WAxit: Exclusive new survey results show one in three West Australians wish to secede from the nation

More than a third of West Australians want to secede from the rest of Australia. Exclusive polling conducted by The West Australian showed 34 per cent of the 837 people surveyed this week support the move for WA to become a separate nation. Support for a WAxit is highest amongst Baby Boomers with 42 per cent of respondents aged 40-59 saying yes. Close to three quarters of West Australians said that since the COVID-19 pandemic the Federal Government has put the needs of the eastern states ahead of West Australians. More than 35 per cent of those canvassed by Painted Dog Research strongly agreed with the statement that Canberra is too focused on the needs of the eastern states which has been to the detriment of WA. Much like trucks not clearing the Bayswater underpass successfully and the inability to merge on the freeway, the secessionist sentiment is at the core of the West Australian psyche. “West Australians have a very independent streak,” former WA Premier Colin Barnett said. “But it’s healthy. It comes from a entrepreneurial spirit. You just have to look at the number of high-wealth individuals we have here. It’s a have a go state that isn’t really understood by the east coast.” He added a suspicion of Canberra and physical distance also contributed to our want to be left alone. “Both [John] Howard and [Bob] Hawke told me they didn’t believe in States but they respected the Constitution,” Mr Barnett said. “WA has always had little say in national affairs and federal governments, whether Liberal or Labor, take any situation to take over WA matters. Look at things like the mining tax issue, the fight for GST and them wanting to wipe out state departments that deliver the NDIS.” While Mr Barnett doesn’t support separating from the Commonwealth he appreciates West Australians standing up for themselves to the “sneering and patronising remarks made by people who have never visited WA and if they do they never venture out to places like the Pilbara.” “It really irritated me when I was Premier when we’d be referred to as ‘parochial’ and it’s this type of superior attitude that rubs West Australians the wrong way. We have a far better understanding of the economic landscape of China and of all of Asia,” Mr Barnett said. He said one of the greatest traits West Australians have is a “sovereign nature” which has come in helpful ever since WA reluctantly joined Federation. Back in 1901 Perth was against the concept and Sandgropers dragged their feet to sign up. Archibald Sanderson’s Morning Herald warned at the time that with Federation no written constitution could prevent WA being overwhelmed by the more populous east. By the time the Depression hit in the 1930s Canberra’s high-protectionist policies, geared to benefit the east coast manufacturers, almost devastated WA’s agricultural industry. In 1933, WA voted to secede by a two-thirds majority. The victory was marked with a gala banquet in the Perth Town Hall where people sang and danced under a banner “Westralia Shall Be Free”. It was a short party. At same time it voted for secession, WA returned a Labor State government that opposed secession. After sending a delegation to London led unsuccessfully by Sir Hal Colebatch with a petition — presented in a West Australian jarrah cabinet — to British Parliament the clamour for secession quietened down when Canberra agreed to treat WA better. But the call for freedom continues to flair up. In the 1970s when Charles Court called WA the “mendicant state” and Lang Hancock became a passionate successionist and then again in 2017 when the WA Liberal State President Norman Moore moved to kickstart an investigation into WA going it alone. Just yesterday a fresh online petition was launched by Andrew Reynolds, the brother of Federal Defence Minister and WA Senator Linda Reynolds, calling for a fresh referendum and to honour the vote if West Australian’s choose to once again secede. It called for 100 signatures. Within hours 75 people had pledged their allegiance to the United State of Westralia.