Major campaign spending shapes Secret Harbour by-election as most expensive WA election ever

The fight for Secret Harbour is shaping as the most expensive by-election in WA history — with political parties expected to throw hundreds of thousands of dollars at winning the seat. Desperate to keep the seat, The West Australian understands Labor is expected to throw an unprecedented $300,000 plus at the campaign — eclipsing the $250,000 it spent defending Rockingham in 2023. One Nation is also expected to spend huge amounts of money on trying to win its first ever lower house seat in the WA Parliament — having spent half a million dollars on its winning campaign in Farrer in NSW. It’s also understood the Liberals — who have never won the seat, even when it used to be called Warnbro — will also spend about $100,000 this campaign. Despite new electoral expenditure caps on how much political parties can spend in by-elections in WA, there is plenty of leeway for political parties to spend big. Under new rules, political parties can spend up to $420,000 each on their campaigns. WA Labor and One Nation in particular, are expected to big money on print material, billboards, digital advertising on socials as well as YouTube and digital TV and signage. Labor’s ads are expected to have one strong theme, that “Pauline Hanson has never delivered a single thing for Western Australians”. “By-elections are always tough for incumbent governments,” WA Labor state secretary Mark Reed said on Saturday. “But we are determined to throw everything at this seat. “That means talking to voter and listening to them.” Secret Harbour is a safe Labor seat — with a nearly 12 per cent margin. But if One Nation can finish ahead of the Liberals on first preferences, and Liberal and Independent candidate preferences flow to Pauline Hanson’s party, then Labor could lose the seat. Labor has selected Georgia Tree as its candidate, with the Liberals picking former submariner Ryan Robertson and One Nation picking gym owner Luke Herdegen. In a sign of how seriously WA Labor is taking this by-election an army of more than 100 volunteers have already been assembled to ring, or doorknock voters. As of Saturday, 2000 homes in Secret Harbour had been doorknocked by Labor. Liberal candidate Ryan Robertson said he too intended hitting the campaign trail hard in the lead up to poll night. “I am going to do more K’s than anyone has ever done in that electorate,” Mr Robertson said. Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti on Saturday spruiked WA Labor’s $100 fuel payment and WA Student Assistance payments as cost-of-living measures which would benefit Secret Harbour residents. But she conceded: “By-elections are always hard” Fremantle federal MP Josh Wilson on Saturday attacked One Nation – saying it had no real solutions or policies to address important issues, such as cost of living. “They One Nation are in the game of fostering division,” Mr Wilson said. “They are in the game of pointing the finger and trying to promote prejudice and find villains within our own community that they can blame to cover up for the fact that they are not prepared to do the hard work of coming up with solutions that Australians need.”