By Chris Thomson | posted on January 24, 2019
ALMOST 200 Labor and Liberal heavyweights will hit Albany in a fortnight to impress voters in the electorate of ALP stalwart Peter Watson who will not confirm if he will run again in 2021.
The Weekender can reveal that Premier Mark McGowan and most of his ministers will press the flesh at events and media conferences across Western Australia’s original port city on February 5 and 6.
On February 4, at the Brunswick Road house of Ports and Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan, Mr McGowan will headline a fundraising night for Mr Watson.
Remaining coy on whether he will run in 2021, the former Olympian would smash Leonard Hill’s two-decade record as Albany’s longest serving MP if he did contest, win, and remain in office for just 20 days.
Slated to attend the $100-a-head ($75 concession) bash are Treasurer Ben Wyatt, Transport Minister Rita Saffioti and Tourism Minister Paul Papalia.
A planning day for State Cabinet, held an- nually, will also occur while the ministers are in town.
Several announcements – about creating jobs and keeping 2017 election promises – will also be made.
One announcement that is due is the winner of the right to host an $18 million State bushfire centre of excellence.
If a non-Perth location is chosen, the centre will be a decentralisation and regional jobs milestone for the McGowan government.
Albany, Denmark and Plantagenet have lodged a joint bid for the centre.
The Government has declined to reveal which locations have been shortlisted, citing Cabinet-in-confidence constraints, but it is understood the Great Southern bid was highly regarded.
With most Cabinet ministers in Albany, announcing the Great Southern had secured the high profile centre would secure maximum political capital for the Government.
Not to be outdone by Labor’s charm offensive, Opposition Leader Mike Nahan will spearhead a 150-strong contingent of Liberals set to hit town on February 7, 8 and 9.
Dr Nahan’s Shadow Ministry, Federal heavy-weights including Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, and a phalanx of political staffers will be in Albany for the State Parliamentary Liberal Party Summer Conference.
Dr Nahan said holding the conference in Albany reflected the city’s importance to the “State’s future and the Liberal Party”.
Liberals’ State Director Sam Calabrese said the annual conference for the federal electorate of O’Connor would also occur.
“Party members will participate in a variety of functions and events, including our first State Council meeting for 2019, which will include an address from Mr Ron Nehring, an American expert on cyber security and former member of the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection,” he said.
Mr Nehring, a former chair of the Californian Republican Party, worked on Ted Cruz’s bitter primaries campaign against Donald Trump in the lead-up to Mr Trump’s victory in the 2016 US Presidential election.
The Liberals believe a 2021 election sans Mr Watson would be a once-in-20-year opportunity to secure the prized regional seat.
They see victory in the electorate as key to ensuring Labor, which took office in a landslide in 2017, does not stay in power for three terms.
