Labor landslide marks longest Labor stint in Murray-Wellington

Murray-Wellington MLA Robyn Clarke won her seat with ease on Saturday, beating Liberal hopeful Michelle Boylan. Although she was expected to win, there was always a shadow of doubt because of the seat’s conservative history. Mrs Clarke yesterday had two-thirds of the votes in the two-party preferred system, with almost half the votes counted. Mrs Clarke had also achieved about 58 per cent of first preferences, with about 7800 votes to her name, while Mrs Boylan trailed on 25 per cent. She first won the seat as a significant underdog from Liberal Murray Cowper in 2017, becoming the first female member for Murray- Wellington. Mrs Clarke’s victory on Saturday was also one for the record books, marking the longest Labor stint for the historically conservative seat. She gave her first interview to the Reporter on Saturday night and said the win felt “surreal”. The seat was one of the last in the South West to be counted and the suspense gave Mrs Clarke some early jitters. As soon as the count started, it was clear she had an overwhelming amount of support. The victory music played and Mrs Clarke appeared a little more comfortable, but she said she would not believe it until her seat was called. “We were waiting and waiting and waiting and then I got a phone call from party office to say ‘you’ve done it’,” Mrs Clarke said. She announced the news about 8.30pm at her election party in her home town of Preston Beach. Her family, friends, supporters and staff had turned the entire town red — her grandkids kept occupied by the sea of red balloons. Mrs Clarke said she still had “more to give” her electorate. “In your first term of Government, you get to know your electorate and the issues,” she said. “I have tried to solve as much as I could in the first four years, but there is still so much more to be done — in particular the Shire of Waroona rebuild.” Although the day went smoothly for Mrs Clarke, there was a hiccup at midday when she was asked about the pamphlet scandal that rocked her electorate. Fake pamphlets were distributed to residents which suggested the Liberal party had the endorsement of the Harvey Shire Council. The incident was reported to police and the WA Electoral Commission. The council, Liberal and Labor parties all strongly denied any involvement. The story broke in the Harvey-Waroona Reporter and The West Australian, but Mrs Clarke said she had “not heard” about it. She said she had entered a two-week media ban to psyche herself up for the election.