Regional WA bucks national swing to Labor by returning Liberal MPsBBy Bridget McArthurABC South West WATopic:Australian Federal Elections1h ago1 hours agoMon 5 May 2025 at 10:59pmBen Small (second from right) at his election night campaign party in Busselton. (ABC South West: Kate Forrester)In short:Regional West Australians have backed the Liberal Party providing a rare bit of positive news for the opposition.Policy experts say a strong grassroots campaign attacking Labor for its plan to end live sheep exports may have helped.What's next?Durack MP Melissa Price says both parties have some "soul searching" to do as voters turn away from major parties.abc.net.au/news/regional-western-australia-bucks-labor-trend-federal-election/105252854Link copiedShareShare articleA combination of trusted incumbents and a contentious Labor policy has helped the Liberal Party maintain its stronghold in regional WA, analysts and observers say.While the Liberals are on track to be locked out of metropolitan Perth, regional voters resolutely backed the party's candidates.Long-time Liberal MPs Rick Wilson and Melissa Price strengthened their majorities on a two-candidate basis in the sprawling electorates of O'Connor in the south, and Durack in the north.Anthony Albanese failed to win the hearts of voters in regional WA. (ABC South West: Bridget McArthur)Shadow Defence Minister Andrew Hastie, who has ruled himself out of the party leadership race, also retained his semi-rural seat of Canning on an improved margin.Federal politics live updates: Get the latest news as the parties mull election verdictLive results: Find out what's happening in your seat as counting continuesMeanwhile, first-time Liberal candidate Ben Small appears to have won a tight contest for the seat of Forrest in WA's South West.The new electorate of Bullwinkel, stretching from Perth's eastern suburbs into the Wheatbelt, remains in contention.Keep the Sheep holds swayJohn Curtin Institute of Public Policy executive director John Phillimore said the incumbency of Mr Wilson, Ms Price, and, to a degree, Mr Small's predecessor, Nola Marino, would have played a role in their victories. He said strong local opposition to Labor's plan to ban live sheep exports by 2028 would have also been a factor, particularly in O'Connor — home to most of the state's sheep producers.Rick Wilson (far left), Melissa Price (third from left) and Nola Marino (far right) oppose a live sheep export ban. (Supplied: Liberal Party of Australia)Helen Christensen, a voter from the small South West town of Balingup, said it had been a decisive issue for her and other regional voters.She said the Coalition's defeat was devastating. "The situation with agriculture is just going to get worse and worse … the sheep was just the beginning," Ms Christensen told ABC South West."People in the city have got no idea. When they all get in their cars on long weekends and head down here, they might find a lot of shut shops."Jon Dixon says the plan to ban live sheep exports has not been popular. (ABC South West: Bridget McArthur)Bunbury resident Jon Dixon said it was not just farmers who were opposed to Labor's policy.Despite strongly disliking Mr Dutton, the financial consultant said he voted Liberal as he was concerned about the knock-on effects the live sheep export ban could have on the state's economy.Melissa Price will serve her fifth term as the Member for Durack. (ABC News: Chris Lewis)Despite Labor's resounding victory seemingly sealing the live export industry's fate, organisers of the Keep the Sheep movement plan to regroup for a fight at the next election."It looks like there may have been a smaller swing in WA towards the Labor party, and we may have played a small role in that," campaign coordinator Holly Ludeman told ABC Great Southern."This is a viable industry … so that's what I'm going to keep fighting for because this legislation and policy is wrong."Ms Price said workers in Durack felt similarly overlooked and unappreciated. "The reality is most of Durack is helping to create the wealth of this nation," Ms Price told ABC Pilbara. "The Albanese government hasn't respected that."Holly Ludeman says she will keep fighting to have the live sheep export ban overturned. (ABC South West: Kate Forrester)Major parties on noticeMr Small's victory in the blue-ribbon seat of Forrest was far less resounding, coming within striking distance of 26-year-old first-time Labor candidate Tabitha Dowding as counting continued on Sunday.Despite running a modest campaign with sparse input from Labor HQ and minimal advertising, Ms Dowding still managed a small but significant swing in her favour in the more than five-decade-long Liberal stronghold.Labor's effort was aided by the presence first-time Independent candidate Sue Chapman, who drew 18 per cent of the first preference vote.While not enough to put her into direct contention with Mr Small, her presence and preferences narrowed the gap considerably.Angus Taylor (right) backs up first-time candidate Ben Small. (ABC South West: Bridget McArthur)Retiring Liberal senator Linda Reynolds said she felt a female candidate would have been a stronger replacement for Ms Marino than Mr Small."People are just not relating to us and our candidates don't reflect the broad nature and the diverse nature of our communities," she told ABC Radio Perth. Professor Phillimore said the results in regional WA also highlighted a national trend of dissatisfaction with major parties on both sides of politics. In all three regional WA electorates, Labor and the Liberals recorded overall losses when it came to first preferences.Of the parties that ran in 2022, One Nation registered the biggest positive swing in Forrest and O'Connor, and the Nationals in Durack.Paul van der May (right) managed to push ahead of Georgia Beardman. (ABC South West: Bridget McArthur)Ms Price, who commences her fifth term as Durack's MP, said it was not just the Liberals who needed to reflect on their ability to reach voters. "The public are turning away from the major parties," she said. "I expect the Labor party has got to do some soul searching as well, particularly in regional Australia."Posted 1h ago1 hours agoMon 5 May 2025 at 10:59pm, updated 30m ago30 minutes agoMon 5 May 2025 at 11:53pmShare optionsCopy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)Top StoriesNationals deputy leader 'shattered' she will likely lose Senate seatLIVEPhoto shows Perin Davey listens to a press conference by Water Minister Tanya Plibersek at Parliament HouseSea of solar gives a clue why Australians chose batteries over nuclear Topic:Energy PolicyPhoto shows Electricians place solar panels on roofGreens' Adam Bandt in danger as seat of Melbourne remains on knife's edgeTopic:ElectionsPhoto shows A composite photo of a brunette woman, brown haired man with glasses, blonde woman with glasses and dark haired man.After millions of dollars and texts, Trumpet of Patriots fails to deliverTopic:ElectionsPhoto shows Palmer scratches his head.The timeline prosecutors allege in the mushroom murder trialTopic:ExplainerPhoto shows A woman standing in front of her car.Related storiesNats MP warns against Liberal leaks as power balance shiftsTopic:Australian Federal ElectionsPhoto shows A man looks at a camera.The race is on to replace Peter Dutton. 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