Albanese Government delivers successful engagement in Western Australia

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton should consider a career as a magician.

You can imagine the top hat, magic wand and travelling from town to town would suit him as he has clearly been working on his main trick — the disappearing act.

For most of WA he has never appeared in the first place.

It has been nine months since he was elected leader of the Liberal Party and still he has not bothered to visit the people of Pearce, Moore, Cowan, Curtin, Hasluck, Burt or Brand.

Maybe if he talks to anyone needing to access healthcare in Perth he will understand the effects of the cuts and changes to Medicare administered by the previous Coalition government.

Mr Dutton has finally broken a six month drought on visiting the western third of our nation.

With the threat of the Liberal Party’s great disappearing act taking out more Members of Parliament, Mr Dutton would be expected to be a more constant presence in our State.

This week was only Mr Dutton’s second trip to Western Australia since the election.

One minute, he is committed to listening to WA, and then “Hey Presto” — he’s disappeared.

Given the economic importance of our State, as the Cabinet witnessed in Port Hedland this week, Mr Dutton has a duty to be here more often.

It could be that he is uncomfortable setting foot in a State with such a well performing economy, after all he was a senior member in a government that made low wages a deliberate design feature of its economic architecture.

As Australia learned last year, the road to government now comes through Western Australia.

n the other hand, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been to Perth nine times in the nine months since becoming Prime Minister.

Just two weeks ago, Prime Minister Albanese visited a GP in Morley to announce the roll out of our Urgent Care Clinics, toured infrastructure sites in Alkimos, visited communities south of the river, and then finished the day off at Fringe in the heart of my electorate.

And this week, the Prime Minister saw mining operations in Kalgoorlie, met with regional local government representatives, and launched a New Energy Apprenticeships program in East Perth.

For West Australians, it is not just the visits which matter — ensuring voices from Western Australia are prominent in our leaders’ ears.

Mr Dutton’s advice on Western Australia comes from the same Liberals who refused to speak up when former prime minister Scott Morrison sided with Clive Palmer against our State in the High Court: Michaelia Cash, Matt O’Sullivan, Melissa Price.

That was the test of their Western Australian credentials, and they failed.

The Prime Minister draws on the advice of Ministers Madeleine King, Matt Keogh and Anne Aly, while also listening to the now 14 WA Labor MPs from across our State. People such as Zaneta Mascarenhas in Swan, Tracey Roberts in Pearce, Sam Lim in Tangney and Senator Pat Dodson, among others.

Prime Minister Albanese listens to his colleagues, unlike the previous prime minister who listened only to Scott Morrison and his secret ministers, also Scott Morrison.

At the election, the Prime Minister committed to working in partnership with State Governments, not against them.

We have seen this in the much healthier relationship between the McGowan Labor Government and the Australian Government — no sniping, no court case, just honest, respectful working partnerships.

And that’s the secret. Respect is what lies at the heart of successful engagement in our State.

It is not magic tricks or illusion, it is just respect.

Patrick Gorman is the Federal Member for Perth and the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister.

This opinion piece appeared first in The West Australian on Friday, 24 February.