State Election 2021: Exit polls show WA Labor has 70 per cent of early vote

A straw poll of hundreds of West Australians casting their ballots in key electorates on the first day of early voting has found overwhelming support for WA Labor — or more specifically, for Premier Mark McGowan. About 15,000 people visited one of 70 early voting centre across the State yesterday, the first wave of hundreds of thousands of voters expected to do the same well ahead of the official March 13 election day. They were greeted by scores of politicians, candidates and volunteers handing out how-to-vote cards in a last-ditch bid to win support but in the early running it was apparent most voters had already made up their minds. The West Australian was at four voting centres — located in the seats of Riverton, Hillarys, Scarborough and Mandurah — to ask voters who they were backing and what they viewed as the biggest issues facing the State. Seventy per cent of the 335 people surveyed revealed they had voted Labor, with 28 per cent backing Opposition Leader Zak Kirkup’s Liberals and the rest voting for minor parties. Mr McGowan’s party enjoyed majority support at all four locations: Mandurah, a traditional Labor stronghold but adjacent to Mr Kirkup’s Dawesville electorate (77 per cent); Hillarys (71 per cent); Scarborough (62 per cent); and Riverton (61 per cent). While the exit poll was non-scientific — ballots cast at early voting centres can be for any electorate — and based on a relatively small sample of voters, its result was in line with a recent Newspoll that placed Labor ahead of the Liberals 68-32 on a two-party preferred basis. Hillarys, Scarborough and Riverton are all long-held Liberal seats at risk of turning red while bookies also rate Mr Kirkup an underdog in his own electorate Unsurprisingly, coronavirus was front of mind for voters yesterday, many of whom cited Mr McGowan’s handling of the pandemic as the decisive factor in securing their support. “I had to think long and hard about who I was going to vote for, because McGowan’s lockdown meant my 80th birthday party was cancelled,” one woman at the Riverton centre said. “But I voted Labor, because he’s done well.” In Mandurah, a self-described swinging voter revealed she had also gone with Labor. “I have voted Liberal before. I was just disappointed with the Liberals over COVID, with (former WA Liberal leader Liza) Harvey. Labor have stood up,” she said. A retired South West farmer said he always voted Liberal but decided to switch as a show of support for Mr McGowan’s COVID response. In Hillarys, where many of those queuing up to vote were seniors, an elderly woman credited the Premier with keeping West Australians “safe and alive”. “If the Liberals are in when we have another outbreak. I don’t see us surviving that,” she said. In a sign of Mr McGowan’s unprecedented personal popularity — boosted by daily pandemic press conferences streamed live into homes across WA — one Hillarys man said the Premier was “a god” and “should be on the $10 bill along with Steve Irwin”. Another at the same voting centre said he was “the most down-to-earth, genuine politician Australia has”. The West Australian did not poll at the Falcon voting centre — one of the suburbs in Mr Kirkup’s Dawesville electorate — but a long-time Liberal volunteer handing out how-to-vote cards said a “lame dog” could win the seat if it belonged to Mr McGowan. She said Mr Kirkup, who has been an active member since winning the seat in 2017, also had support but she could feel a swing since the last election. “It was knife-edge (in 2017). We all knew it, but we were all very hopeful,” she said. “I felt more hope then.” With a Labor landslide looming, Mr Kirkup has pivoted his campaign messaging in recent weeks to warn of the risk in handing Mr McGowan “total control” of Parliament. “We've seen what's happened in the past when Labor's had too much control with WA Inc and with cosy deals with property developers,” he said. That sentiment appeared to have gained traction among Liberal voters yesterday, many of whom said they did not want Labor to enjoy an Upper House majority which would allow the passage of laws unopposed. Others expressed frustration at the frequently changing border arrangements and the effect the policy had had on their business interests. While Mr McGowan was frequently mentioned by name by Labor voters, Mr Kirkup did not enjoy the same level of recognition even among Liberal backers — with the notable exception of within his own electorate. “I like Zak Kirkup. He looks after his local constituents. He’s good locally,” one Dawesville man said. Another said: “Kirkup is down here, he’s our local bloke. He’s going as well as he can be, I mean he’s the underdog.”