State Election: Labor’s Kevin Michel marks record Pilbara win with epic KFC feast

Kevin Michel is on track to record the biggest post-war era win in the Pilbara seat and become the most popular sitting MP since Labor legend Larry Graham. There were boisterous scenes and a grand KFC feed on hand on Saturday night as Mr Michel’s close circle of friends and family celebrated the historic victory which will see the incumbent’s reign on the Pilbara’s iron throne continue. Two buckets of the Colonels’ finest fried chicken and a tray of popcorn chicken were passed around as the vote count party celebrated the record victory. Not only did Mr Michel defy expectations of a close-fought battle for the Pilbara, his win was so convincing it — at time of print on Monday — set him on a course to gain more than 60 per cent of the primary vote. Not since Mr Graham, who served three terms for Labor and one as an independent in the Pilbara between 1989 and 2001, has a Pilbara candidate gained such strong support. The collapse in the Liberal, National and One Nation vote also means Mr Michel was on track to record the biggest two-party preferred vote, 71.1 per cent, in the seat since at least 1971. In a mirror of his first comments after toppling Brendon Grylls in 2017, Mr Michel thanked God, his wife and his volunteers for the emphatic victory. He said he had been nervous in the lead-up to the election because the Pilbara seat was always a hard fought contest. “The Premier has done such a fantastic job, it made it a little bit easier for us, but in the Pilbara it’s always a fight — not only between Liberals, but between Liberals and Nationals,” he said. “I put in a lot of hard work, my volunteers and friends have put in a lot of hard work with me and the McGowan Government was behind me every step of the way.” Looking forward to the next four years, Mr Michel said it was important the Government followed through on the commitments made this election campaign. “I'll be working hard to make sure that we complete our commitments from 2017 and the ones that are coming in 2021,” he said. He said crime and housing in the region were key areas he would address over the next four years. “It’s a massive issue and no one has a silver bullet for this — but we will keep on trying our level best to address this issue and do whatever we can to reduce crime in the region,” he said. Mr Michel said solving crime in the Pilbara was not as simple as throwing people in jail.