The Western Australian state election, held on 8 March 2025, concluded with the Labor Party, led by Premier Roger Cook, securing a third consecutive term. Labor won at least 37 seats, surpassing the 30-seat threshold required to form a government. The Liberal Party faced a disappointing performance, mirroring their 2021 losses, with analyst Antony Green describing the outcome as “disastrous.”
Labor’s South Asian representation stood strong in the Western Australian state election, even as the party faced swings against it across multiple electorates. Kevin Michel, who has held Pilbara since 2017, survived a tough challenge despite a notable dip in his primary vote. Dr Jags Krishnan kept Riverton in Labor’s hands with a reduced but still comfortable 10-point margin. Yaz Mubarakai successfully transitioned from Jandakot to the newly created seat of Oakford, securing an easy victory with 64% of the two-party-preferred vote. The numbers may have tightened, but Labor’s diverse slate of candidates showed resilience in the face of a Liberal Party eager to claw back lost ground.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Party’s ambitious strategy of fielding eight Indian-origin candidates was met with a harsh reality check. Hopes of making inroads into traditionally safe Labor seats quickly faded as the margins became clear. Ash Kumar in Bassendean went down by 49.4 percentage points. Aswath Chavittupara in Morley managed to reduce Labor’s hold but still fell short by 33.2 points. Atul Garg in Bibra Lake suffered a 43.8-point defeat, while Biju Anthony in Belmont trailed by 34.4 points.
West Swan, home to a large Indian-Australian community, saw Lucky Saini fail to gain traction, finishing 48 points behind Labor’s Rita Saffioti. Thornlie was a brutal contest for Mahesh Arumugam, who pulled just 15.7% of first-preference votes in one of the safest Labor seats in the state. Southern River’s Sudhir Chowdhary faced a similar result, losing by 47.4 points. Bateman was the only close contest among the eight, with Nitin Vashisht coming within six points of Labor’s Kim Giddens.
Despite these results, there were signs of movement. The Liberal primary vote improved across several districts. Chavittupara in Morley saw a 13.9% swing in primary votes, and both Anthony (Belmont) and Saini (West Swan) gained around 6%. While the Liberal Party was in no position to take these seats outright, the numbers suggest that some voters were starting to drift back after the wipeout of 2021.
The biggest surprise of the night came in Churchlands, where media personality Basil Zempilas ran a high-profile campaign against Labor’s Christine Tonkin. The contest was tight, and after a long count, Zempilas emerged victorious by a slim 53–47% margin. In Riverton, Dr Jags Krishnan saw his hold on the seat weaken but ultimately retained it for Labor.
The broader picture tells a story of a Liberal Party still in recovery mode. Some progress was made, with the party reclaiming Carine and potentially securing Churchlands. But in the seats where the party experimented with a diverse slate of candidates, the gap remained too large to bridge.
The challenge ahead is clear. The Liberals will need more than fresh faces to overcome entrenched Labor support in suburban WA. The modest swings in their favour show that the ground is shifting, but the road back to relevance remains long. Whether the party continues its strategy of running diverse candidates in key battlegrounds or takes a different approach will be a test of its long-term vision. For now, Labor’s MPs have proven that familiarity and consistency still hold weight with WA voters.
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