Wyatt call sets Labor challenge

Ben Wyatt’s decision to leave politics will bring to an end an effective parliamentary and ministerial career.

It was Premier Mark McGowan’s ‘Christian Porter moment’, the day he saw his talented younger colleague, and probable successor, decide that a promising future in state politics was not for him.

Treasurer Ben Wyatt had just announced his intention to leave politics for family reasons.

On the Labor Party side, there was no doubt Mr Wyatt was seen as the man most likely. He had performed well in the key role of treasurer, was highly regarded within government and the wider community, and was earmarked for bigger things.

Christian Porter, with whom Mr Wyatt worked at the Director of Public Prosecutions office before entering politics, had shocked then Liberal premier Colin Barnett in 2012 when he resigned as treasurer and attorney general to contest the 2013 federal election.

This effectively left Mr Barnett in the lurch. If he had been contemplating retiring as premier during his second term, Mr Porter was the obvious successor.

In his absence, Mr Barnett served out the full second term as his personal approval ratings and support for his government sagged. The heavy defeat in 2017 followed.

Mr Porter, of course, is now federal attorney general.

Much was expected of Mr Wyatt, then aged 32, when he secured Labor endorsement for the by-election in the safe seat of Victoria Park in 2006, following then premier Geoff Gallop’s sudden resignation.

His credentials were impressive. An indigenous man educated at Aquinas College (as was his father, former senior public servant Cedric), he graduated in law from The University of Western Australia, became an officer in the Army Reserve after studying at the Royal Military College Duntroon, and won a scholarship to study at the London School of Economics.

The only downside was that his father, who also had strong Labor links, especially on the Goldfields, had been the Liberal candidate for Kalgoorlie at the 1996 federal election.

His supporters, led by former Burke government minister Julian Grill and Labor heavyweight Gary Gray, convinced party members this had been an aberration, and Ben Wyatt won the Victoria Park endorsement, and the by-election.

A fast learning curve on the backbench under Alan Carpenter’s leadership soon followed.

In opposition, new leader Eric Ripper gave Mr Wyatt key portfolios, including that of shadow treasurer. But it was apparent Labor was marking time and a growing number of MPs were becoming restless.

He mounted a leadership challenge in January 2011, only to see his promised support disappear, ostensibly because he hadn’t displayed due deference to Labor’s faceless factional leaders. It was a tough political lesson.

However, he was already making his mark in the parliament. Mr Barnett, who was beset with problems in his second term, indicated there were only two Labor shadow ministers who he would have on his front bench: Mr McGowan and Mr Wyatt.

Mr Wyatt’s reputation had also travelled east. At a function during the meeting in Perth of the British and Australian foreign affairs and defence ministers in the dying days of the federal Labor government, I introduced Mr Wyatt to the then foreign minister Bob Carr, a key player in the NSW Labor Party.

It was apparent Mr Carr already knew of Mr Wyatt, was keen to chat, and offered to be involved in a party fundraising function in his electorate.

In government, Mr Wyatt inherited a major budget deficit and growing state debt. His job was to turn that around during this term with a combination of a tough public sector wages policy and carefully targeted spending. He achieved on both fronts and is now flirting with providing sweeteners in the May budget.

Following last week’s announcement, Mr McGowan has welcomed his treasurer staying on until next year’s election. It will ensure policy continuity but also invite opposition criticism that Labor’s economic strategy is being shaped by a minister who doesn’t intend to stay.

A leading contender for treasurer, should Labor win a second term, would be Transport Minister Rita Saffioti, a former Treasury officer, although she has her hands full with the crucial Metronet rail project.

Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston, and Housing Minister Peter Tinley would also be in the mix.

And don’t be surprised if Hannah Beazley, daughter of WA governor and former federal Labor leader Kim Beazley, wins endorsement to replace Mr Wyatt in Victoria Park.