New WA Liberals’ deputy leader Steve Martin promises to be a ‘strong regional voice’ for WA

Newly anointed WA Liberals deputy leader Steve Martin has vowed to fight Labor’s “continual attacks on regional industries” and says his farming background means there’s no one better for the job. Mr Martin, who is the Member for the Agricultural Region, was appointed to the new role last week after South West MLC Steve Thomas was relegated to Libby Mettam’s backbench for his dealings with disgraced former Labor premier Brian Burke. The demotion came after it was revealed Dr Thomas used Mr Burke to set up a meeting in January with leading Perth business figure John Poynton to discuss the future of Bluewaters Power Station, near Collie. Mr Martin said it was an “honour” to be elected deputy Leader, adding that regional West Australians “need and deserve” an Opposition that could hold Labor to account. “More than ever, we need strong regional voices in Parliament as the number of regional MPs continues to be cut at the expense of more seats in Perth,” he told Countryman. “Given Labor’s continual attacks on regional people and regional industries, it’s important to have someone with farming experience who has lived in a small country town as a part of the Liberal leadership team.” Mr Thomas, a first-term MP elected in 2021, grew up on his family’s farm at East Wickepin in WA’s Wheatbelt. After working as a journalist for a decade, he returned with wife Debbie to the farm where the couple have raised two sons and been partners in the family business — alongside his parents, brother, and sister-in-law — for nearly 30 years. He said the business was a typical mixed-farming operation with livestock, cereals, legumes and oilseeds. “Libby and I are both regional MPs and understand the challenges facing people outside the metropolitan area,” Mr Martin said. “Regional WA in particular has had to deal with a lot under this Government.” Under Labor, he said regional families were grappling with cost-of-living pressures, a struggling health system and an ongoing housing crisis, while “basic failures in law and order go unaddressed”. With an electorate spanning from Kalbarri in the Mid West to Esperance in the south, Mr Martin’s responsibilities include shadow minister for housing and forestry, and deputy chair of committees. He was elected deputy leader at a caucus meeting on February 28 after Dr Thomas, who was a key cog of a Liberal Party room decimated at the 2021 election, resigned from the front bench the day prior. Dr Thomas was returned to the shadow ministry three days later, retaining the key portfolio of energy and industrial relations despite being stripped of his positions as deputy leader, shadow treasurer and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council. Mr Martin picked up Dr Thomson’s former planning and lands portfolios, while the reshuffle also saw Mining and Pastoral Region MLC Neil Thomson promoted to shadow treasurer while holding on to responsibility for environment. North Metropolitan Region MLC Peter Collier replaced Dr Thomas as Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council. The scandal has damaged Ms Mettam’s credibility after she spent weeks attacking the Cook Government over Mr Burke’s involvement securing taxpayer-funded grants for the live events industry and struggling homebuilders.