Former WA premier Mark McGowan has launched the campaign for Magenta Marshall, his potential replacement as the member for Rockingham.
Key points:
- The Rockingham by-election will be held on July 29
- Labor holds the seat by a large majority, and has always held it
- Peter Hudson, the Liberal candidate, will launch his campaign on Sunday
Ms Marshall said she was born in Rockingham and has lived there all her life.
“If successful, I’ll always work hard to deliver for Rockingham locals,” she told the crowd of more than 100.
“I’ll listen, I’ll learn, and I’ll never stop striving to improve the quality of life for this community.”
Raised by a single mother in her early childhood, Ms Marshall went on to study at Murdoch University, and spent a year studying in Indonesia, where she taught English to underprivileged students.
“In 2014, I joined the Labor party and in fact, at my very first branch meeting, I was joined by Mark McGowan, Roger Cook and Paul Papalia and I thought, wow, being a member’s pretty special,” she said.
After university she worked for the Transport Workers Union and then David Michael, the new member for Balcatta.
The soccer devotee, who coached a disability inclusive team, said she was a strong believer in equality.
“I care about access to quality education, housing affordability, protecting our local environment, improving public transport and always investing in our local schools and hospitals.”
Mr McGowan took the stage to rapt applause.
“It’s unusual to be wearing a suit, to be honest with you,” he joked.
“The only suits I wear these days have a ‘track’ in front of them.”
Mark McGowan told the crowd electing Ms Marshall would mean someone with the “right initials” would be the member for Rockingham.
He said that during his time as the member, Labor delivered a range of infrastructure projects.
“Labor delivers for Rockingham,” he said.
“When we’ve had the opportunity in government, we’ve done it.
“The best way to continue to make sure that this community gets the best opportunities and the best representation is to make sure we elect Magenta Marshall on July 29th.”
Mr McGowan said that like himself, Ms Marshall had been preselected at the age of 28.
At 21, the Liberal candidate, Peter Hudson is even younger, but having contested the federal seat of Brand last year, is somewhat of a veteran campaigner.
Labor’s always held Rockingham and currently holds it by a large margin so Mr Hudson would make history if he managed to win it for the Liberals.
If Ms Marshall was elected, she would also make history as becoming the first woman to hold the seat.
It would also be the first time women hold more than 50 per cent of the seats in WA’s Legislative Assembly.
‘There needs to be a change’
The WA Liberals are launching Mr Hudson’s campaign late on Sunday afternoon.
Mr Hudson said the number one issue being raised with him was the cost of living.
“That feeds into a housing crisis that we have in Rockingham,” he said.
“We’ve got massive juvenile and violent crime issues in the City of Rockingham.
“The major issue, that is statewide as well, the broken health system, especially Rockingham Hospital’s emergency department, needs some serious investment in capacity.”
He said he would leave it up to punters to speculate what percentage should be used as a benchmark of success in terms of the election result given Labor’s grip on the seat.
“I’m not focused on anything like that, I’m squarely focused on delivering for the people of Rockingham,” he said.
“We’ve had the same local member for the past 26 years.
“I think there definitely needs to be a change in Rockingham, I think the people of Rockingham understand that as well and I’m here to represent the locals, the real locals, the genuine and passionate representative for those people, particularly the local families who are doing it tough.
“And the small businesses around Rockingham, I see so much potential, both economically and from a tourism perspective, that we could be upgrading and levelling up our city.”