Ex-McGowan staffer earmarked as WA Labor secretary

One-time Mark McGowan adviser turned lobbyist Mark Reed will be the next state secretary of the WA Labor Party, Business News understands.

In a move that would represent a shift back to the party, Mr Reed is understood to have been earmarked for the role to be vacated by Ellie Whiteaker next year.

Mr Reed worked for Mr McGowan from 2017 until 2022, when he left state politics to set up a Western Australian office for eastern states lobby group Anacta.

He is currently one of four Anacta employees on the state’s lobbying register.

The move into the state secretary role would represent a return to the party for United Workers Union-aligned Mr Reed, who served as a Labor operative for more than a decade before his 2022 resignation.

It comes amid a period of transition for the party as it prepares for state and federal ballots in the first half of next year.

Ms Whiteaker’s departure was pre-empted by her preselection to lead WA Labor’s Senate ticket at the next federal election, which all but guarantees her a position in the upper house.

One half of a Labor party power couple alongside Cockburn MP David Scaife, she is also aligned to the party’s left and is likely to transition out of her current role before starting as a senator on July 1. 

A potential successor for Ms Whiteaker, WA Labor’s assistant state secretary Lauren Cayoun sits 11^th on the party’s state upper house ticket; a position considered more winnable than not.

WA Labor president Lorna Clarke has been preselected for the safe lower house seat of Butler, in place of the retiring attorney-general John Quigley.

Another behind-the-scenes change was prompted when Dan Pastorelli was confirmed as the WA Labor candidate for Landsdale, replacing former cabinet minister Margaret Quirk.

Mr Pastorelli worked alongside Mr Reed in Mr McGowan’s office and is currently chief of staff to Premier Roger Cook.

Labor won Landsdale with a 9.6 per cent margin at the 2021 state election.

Another lobbyist, Regen Strategic founder Daniel Smith, is considered likely to take up the chief of staff position to be vacated by Mr Pastorelli.

Mr Smith recently sold out of Regen and is closely tied to Mr Cook.

The premier was a guest of note at Regen’s official farewell party for Mr Smith at Lawson Flats last week.

The musical chairs within WA Labor takes places against a period of transition for the parliamentary party, with several senior figures departing ahead of the 2025 state election.

Mr McGowan, Michelle Roberts, David Templeman, Sue Ellery, Mr Quigley, Bill Johnston, Alannah MacTiernan, Peter Tinley, Lisa Baker, Matthew Hughes, Chris Tallentire, Kyle McGinn and Jess Shaw are among those from the party to have called time on their parliamentary careers during the current term of government.

There has also been turnover in the ranks of some of the state’s most prominent unions.

The influential Owen Whittle left his role as secretary of Unions WA after four years in October, to take up a role as the chief executive of West Australian Music.

The Australian Nursing Federation’s WA branch has had three secretaries since the August 30 resignation of Janet Reah, with Mark Olson’s return stint in the role short-lived following a challenge from his ultimate successor and current secretary Romina Raschilla.

The WA Police Union dumped president Paul Gale late on October.

His replacement, Dave Flaherty, became the union’s fifth president in less than 10 years.