Premier Colin Barnett says he expects Alannah MacTiernan to "do the right thing" and stand down from state politics by the end of the year after the Labor MP announced she will enter federal politics.
Premier Colin Barnett says he expects Alannah MacTiernan to "do the right thing" and stand down from state politics by the end of the year after the Labor MP announced she will enter federal politics.
Yesterday, Ms MacTiernan announced she would run for the federal seat of Canning, which boundaries take in her current state electorate of Armadale.
Mr Barnett said while Ms MacTiernan is entitled to find a seat in federal parliament, she will not find it easy to unseat Liberal MP Don Randall, who has held the seat of Canning since 2001.
She requires a swing of just over 5 per cent to unseat Mr Randall, who Mr Barnett described as a "very popular, very hardworking and very effective member for Canning".
Mr Barnett added that he expects Ms MacTiernan to stand down from state politics later this year.
"I will find it strange if she continues to be on the front bench of the state opposition; that to me would be an untenable situation," he said.
Asked whether he was relieved that he would not have to face Ms MacTiernan if she were elected state Labor leader at the next state election, Mr Barnett said you cannot rule anything out in politics.
Meantime, Ms MacTiernan rates herself a "50-50" chance of winning the federal seat of Canning.
Ms MacTiernan, planning and infrastructure minister in the previous state Labor government, said today her move was decided after assurances from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd that Labor would give "real focus" to her battle for the seat.
"It's on that basis I'm putting my hand up," Ms MacTiernan told Fairfax Radio Network.
"I accept that we require a five per cent swing. I give myself a 50-50 chance of winning.
" ... in political life, to make advancement you've got to take risks, it's just simply not a game that you can play by being cautious and always looking to have a secure future.
"There is a risk involved but in my assessment the benefits, if I can win it, will outweigh the risk."
She said her contest against Mr Randall would be a "battle royale".
"I don't want anyone to think this is going to be a lay-down misere," she said.
"It's going to be a battle royale, but I've had a few of those in my time so I'm happy to have a shot at it."
Ms MacTiernan has denied that a failure to find the numbers to challenge current WA Labor leader Eric Ripper is behind her decision to run for a federal seat.
She said the promotion of WA is "critically important" and she wants to "enhance the WA Labor team in Canberra".
"We've only got four of the 15 seats in this state. We need to strengthen our experience," she said.
