WA premier says Labor faces tough fight to retain Secret Harbour in byelection
Western Australia’s Labor premier has conceded his party will have a tough fight to retain a previously safe seat after a retiring MP triggered a byelection, Australian Associated Press reports.
Paul Papalia, the WA minister for corrective services and member for the seat of Secret Harbour, south of Perth, quit politics yesterday.
“This isn’t what I’d planned,” he told reporters. “One of my immediate family members has been diagnosed with a serious illness.”
The state premier, Roger Cook, said his party will have to work hard if it wants to retain the seat, which is made up of working and middle-class families.
It’s going to be really tough. We’re not taking anything for granted. We know that during a byelection there’s heightened debate and there’s increased focus and, as a result of that, we’re going to have to fight for our lives on this one.
It’s going to be really tough. We’re not taking anything for granted.
We know that during a byelection there’s heightened debate and there’s increased focus and, as a result of that, we’re going to have to fight for our lives on this one.
Papalia, a navy veteran who entered politics in 2007, won Secret Harbour for Labor in 2025, polling 61.5% of the two-party preferred vote amid a 28.5% swing away from the party.
The Liberals won 28.5% of the vote, recording a swing of 9.8% to the party.
One Nation, which polled 8.4% in 2025, with a 6.3% swing to it, confirmed it will run a candidate.
