How Albanese plans to win over WA again, as he accuses Peter Dutton of being a PM for Sydney

Anthony Albanese’s second run at government will be officially launched in WA, with the Prime Minister dubbing the State a “central focus” in his bid for re-election. The PM was in Perth for a flying visit on Monday, but it can be revealed Mr Albanese will be back in a fortnight to kick-off Labor’s Federal election campaign. The April 13 shindig cements WA’s key status in deciding whether Labor governs in majority, has to negotiate with the Greens and crossbench., or is turfed out of power Mr Albanese’s decision in 2022 to launch his first bid to be prime minister with an event in WA was credited as a political master-stroke, helping his red-army clinch four Liberal-held seats in the State to propel him into power. This year’s event will be the first time a Federal leader has launched consecutive campaigns here. Mr Albanese said this was further proof of his commitment to the State, after this week notching up his 30th visit since becoming Prime Minister. “Under the previous Liberal governments, Western Australia was taken for granted,” the PM said. “For my Government WA is not an add on, it is a central focus for us. We’ve got a fantastic Federal Labor team in WA, we want to hold all our seats and we’re looking at more.” He put the new seat of Bullwinkel and the Liberal-held seats of Moore, Durack and Canning firmly “in the mix” in the wake of the latest national Newspoll that showed Labor edging in front of the Coalition. The Liberal campaign has attempted to brand the Government as anti-industry and anti-WA, in the wake of on-again off-again Nature Positive laws and the ban on live sheep exports. But Mr Albanese has launched a staunch defence of his Government’s record. “Peter Dutton won’t support WA industry and opposes our production tax credit legislation,” he said. “He is a risk to WA industry and its powerful economy. When I was elected, I said I wanted to lead a Government for all Australians and I pledged to visit WA 10 times a year. “This week I hit my 30th visit to WA.” During his 24 hours in Perth, he appeared alongside Premier Roger Cook and lauded Labor’s emphatic victory in the recent State election. “I’ll always fight alongside my friend Roger Cook in the interest of Western Australia,” Mr Albanese said. “We’ve known each other for 40 years, sorry to give up our age. “We’ve been friends for all of that time and it is an absolute privilege to be in a position, with a bloke that I used to have a beer with 40 years ago and chat about footy and chat about life, to actually be in a position to make a difference for Western Australians.”