Campaigning formally kicks off forward of state ballot | USAEMALL.com

The Western Australian government is set to enter a caretaker period as official campaigning kicks off for the state election.

Voters will head to the polls on March 8, with conservatives tipped to reclaim some of Australia’s most affluent electorates from Labor.

But they’re unlikely to stop Premier Roger Cook from leading his party to a third term in office.

The election writs will be issued on Wednesday marking the official start of the election campaign.

Though Mr Cook has been in campaign mode for months making dozens of election promises off the back of another massive state surplus.

“Western Australians are welcoming and pleased that our focus is around cost of living measures, continuing to grow housing supply and big investment in our world-class health system,” he told reporters on Tuesday when asked about his pitch to voters.

Mr Cook said the party was “focused on making sure that we campaign hard”.

“Every one of my candidates is out on the doorsteps, is on the phones, talking to the people as part of this process and we take no seat for granted,” he said.

The government holds 53 seats in the lower house with the Liberals and Nationals holding three each after Labor’s unprecedented landslide victory in 2021, under then-premier Mark McGowan, primarily due to the party’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and its closed border policy.

Analysts predict the Liberal and National parties to regain previously held blue-ribbon seats but they’re unlikely to secure enough to form a government.

Liberal leader Libby Mettam said the Labor government had failed to capitalise on the state’s economic boom and her party would address the problems troubling voters.

“We’re focused on fixing a broken health system, addressing law and order issues across the state, fixing our housing crisis, and building more homes and addressing the real issues that matter to Western Australians,” she said.

“This is a government that is so focused on themselves that what we’ve seen over the last eight years is a comprehensive failure to deliver for Western Australians during the largest boom our state has ever seen.”