WA Premier Roger Cook examining possible contingency plans in case of federal election date clash

West Australians already have March 8 marked as the date they head to the polls for next year’s state election.

But if Anthony Albanese chooses that date for a federal election, it will have to be moved.

WA Premier Roger Cook raised eyebrows on Monday when he said his government had sought legal advice on what it can do in the event the elections are scheduled close together.

As federal Labor continues to get its ducks in a row for a 2025 election — with May 17 being the latest practical date it could be held — it’s becoming more of a possibility.

Mr Cook said there is limited ability to change the state election date if the two polls are close together.

“We’re doing a lot of work at the moment, and the Electoral Commission is doing a lot of work just understanding what that some of those complexities might be in the event that the federal government decides to have an election close to ours,” he said.

How can the date be changed?

The fixed date of the WA election — the second Saturday in March every four years — was passed into legislation back in 2011 and has been held on this date ever since.

“To date, a WA state election has never been rescheduled due to a federal election being held on the same date,” a WA Electoral Commission spokesperson said.

Should the clash occur, the WA governor has the ability to set the date to be one week later — meaning WA’s new election date would be Saturday March 15, 2025.

And, under “exceptional circumstances”, and if both the premier and the leader of the opposition agree, they can recommend to the governor it be further delayed.

Before or after WA election?

Having the elections one week apart is not a scenario many would want — it would put pressure on electoral staff and there is the threat of voter fatigue. 

However, there could be some benefits for WA Labor if the federal election happens first.

“It’s in the interest of WA Labor for the federal election to probably happen before the state election,” University of Notre Dame professor of politics Martin Drum said.

“If there’s people who are a bit unhappy with federal Labor, and I think state Labor is performing better than federal Labor, then they can give Labor a whack [at the federal election] … and WA Labor would still be in better shape to run on state issues.”

Professor Drum said if there are “grievances against the federal government” then they could be resolved first before a state election.

But Professor Drum feels federal Labor would be quite content to wait until after the WA poll. 

“I wouldn’t go first if I was federal Labor, the election is not due until May 2025, so it doesn’t in my view make a lot of sense for Labor to go early … they’re not tracking especially well in the polls,” he said.

“They would only go early, I would have thought, if you think you’re confident about winning … I’m not sure why you would go early if you’re not so confident about winning.”

Who floated the potential clash?

Mr Cook said yesterday he had sought the advice purely as a contingency. 

“Because I understood that there would be a federal election in the first half of the next year, so any government that’s responsibly managing the situation would obviously be aware of all contingencies and scenarios,” he said.

He said Mr Albanese has not given him any indication a clash may occur, and that he did not seek the legal advice as a result of talking to him.

However, federal opposition leader Peter Dutton suggested Mr Cook was engaged in a “secret discussion or deal” with the prime minister.

“Well, that’s entirely false and it’s not surprising,” Mr Cook said.

Regardless of who called who and why Mr Cook is investigating a potential shift, he did stress he was confident the date would not change. 

“There’s been no date set for the federal election — I can assure you the date for the state election is March 8.”

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