BATEMAN is set to become a battleground after the Nationals announced they will be running a candidate in the state election next March.
Booragoon resident Donna Gordin will be putting her hand up to contest the seat, which has been held by Labor’s Kim Giddens since 2021.
It’s the first time the National Party will be running a candidate in Bateman, and they’ll also be contesting the metropolitan seats of South Perth, Kalamunda, and the Darling Range.
The Party, which holds the majority in the Opposition after the Liberals won just two seats at the last election, are currently in the preselection process for candidates in the rest of Perth’s electorates.
• Opposition leader Shane Love with the Nationals’ Bateman candidate Donna Gordin.
“For the very first time, people in the city have an opportunity to vote for the Nationals,” Ms Gordin said.
“I had a meeting recently and there were 100 community people in the room, and I asked for a show of hands, ‘who has a connection to regional WA’, and it was 70 per cent of the room.
“There’s a very strong connection to regional WA in the city that I want to be able to promote those values in [the Bateman electorate].”
Ms Gordin says she wants to take a “common sense” approach to government if elected, labelling the current government’s “ideology” as “suffocating”.
“I think we’re seeing government interfere in people’s lives on a daily basis, and I think people just want government to get out of their lives,” she said.
“We’re seeing it with the timber industry that they shut down, and we’re seeing it with the sheep industry.”
When questioned about whether these issues are relevant to Bateman voters, Ms Gordin cited the Nats’ plan to alleviate WA’s housing crisis, including the removal of stamp duty for first home buyers.
The Nats’ plan also includes supporting builders to complete the construction of the 2500-3000 homes left unfinished by the collapse of building companies Nicheliving and Opus.
“That would free up the people that are renting and waiting to move into their houses, [which would] balance out that market as well,” she said.
“Abolishing stamp duty for first home buyers will also have a major impact.
“We’re uncapped in terms of value for first home buyers, but even meeting the median house price isn’t working, they still need to have almost $20,000 on top of their savings to even get into the market.”
WA Leader of the Opposition Shane Love sat in on the interview and says he has a bold plan to scale back Labor’s supermajority from 2021: “I expect there to be a change of government,” he said.
“We had the most surprising results at the last election, and I think we’ll see a swing back naturally [in those seats], but that’s not enough.
“I don’t want to just win Warren-Blackburn, for instance, I want to win seats right across the state for the National Party, so that we have a significant number of people in the new government.”
Mr Love says by running candidates in all of Perth’s metropolitan electorates, the Nationals are hoping to provide a third-party option for voters “disenfranchised” by the two major parties.
“I think there’s a mood for a different voice to come into the argument, and people are feeling like they’ve got a choice between one, one team and the other, and they’re looking for other options,” he said.
“Having been around some of the suburbs talking with my candidates, I wonder why we didn’t get involved in the metropolitan area earlier.
“People and communities want similar things, whether they’re in Darling Range or Bateman…there are actually staggering similarities in these communities and I think we can have a message which all Australians can understand.”
The state election will be held on March 8, 2025.
by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER