Peter Law: Why Mia Davies is on track to be the Opposition leader WA sorely needs

Mia Davies is shaping up to be the most effective State Opposition leader since the person who sits opposite her in Parliament’s Lower House, Mark McGowan. Much like Steven Bradbury skating to Olympic gold, she looked somewhat stunned on election night when it dawned on her that she would be in the hot seat as the WA Liberals fell over one-by-one. In the immediate aftermath she did not appear to relish the prospect of taking on a Labor Government with a monster majority, which was understandable given no Nationals MP had held the office since 1947. But in the months that followed, she has demonstrated what’s been missing from WA politics for the past four years. That is a hard-working and intelligent Opposition Leader who is adept at speaking on the floor of Parliament, confident when fronting the media and who manages to keep the peace with their own MPs behind the scenes. Pre-election, Davies’ grip on the leadership of the WA Nationals appeared shaky after four years in the job, with North West Central MP Vince Catania — a Labor defector — a potential challenger. Despite losing two members of her “purple circle” of partyroom supporters in Colin Holt and Jacqui Boydell to retirement at the March poll, Davies was re-elected party leader unchallenged post-election. Catania again failed in his bid to be deputy leader, despite the support of Colin de Grussa and newcomer James Hayward. Shane Love kept that job with the help of Davies, Martin Aldridge and Peter Rundle. With her leadership assured, Davies’ first task was to pick up what was left of the Liberals to somehow hold to account a Premier in control of both Houses of Parliament. An “alliance” akin to the one Brendon Grylls brokered with Colin Barnett in government was a pragmatic solution. The parties needed to come together to share the workload but also to allow the Nationals to maintain their independence. The wording of the deal was with an eye to the 2025 election because at some point the Nationals will have to pivot to focus on winning Labor-held regional seats like Warren-Blackwood, Kalgoorlie, Geraldton, Albany and Pilbara. While Davies’ boosted profile may give the party hope of competing for peri-urban electorates such as Murray-Wellington, the reality is the Nationals will never be the major partner in government and therefore Davies won’t ever become premier. Despite Liberal leader David Honey’s Cottesloe being the only metropolitan seat in the Legislative Assembly that’s not held by Labor, Davies is so far doing a convincing job that she’s looking after the interests of all WA residents. She and her team have used Parliament to pressure the Government on issues with broad appeal, whether you live in Perth, Port Hedland or Pemberton. These have included highlighting weaknesses in hotel quarantine, the crisis in public hospitals and McGowan’s reluctance to protect sub-contractors by legislating cascading statutory trusts. Attorney-General John Quigley’s review of Upper House electoral reform — which will likely result in fewer regional MPs and greater metropolitan representation — has also given Davies the chance to scold the Premier for misleading country voters after he repeatedly said at the election: “It’s not on our agenda.” While the power of the Opposition to amend legislation in the Legislative Council vanished at the election, those who survived the wipe-out appear to finally have a coherent political strategy. Under the leadership of Liza Harvey, question time was painful viewing. It was a self-inflicted bloodbath for Liberal MPs who didn’t do their homework, relied on questions written for them by staffers and were out of touch with public sentiment. Davies, by contrast, has the capacity to think on her feet. In Parliament, she’s often seen scribbling down probing questions then jumping to her feet to put McGowan — or more likely Health Minister Roger Cook — under the microscope. She even listens to their answers, which makes a welcome change. When speaking to the media, Davies has so far avoided the gaffes that sometimes dogged Harvey and her predecessor Mike Nahan. She’s also managed to come across as not being constantly negative. Her constructive criticism actually adds to the public debate. Privately, Liberals have been impressed, too, describing her as a leader who works collaboratively, is across the detail and is a moderate but knows when to have a crack at the Government when it’s justified. Having taken on the shadow health portfolio in the middle of a hospital crisis, Vasse MP Libby Mettam has also demonstrated a work ethic that was sorely lacking from many of the Liberal MPs turfed out at the election. Honey, meanwhile, is rarely seen or heard from despite being the man who hopes to lead the Liberals back into government. His choice of portfolios — State development, energy, hydrogen, science, innovation and ICT — means he’s hardly in demand from the media. Given the track record of his predecessors, that’s probably for the best.

Peter Law: Why Mia Davies is on track to be the Opposition leader WA sorely needs

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