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The make-up of the hotly contested byelection for the now empty seat of Secret Harbour is starting to take shape, with one major party officially ruling out nominating a candidate.
The seat was vacated following the resignation of long-term Labor minister and MP Paul Papalia, who announced he would retire from politics after a close family member had been diagnosed with a serious illness, which meant he could not continue to give his parliamentary role the attention it deserved.
WA Nationals president Paul Gillet said his party has ruled out nominating a candidate for the seat, and has urged the local community to vote in favour of the Liberals.
“The Nationals are committed to working with the WA Liberal Party to unseat Labor in Secret Harbour and continue towards our shared goal of ending a decade of a state Labor government,” he said.
“In keeping with that commitment, the Nationals WA have made the decision to not contest the Secret Harbour by-election, and recommend voters support the Liberal candidate.”
WA’s Liberal Party has nominated a candidate with a similar career background to the outgoing Papalia to challenge for Secret Harbour.
Ryan Robertson is a councillor for the City of Rockingham, a former submariner, and is the only person to have put his hand up to run for the seat as a Liberal candidate.
“If successful, I think he will be an outstanding advocate for the people of Secret Harbour,” WA Liberal leader Basil Zempilas said this week.
Papalia had a long career with the navy prior to his time in politics.
Labor were the first cab off the ranks to name a candidate, selecting Georgia Tree who has worked with the federal Labor party as a former staffer for Brand MP Madeleine King, with the state government hopeful the selection will be the key to retaining Papalia’s seat.
Tree, who has also worked for Woodside as a government relations staffer, said she put her hand up for the seat because of her belief in Labor’s policies and how they had created opportunities for the community.
“I’m putting up my hand because Labor built the Mandurah line. I couldn’t have got to uni without it, and now Labor is capping transport fares at $2.80 no matter where you live,” she said.
The Greens WA have preselected Rhi Davies as the party’s choice for the seat.
Davies joined The Greens in the lead up to the 2025 state and federal elections, with the party stating its candidate was compelled to action by the capitulation of the major parties to foreign governments, billionaires, and multinational corporations.
“Rhi is running for Secret Harbour for the Greens because the community is facing a critical turning point, with the cost-of-living and housing crises putting local families into enormous stress,” a party spokesperson said.
“The average renter in Secret Harbour is spending over 30 per cent of their income on rent and house prices here have doubled in the past year while, the average home costs a massive eight times the average household income.
“Yet as families are living in cars and tents, WA Labor has failed to address the housing crisis, while the Liberals and One Nation distract us with culture wars.”
The Legalise Cannabis WA party named a former two-term councillor for the City of Rockingham and a long-term resident of the South Metropolitan Region as its candidate, in Dr Craig Buchanan, who plans to stand on a platform of sensible, evidence-based cannabis reform, based on his own personal journey after he was diagnosed with bowel cancer and underwent major surgery.
“Secret Harbour deserves a representative who will hold decision-makers to account and push for laws based on science, not prejudice,” Buchanan said.
“I’m ready to work across party lines to serve our community with compassion and common sense.”
The Australian Christians party have nominated Robert Burdett, a candidate with a background in mining and industrial construction, with work centred around the Kwinana Strip and the Henderson naval industries, as well as projects throughout the state and the northwest oil and gas sector.
He later worked as an industry health and safety adviser and trainer for 15 years.
The big question emerging as the cut-off date for candidate nominations quickly draws to an end is who One Nation will select as its representative in the byelection.
WA One Nation leader Rod Caddies has previously revealed the seat was in his party’s sights.
“But we all know his attacks on One Nation are self-serving,” Caddies said of the premier, following party leader Pauline Hanson’s whirlwind visit last month.
“He knows that we’re the favourites in Kwinana, he knows we are the favourites in Secret Harbour, and he knows we are the greatest threat to his majority.”
However, at the time of writing the party was yet to nominate a candidate.
The seat was created in 2023 following a redistribution of electoral boundaries and replaced the former seat of Warnbro, which itself was only created in 2008 to replace the previous electorate of Peel.
Technically, Labor is the only party to hold both Warnbro and Secret Harbour, with Papalia the only local member elected to the seat, but the area has long been considered a stronghold for the current government.
Of the currently named candidates for the seat, only Burdett has previously contested for Secret Harbour after receiving 755 votes in last year’s election.
Papalia comfortably won the 2025 contest for Secret Harbour, with more than 60 per cent of the vote on the two-party preferred model of voting.
However, the final structure of the contest is still to be confirmed with the close of candidate nominations set for midday on July 21, and polling day on August 29.
Holly Thompson is a journalist with WAtoday, specialising in education and the environment.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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