Shifting boundaries boost Liberal and National hopes in Albany and Warren-Blackwood a year out from election

Great Southern electorates were swept up in the wave of support for Labor at the 2021 State election, now with a year to go before WA returns to the polls the major parties are gearing up for a new campaign.

Albany was comfortably won by Rebecca Stephens with a margin of 13.7 per ahead of Liberal candidate Scott Leary.

Ms Stephens is expected to run for a second term but must be formally endorsed by the party in the coming months.

There is a high chance she will face a familiar opponent with Mr Leary believed to have signalled his intent to nominate for preselection again though his candidacy is not yet locked in.

At the weekend, the Liberal Party set a closing date of April 3 for its preselection nomination period.

It is understood at least one other Albany branch member — Thomas Brough — will put their hat in the ring.

A meeting in late April will determine which candidate is put forward to the party’s state council for formal endorsement in mid-May.

National Party insiders are also expected to put forward a strong candidate in the electorate, with its call-out for preselection nominations set to run until late April.

It is then expected to officially endorse a candidate in early June.

The two opposition parties will both consider their chances of winning Albany boosted by the reshaping of boundaries to include the entire Shire of Plantagenet, which has traditionally voted more conservatively.

At the 2021 election, when the Shire of Plantagenet was part of Warren-Blackwood, the Nationals recorded the highest number of first preference votes at polling booths in Kendenup, Narrikup, Porongurup and Mt Barker.

While Albany has remained a Labor seat since Peter Watson first prevailed in 2001, it had previously been held by the Liberals for 27 years when it was represented by Leon Watt and then Kevin Prince.

Warren-Blackwood

Changes in Warren-Blackwood are also expected to make Labor’s chances of retaining the seat, currently occupied by Denmark’s Jane Kelsbie, tougher.

The electorate has grown to include the final portion of the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River, which was previously in Vasse, but lost its presence in the shires of Donnybrook-Balingup and Plantagenet.

Before Ms Kelsbie’s win at the 2021 election, by a margin of just 1.3 per cent, the electorate had been held by the National’s Terry Redman for two terms after a nearly two-decade stint by Paul Omodei, predominantly as a member of the Liberal Party.

It had not been represented by a Labor member since David Evans in 1989 when the seat was simply known as Warren.

The nomination period for the National Party closed on February 18, with the party’s state council expected to meet to endorse its candidate later this month.

Strong candidates are also expected to be nominated from within the Liberal Party.

The timeline for nominations and official endorsement is the same as the one set out for Albany.

The WA State election will take place on March 8, 2025.