Whatever the election outcome, it is going to be ugly for the Liberal Party of WA. Unfortunately, the Liberal power brokers occupy the number 1 spots on the Legislative Committee, so will be okay. It’s everyone else who will be shafted. And when I say everyone else, I mean us. The people.

I couldn’t give a toss about whether some vapid politician is returned or not, but I do care about having someone to go to when I want to complain about a government department. My years on this planet has shown that government Ministers merely act as spokespeople for “their” department. They do not hold them to account; if anything they help cover up their mistakes. I’m not sure why this is the case, but it is.

If you want accountability, you need to have Shadow Ministers. It is already bad enough as things currently stand; with so few member of parliament, each Liberal has too many portfolios. For example, Lisa Harvey MLA is the Shadow Minister for State Development and Trade and Local Jobs and Mental Health and lastly Citizenship & Multicultural Affairs. David Honey MLA is Shadow Minister for Energy and Renewables & Hydrogen and Water and Industrial Development and Lands.

How on earth are they meant to do a proper job of raising constituent concerns when stretched so thin? And it is about to get worse. Far worse.

If there is no opposition, then we will essentially be a one party state, and as a result the administration will dominate. The bureaucrats will get away with whatever they want, because there will be no one holding them to account. Especially as our Fourth Estate is a shell of what it once was.

I get why people will vote for McGowan. Among other things, unlike Barnett, he can actually deliver budget surpluses; he capped public servant pay rates instead of celebrating they are the highest paid in the country; we got a better GST deal a little over a year of McGowan becoming Premier (thanks mainly to the Morrison Federal government).

I’m just forewarning some of the consequences of McGowan’s upcoming victory. A vote for Mark McGowan is a vote for the bureaucrats. West Australians will be unempowered like never before.