Former Nationals leader Mia Davies and Walkley award winning journalist Matt Moran have been preselected to contest the seat of Bullwinkel at the next federal election.
Former leader of The Nationals WA Mia Davies and Walkley award-winning journalist Matt Moran have been preselected to contest the seat of Bullwinkel at the next federal election.
Ms Davies was announced as the Nationals candidate for the newly created seat, while Mr Moran will contest for the Liberal Party.
Both were selected at their party’s respective state council meetings on Saturday.
The naming of the pair leaves Labor as the last major party to announce its candidate, with WA Mining and Pastoral MLC Kyle McGinn tipped as a frontrunner for the position.
Mr Moran, who deployed to Afghanistan as a public affairs officer in 2009 and was a media adviser for former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, said the electorate held a special place in his heart.
“I was born in Kalamunda, raised in Boya, and my family had a small farm in Toodyay for many years,” he said.
“The Liberal Party’s principles of principles of individual freedom and free enterprise resonate strongly with me.
“I believe Bullwinkel needs and a strong and experienced representative who embodies those Liberal values and has a deep personal connection to the community.”
Mr Moran secured 78 of the 135 preselection votes, with Holly Ludeman next with 29 votes.
The new Liberal candidate was the inaugural executive director of Defence West for two years from 2019 after a stint at the Minister for Defence Industry's office as a senior policy adviser.
He has been the head of strategy and government relations at Luerssen Australia for the past two years and is also a board member of RSL WA.
It’s Mr Moran's second tilt at preselection, after he failed to win preselection to face independent Kate Chaney in Curtin.
In that contest, he lost to former Uber Boss Tom White 192 votes to 164.
In July, when announcing she would seek preselection, Ms Davies said the live sheep export saga was what drove her decision to run.
“It’s been a sad story to watch the communities that I represent have a decision like this imposed on them,” she said.
“Nobody should have a legitimate business pulled out from underneath them for political or ideological reasons.
“I can't sit by and watch what this Albanese Labor government has been doing to our communities and Western Australia.”
In January 2023, Ms Davies announced she would step down as The Nationals WA party leader and not contest her Central Wheatbelt seat at the 2025 state election.
At the time, she said she had no fuel left in the tank. But in July, Ms Davies said she was absolutely recharged.
“I’m ready to go. My family has a saying: if you think you can make a difference, you should,” she said.
“There are no guarantees in politics. I know that it's hard work, making sure you understand your community, taking an approach where everyone gets to come and have that conversation with you.
“I think I've proven (myself) in my time as a state member of parliament and in leadership roles and I know I'll be able to hit the ground running.”
Leader of The Nationals WA, Shane Love, voiced his strong support for Mia Davies, highlighting the impact he said she had on the state.
“State parliament’s loss will be Canberra’s gain,” Mr Love said.
“Mia has been a steadfast leader in the state parliament, playing a critical role in the successful delivery of Royalties for Regions and making key decisions as a former cabinet minister and as opposition leader.
“Her track record speaks volumes. Mia is exactly the type of champion we need to stand up for WA in Canberra.”
The seat of Bullwinkel is expected to be heavily targeted by a farmer-backed campaign in response to the live sheep export ban, with Pastoralist and Graziers Association WA president Tony Seabrook earlier this month putting Labor politicians on notice.
“It is appalling that the five Labor senators in WA have refused to listen to their regional constituents and vote against the government’s Bill to end the live sheep trade,” he said at the time.
“Since the Bill was introduced, thousands of WA farmers, transporters, stock agents, small businesses, and members of the public from regional and metro WA have shown their support behind keeping live sheep exports, including the Labor premier of WA, Roger Cook.
“Yet not one single WA Labor senator stood up to the prime minister and defended the livelihoods of thousands of Western Australians.”
The seat of Bullwinkel is the newest electorate in the WA political landscape, proposed by the AEC electorate redistribution in May.
It extends south from the Toodyay local government area to Beverley, encompassing Kalamunda, Mundaring, Northam, and York, as well as parts of Swan, Armadale and Gosnells.
About 14.57 per cent of WA voters will move into the new division, with Hasluck, Swan, Durack, Canning, Burt and O’Connor set to shrink.
Lieutenant Colonel Vivian Bullwinkel was a survivor of the sinking of SS Vyner Brooke following the evacuation of Singapore and was the sole survivor of the 1942 Bangka Island massacre.
She was also a prisoner of war for three and a half years.
She retired from the army in 1947 and become director of nursing at Melbourne’s Fairfield Hospital and was instrumental in seeing Australian nursing education moved from hospitals to universities.
