Federal Liberal issues blamed for poor WA result as party concedes defeat to Kate Chaney in Curtin

The Liberals have conceded defeat in what was meant to be one of their best chances of winning back their former heartland in Western Australia.

Teal independent Kate Chaney has held Curtin, which encompasses Perth's affluent western coastal suburbs, on a slim 1.3 per cent margin, after being won by the Liberals for all but one election since it was created in 1949.

The ABC has called the seat for Ms Chaney with a two per cent swing in her favour, with Liberal challenger Tom White conceding defeat on social media on Sunday morning.

"The Curtin electorate has never seen a contest like this one. Both sides threw everything at it," he wrote.

"I have no regrets."

Attacks and point scoring

Ms Chaney said she was relieved voters saw through a "negative" campaign from the Liberal Party.

"It was really tough, the level of negativity and personal attacks that came out of the liberals was pretty intense," Ms Chaney told ABC Radio Perth.

"We really stuck with the positive message and I'm so relieved to see that people see through the negative campaigning."

Ms Chaney said the Coalition failed to learn from mistakes made in the 2022 election, when she first picked up the blue-ribbon seat.

"The 2022 election sent a message to the Liberal party that they were moving too far to the right and away from moderate voters in places like Curtin," she said.

"That message has been reinforced last night.

Federal issues problematic

Former state Liberal leader, Zak Kirkup said the WA result was dictated by "a lot of unforced errors and policy positions" that were "problematic" in the west.

Among those policies, he said, was the party's initial pledge to force public servants to work from the office, before backing down.

"Why were we spending days explaining that?" Mr Kirkup said on ABC Radio Perth.

"Some unforced errors there that I think had an impact, unfortunately, on very hard-working local campaigns here."

WA's sole Labor cabinet minister Madeleine King said Labor's growing dominance in the west was a direct result of the Coalition's backflips and "lack of spine".

High water mark exceeded

Labor's result going into the election — having won four traditionally Liberal seats at the 2022 election — had been considered a high water mark in the west.

But it went one better last night, wresting the traditionally conservative northern coastal seat of Moore from the Liberals.

Labor also increased its margin in each of the four seats it picked up last time, despite a significant focus from the Liberals and multiple visits from leader Peter Dutton.

Ms King said Moore was not a seat the party had expected to win, but indicated it was in large part thanks to internal issues within the Liberals.

The party had chosen not to pre-select incumbent MP Ian Goodenough, instead putting forward former MP Vince Connelly who was running for this third seat.

Mr Goodenough had warned that could ignite a "civil war" within the seat and ran as an independent, a move which Ms King said helped Labor.

"[Labor candidate Tom French] capitalised on that confusion in the electorate," Ms King said.

But Mr French had a different view, putting it down to hard work.

“We weren’t really paying attention to what anyone else was doing, we were just running our own campaign," he said on Sunday.

Tight race in Fremantle 

A close count continues in Fremantle, where the contest between Labor’s Josh Wilson and Climate 200-backed independent Kate Hulett, who nearly ousted Fremantle MP Simone McGurk at the state election, will likely come down to preferences.

The Australian Electoral Commission said resolving the count in the seat was one of its priorities for Sunday.

“The way that the results were coming in later last evening and some of the indications we have about the preference flows make me feel hopeful,” Mr Wilson said.

Meanwhile, Ms Hulett told the ABC on Saturday night it showed people were keen on independent voices.

"People are sick of the two major parties, and you give them an alternative and they vote for it.," she said.

'Mandate' for live sheep export ban

Labor and Liberal candidates in the newly-created seat of Bullwinkel are also facing a nervous wait to decide who will win the notionally-Labor electorate.

A key issue in the semi-regional electorate was Labor’s looming ban on the live sheep export trade, which had been strongly opposed by some.

But Minister King said Labor had been given another mandate to continue with the policy.

“I know there will be people that are disappointed that they didn’t get what they wanted, but equally we’re really focused on how we transition that industry now,” she said. 

Incumbent Liberal MP Melissa Price said she was "relieved" after retaining her regional seat of Durack, which she's held since 2013 — but said the national loss was tough.

"I'm really disappointed and I really haven't even had time to digest it," she told the ABC in Geraldton on Saturday night.

"Some of the [Liberal Party] results I'm really surprised at … no doubt we've got some soul searching to do."

How are the key seats faring?