes from stuff generated in the east, we even tried secession in ancient times.
I also don’t know anyone who buys a copy of the local rag. The piles you see in the shops and service stations aren’t very big. I understand that Rinehart has bought into Southern Cross Media that has a stake in 7 West, so the local rag could get worse for bias.
GA…
Yes to think the West could get worse under another rich self-seeker is on the cards it seems and is no surprise.
No, at $4.50 for the Sunday Times soon, and similar for the West, it is no surprise that the old Seven West Media shares went down to 7 cents or similar.
I sense the West’s audience is now down to those who can’t let it go, those who live in the country and those mainly over retirement age.
I think I have noted in the past, that in my neck of the woods, there are two households that get delivery during the week, and maybe one or two more on Saturday.
The paper’s day of having strong influence is long gone….at least in the metro area.
The letters-to-the editor page is mainly a coterie of in-house, favoured contributors.
Pity sub-editors are no longer around to check and correct typos in this venue as the contributions are often marred by basic errors which give some evidence the paper has fallen on harder times.
Tricot
Hard times at The West indeed. There was another round of redundancies in the editorial section last week. Didn’t get the headlines that the 200 or so sacked in the Channel 7 side of the business got but significant just the same given it’s been a pretty bare bones operation for a while.
This tracks with the impression I get over here in WA from talking to people.
The shine has come off the Labor government, but people aren’t overwhelmingly ready to defenestrate Cook just yet – and while most people know who Basil is, they don’t really like him all that much. Mildly annoying that there’s no Greens PV listed here, would give an idea of the upper house composition.
Agree with comments above about mostly nobody listening to much of what The West says in its endless crusade to crush Labor and all its projects (especially Metronet).
The pollster has now provided the full report, here.
https://demosau.com/news/labor-remains-ahead-in-wa-but-2pp-gap-closes/
Bit surprising to see that more people think the state is heading in the wrong direction than right
43% wrong direction
36% right direction
The state runs a fiscal surplus
By all accounts it’s booming
AAA credit rating
Anyway, there you go.
Nadia I think it hits on one major aspect of the Australian political condition. Some people are never happy with what they have here, and get bored with stability.
I fully agree with you Ghost. There is an element who wish to whinge, whinge & whinge and it’s irritating. If the fiscal situation was like Victoria, then I could sort of understand, but the W.A. gov’t runs a fairly tight ship, & yet there is still a “sookie club of sooks”..
https://demosau.com/news/labor-remains-ahead-in-wa-but-2pp-gap-closes/
__________________
Its city verses the rest.
I think the main “problem” in WA, as it were, is simply the sprawl from rapid population growth.
Perth CBD isn’t so much the massive construction anymore. Yeah Elizabeth Quay developments are largely infilling now, but Edith Cowan University is just about done and CBD through northbridge is almost seamless from a pedestrian standpoint.
But eff me it’s a long drive north and south these days. Southbound especially you get some very densely housing estates packed in the middle of the bush, classic dormitory suburb feeling and certainly not the vibrant city many would want.
I think the next stage is to get more creative around the north/south train stations, getting more density around them (freeway aside) and hub-and-spoke around them (light rail).
I think all that is leaning a bit alienated out in the provinces.
Thomas: where do you get those predictions? Some are sensible, some not so much.
South Perth, Dawesville and Kalgoorlie to the Libs: yep, and with a vanilla 4% swing they’d also get Pilbara, Bateman and Kingsley, with Forrestfield, Riverton and Collie-Preston right on the edge. Kalgoorlie may well go to One Nation instead – with its kaleidoscopic recent history it wouldn’t surprise me.
The Nats aren’t going to lose all those seats. Mid West is the leader’s seat, and the Libs had a sitting MP for half the seat last year – if they couldn’t win it then they won’t in 2029. Central Wheatbelt is uber-safe Nat unless the new MP does something stupid – ON will likely come second but they’d need 40% to win it. Warren-Blackwood and Albany are closer (the latter due to a horrible Lib candidate last year), but they get a sophomore swing and the Libs won’t try too hard there when there’s so many Perth seats up for grabs.
One Nation’s possible gains: Geraldton is a chance, if they get most of Shane van Styn’s vote from last time and take enough off the Nats and Libs to make it a ON/ALP 2cp. They did well in that area back in 2001. Pilbara is a bit of an oddball: depending on how the non-Labor vote splits between Libs, Nats and ON, any of them could win it. (Same goes for Kalgoorlie.)
In Fremantle, Kate Hulett is apparently running again in the federal election, so if she wins there she won’t be a factor. If she doesn’t, but wins the booths covering the state seat, then… maybe? Wait and see.
It’s mostly the drop in the Nationals vote plus the Liberals and One Nation gaining votes that lead me to this prediction.
Yeah, be careful with that. The Nats vote is so small that losing a quarter of it could just be a rounding error, and it’s highly concentrated in maybe a dozen seats. It’s like UK polling that always has the SNP on 3% or 4% – without a proper regional breakdown (or preferably a separate poll) it doesn’t mean much.
Speaking of that breakdown, apparently the Greens are getting 9% in both inner metro (?!) and regional / rural, and 15% in outer metro. To be taken with a few grains of salt.
Why does the WA state government opinion poll not list the figures of support for the Greens, other parties and Independents?
It does Robert. Greens are on 12%, Indies 11% & Nats on 3%
Link here: https://demosau.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/DemosAU-WA-Poll-June-2026-2.pdf
Primaries are on page 3