Thomas falls on sword over Burke dealings

Steve Thomas has stood down as deputy leader of the Liberal Party of WA following revelations he held conversations with disgraced former premier Brian Burke.

The South West MLC and shadow treasurer’s ousting from the role follows revelations he spoke with Mr Burke about coal issues in Collie, and used him to set up a meeting with advisory firm Poynton Stavrianou.

WA Liberal leader Libby Mettam on Tuesday said she had required and received Mr Thomas’s resignation from all shadow ministerial appointments, and his role as opposition leader of the Legislative Council.

“The revelations of two-way interactions between my deputy, Steve Thomas, and Brian Burke, were brought to my attention yesterday afternoon by the media and were deeply disappointing,” she said.

“This morning, I met with Dr Thomas to receive a full explanation and I accept that he was motivated by trying to do the very best by his electorate.

“However, engaging with Mr Burke and failing to disclose those interactions were a significant failure of judgment by Dr Thomas and do not meet the high standards I expect of my deputy and a senior Shadow Minister in my team.”

Ms Mettam said she would consider Dr Thomas’s role in the party in the coming days.

Dr Thomas had initially denied any links with Mr Burke when asked by WAToday, which allegedly led to Mr Burke himself revealing the contact the pair had made.

His dealings with Mr Burke are a distraction for the Liberal Party, which has been pushing the case for an audit into the state government's COVID-era $22 million entertainment grants program.

Live Entertainment WA, which lobbied for the grants, engaged Mr Burke as a consultant.

Government ministers have been banned from any contact with Mr Burke due to his ties to the notorious WA Inc saga and his subsequent lobbying practices.