Federal election 2025: Liberal incumbent Rick Wilson runs for fifth term as member for O’Connor

Rick Wilson says he has unfinished business in the district of O’Connor as he begins his fifth campaign to hold on to the seat in the upcoming Federal election. Elected in 2013 after the retirement of Nationals MP Tony Crook, the 59-year-old took over governance of the vast electorate — the third largest in Australia — with aplomb, thanks to his two decades of involvement in agri-politics. Born in Katanning, Mr Wilson took over the running of the family sheep and wheat farm at 14 with his 17-year-old brother Allan, following the death of their father. Throughout his 25 years of farming, he became entrenched in industry politics, first serving as vice-chair of the Grains Committee at the Pastoralists and Graziers Association from 2000 to 2008 then chair of Western Grain Growers from 2008 to 2011. It was the success of his decade-long campaign to deregulate the wheat industry — eventually resulting in the dissolution of the Australia Wheat Board’s industry monopoly — that triggered Mr Wilson to put his name on the ballot paper. “I was travelling to Canberra a lot during that lobby period to meet with politicians and got to sort of look at how the sausages are made,” he said. “Although it’s not always pretty, if you want to, you know, make a difference in the world I realised Canberra was obviously the place to do it.” Having been a passive member of the Liberal Party for a while, Mr Wilson was preselected two-and-a-half years before the 2013 election, winning against Nationals candidate Chub Witham. All one million square kilometres of the O’Connor electorate have been safely in his hands ever since, with the shadow minister for trade winning the 2016, 2019 and 2022 elections by a convincing margin. Mr Wilson said he does not let past success give way to complacency though, slamming the “token efforts” of other political parties contending for the seat. “I will never take the electors of O’Connor for granted,” he said. “I think that the other parties, if they’re serious about this seat, would have certainly had someone in the field earlier. “There’s a lot of issues, particularly that the Federal Labor Government have imposed on the people of O’Connor and the live sheep trade is one of those which is resonating very strongly across the regional communities. “These are the things that I think, you know, the Labor Party should have been out talking about, debating, justifying — or perhaps it’s just an admission that these policies are really for the inner city seats and the regional seats don’t really matter.” The long-serving politician has been vocal in his dissent of the sheep export ban and other legislation and projects he considers “poor policies” and “extreme measures” including the South Coast Marine Park and the Nature Positive Laws. In his time as the Federal member, Mr Wilson has injected funding into “literally hundreds of projects” across the electorate, including several high-profile Albany projects such as the Albany Motorsport Park, National Anzac Centre and the upcoming artificial surf reef. His proudest achievements, however, are to do with the day-to-day practical wellbeing of his electors. “The introduction of the cashless debit card in the Goldfields, which made a huge difference to the lives of people, particularly women, who were being kind of physically abused by drunken partners, money being spent on foods and drugs, as opposed to paying the rent and the electricity bill and buying food for the kids,” he said. “I think that was the most significant achievement, because that wasn’t just something that happened. “It was something that I fought for, for that particular region.” Also topping his list was the JobKeeper plan that ensured “literally tens of thousands” of workers had jobs to go back to after the “draconian” WA COVID-19 lockdowns and establishing 120 mobile phone towers to extend network coverage in the regions. Easing the cost of living burden, continuing the live sheep export trade, stopping marine parks, subsidising the NAC and ensuring fiscal responsibility are at the top of Mr Wilson’s priority list as well as the broader goals of reducing bureaucracy, and bettering the standards of health, education and aged care. With 12 years in the “best job in the world” under his belt, Mr Wilson said his keen understanding of the issues affecting the 57 local governments in his patch, and the established relationships with those leading them, makes him the best placed candidate for the role. “I think that I’ve still got a lot to offer going forward,” he said. “I have a pretty good understanding of what makes these communities tick and what their issues are. “So I know what we need to do to make my electors prosper into the future.” The Federal election will be held on May 3, with polling booths open for early voting from April 22. This is the first in the Albany Advertiser’s series on the Federal election candidates for O’Connor. Stay tuned for more.