Lord Mayor of Perth, Western Australia, Basil Zempilas has announced that he is seeking Liberal preselection in the suburb of Churchlands, ahead of the 2025 state elections.
This news follows months of speculation of Mr Zempilas wanting a seat in the Western Australia Liberal Party.
ABC News reported that as the last day to nominate for preselection is February 28, Mr Zempilas announced at a press conference on Saturday 27 January, that he would sign up to become a Liberal Party member “digitally” on the weekend ahead of Monday’s deadline.
“I’ve been able to witness the effect of a lack of balance in our political system on how this government operates and more balance in opposition is going to produce a better government – whichever way it is,” Mr Zempilas said.
When asked about how the Perth Mayor would balance the preselection process as well as his mayoral duties, Mr Zempilas shared he intends to remain mayor to the City of Perth until formal details are revealed for the 2025 state election.
“I’ve looked at and familiarised myself with Tracey Roberts – she remained as the Mayor of Wanneroo although she was the Labor candidate for the federal seat of Pearce – and then when the writs were drawn, she took a leave of absence, and when she was successful, she resigned,” he said.
“I think people understand my desire to take what I’ve learnt as Lord Mayor – to take the learnings about how this local government operates to the next tier.”
Mr Zempilas said after speaking with Liberal Leader Libby Mettam several times, he’d always receive encouragement, however when asked about his goal of becoming WA premier, he didn’t want to give too much away.
“I appreciate that people might say things like that, but I absolutely know from my background, from my own working life … anybody who gets ahead of themselves ultimately doesn’t get anywhere near close to where they might be trying to go,” he said.
“The only thing in my control is trying to win preselection for the seat of Churchlands.”
Libby Mettam welcomed Mr Zempilas’ announcement.
“It’s fantastic to see a number of high-quality candidates come forward and express interest in running for the Liberal Party in the lead-up to 2025,” she said.
Ms Mettam said her focus is on building a strong team for the next election.
“Basil’s membership is only an asset [and] we’ll be going through a grassroots preselection process [so] it will be up to the [Liberal] membership … in Churchlands about who is preselected there,” she said.
“I’m feeling very confident as leader in the lead-up to the 2025 election.”
Source: ABC News.
