How Western Australia won the election for Anthony Albanese

Western Australia appears poised to deliver Anthony Albanese a majority government in a humiliating bloodbath for Scott Morrison.

Massive double-digit swings across at least six key seats held by the Liberal Party are set to push Labor over the 76-seat threshold to form government.

Hasluck, Swan, and Pearce flipped to Labor and the formerly blue ribbon seat of Curtin could be another teal independent pickup.

Three more, Tangley, Curtin and Moore, are in serious danger and either neck-and-neck or with a small lead for Labor or an independent.

Across Western Australia there was a 10.2 per cent to Labor on a two party preferred basis, compared with 2.9 per cent across the country.

Western Australia appears poised to deliver Anthony Albanese a majority government in a humiliating bloodbath for Scott Morrison – partly due to WA Premier Mark McGowan (left)

WA was always expected to swing towards Labor but the size of the projected victories are beyond even the most optimistic predictions.

Mr Morrison’s popularity nosedived in the staunchly independent state during the pandemic as Labor Premier Mark McGowan’s skyrocketed.

The prime minister and Mr McGowan regularly bickered over WA’s hard border with the eastern states for most of the two-years of the pandemic.

For months at a time the border was closed to every other state and territory in Australia and Mr Morrison’s protests only hardened their resolve.

The PM even called WA locals ‘cave people’ for hiding behind the border wall in pursuit of a ‘zero-Covid’ policy.

Perhaps the most damaging factor for Mr Morrison was his support for billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer’s court challenge to the WA hard border.

Mr Morrison was relentlessly pilloried in WA media, by Mr McGowan, and among locals until he dropped his support.

The PM made a desperate U-turn in recent months, retrospectively supporting the hard border and praising his former enemy Mr McGowan.

But it came too late with Mr Albanese seizing on the opportunity to bury his rival by launching his campaign in Perth.

Scott Morrison (right with WA premier Mark McGowan in Perth) made a desperate U-turn in recent months, retrospectively supporting the hard border and praising his former enemy

Another big factor was Mr McGowan’s phenomenal personal popularity in his home state, at one time at the height of the hard border era holding a 90-plus per cent approval rating.

Such positive sentiment translated over into federal success for Labor with the premier’s fans following his endorsement of Mr Albanese.

The results were nothing short of a bloodbath for the Liberals, losing four key marginal seats by huge margins and may lose one of the country’s safest Liberal seats to an independent.

Hasluck was gained with a swing of 11.6 per cent, Pearce – the former seat of ex-attorney-general Christian Porter – with a swing of 12.7 per cent, and Swan with a 12.2 per cent swing.

Those swings may be even bigger as less than 30 per cent of the votes have been counted.

Close battles are underway in Moore, where Liberal incumbent Ian Goodenough is ahead by just 0.6 per cent with a 11.3 per cent to Labor’s Tom French.

WA Labor launched a scathing ad campaign against Scott Morrison and the Liberals only hours after the prime minister called the federal election for May 21

Perhaps the most damaging factor for Mr Morrison was his support for billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer’s court challenge to the WA hard border 

Things look worse for Ben Morton in Tangley who is down 48.8 per cent against Labor’s Sam Lim who has 51.2 per cent with a quarter of votes counted.

The unthinkable may occur in Curtin, one of the richest seats in Australia covering Perth’s ‘golden triangle’ western suburbs, where Julie Bishop once reigned.

Ms Bishop’s replacement Celia Hammond, who rubbed many voters the wrong way with her lack of deference to her predecessor, under siege by ‘teal’ independent Kate Chaney.

Ms Chaney, who comes from one of WA’s richest families, is ahead 51.3 per cent to Ms Hammond’s 48.7 per cent.

Labor campaigned heavily in WA, with Mr Albanese making four visits to the state since pandemic border restrictions were relaxed in March.

A sea of red shirts is closely watching vote tallies on a big screen at the Belmont Sport and Recreation Centre in the seat of Swan located south of Perth’s inner-city.

Campaigner Diane Mulroy said the volunteers had worked hard to get Labor’s message across the electorate, by doorknocking 43,000 homes in the electorate since mid last year.

Fellow campaigner Roslyn Hackshaw told AAP they had reached a huge proportion of the community.

‘That’s in a seat with 110,000 electors. We reached almost everyone,’ she said.

Mr Morrison’s popularity nosedived in the staunchly independent state during the pandemic as Labor Premier Mark McGowan’s skyrocketed

Another big factor was Mr McGowan’s phenomenal personal popularity in his home state, at one time at the height of the hard border era holding a 90-plus per cent approval rating

Labor Premier Mark McGowan said on Saturday that West Australian voters could decide the outcome of the election.

Ms Chaney says she will negotiate with the major parties should she win the contest in Curtin, a traditional stronghold for the Liberals.

She told Sky on Saturday that she anticipated the Curtin race would be very close.

‘There’s definitely a strong appetite for change from the people we’ve spoken to but it’s clearly a big challenge unseating a safe Liberal seat,’ she said.

Independent candidates have been polling strongly across Australia in early voting on Saturday, with Zoe Daniel (seat of Goldstein in Victoria) and Allegra Spender (Wentworth, NSW) among several independents on track to oust their Liberal rivals.

In the event Curtin turns independent and Ms Chaney is in a powerbroker role, she said she would base her decision on which party to support on policies.

‘I would make a decision made on the issues, not on the tribe,’ she told Sky.

‘What I hear from voters in Curtin is that they’re quite disillusioned with both sides and they really care about issues like integrity and climate and think that those issues are actually more important than who the prime minister is for the next three years.

‘If my support is needed to form a minority government, I would negotiate with both parties and whether that is a formal or informal deal that can be part of the negotiation if it happens.’

Since its creation in 1949, Curtin has been held by the Liberal Party with the exception of a three-year period in the 1990s when a Liberal-turned-independent held the seat.

Elsewhere in WA, Greens Senator Dorinda Cox spent the final day of the campaign visiting at least 12 polling stations across Perth.

‘Across the electorates generally there is a really good feeling around the Greens,’ she said.

‘What we are hearing from voters is that they do want to get rid of this government, that is a clear message, and a lot of people are taking our how to vote cards,’ she said.