Western Australian general election campaign, 2005
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| Election campaign, 2005 | ||
| Government | Opposition | |
|---|---|---|
| Party | Labor | Liberal |
| Leader | Gallop | Barnett |
| Leader since | 1996 | 2001 |
| Seats held | 32 | 23 |
A general election campaign for parliamentary seats in the Australian state of Western Australia took place between 23 January 2005 and 26 February 2005. At the election, the incumbent Australian Labor Party, led by Premier Geoff Gallop, retained its majority in the Legislative Assembly.
Barnett's campaign-trail performance, and in particular his promise to build an enormous drinking-water canal, squandered an early advantage in some seats. The Australian concluded that "some of [Barnett's] policies are pitched to prejudice and economic ignorance, and he has made no convincing case he would be a competent premier." For The Australian, "The strongest case for a second Gallop Government is made by Mr Barnett."
[edit] Colin's Canal
Barnett decided to fight the election on his proposal to build a canal from the rivers of the Kimberley in northern Western Australia to Perth, to meet the capital's growing water supply problem.
This proposal was costed by Barnett at A$2 billion, but it soon emerged that no feasibility study or detailed costings had been done, and some experts put the cost as high as A$5 billion. The Prime Minister, John Howard, refused to commit federal funds to the project. This issue damaged Barnett's credibility, and diverted attention from other Liberal policies.
Barnett compounded his problems by delaying the release of his policy costings until a few days before the election, and then by making a A$200 million error in the costings document, which was exposed by journalists at a televised media conference.
Barnett accepted responsibility for the defeat and resigned the Liberal leadership. On 9 March 2005 Liberal MPs elected Matt Birney, the member for Kalgoorlie, as Barnett's successor.
