Last weekend, the AFL Grand Final really brought home for me just how much I miss Western Australia. What a great night it was.

Not just because of the beautiful spectacle of the game, but because it reminded those of us stuck in Scott Morrison’s lockdowns what we will have when the pandemic is behind us.

That is the hope that Western Australia has held up throughout this most challenging of times. WA has stood tall. Strong leadership. Strong economy. Strong community.

With the world turned upside down, the eastern states now look west to be reassured that the sun will rise again.

And just as WA has been a bright light in our Federation, WA Labor is a shining jewel in our movement.

That status was emphasised by the stunning election result in March. The ABC’s Antony Green didn’t even last an hour before he called it.

And little wonder.

We saw a remarkable and proven team led by a remarkable and proven Premier. Mark McGowan is a leader who does things because they are right, not because they are popular. That’s leadership.

And that is exactly what a government I lead will bring back to the national stage. Real leadership. A government that stands with the West.

A government that wants to work withstates to keep people safe and COVID-free, not one that undermines state leaders and sets them against each other.

A government that understands that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to the pandemic, and that what might be an answer for Sydney isn’t necessarily what’s right for Perth.

A government that understands that your border is your decision. The national plan doesn’t mention forcing states to open their borders – Scott Morrison needs to stop pretending it does.

We will be a government for all Australians.

And that is because we are the only party that understands and uses the power of government to change people’s lives for the better by creating opportunity. I know it. I lived it.

I grew up in public housing, raised by a single mother on the invalid pension. The power of government changed our lives.

There isn’t a day when I don’t think about how much better we are as nation precisely because Labor governments have always understood that to exercise that power is a moral imperative.

The results are all around us. Medicare. Workers’ rights. The age pension. Universal superannuation. The Sex Discrimination Act. The NDIS. Lives are better because of Labor.

Working side by side with the mighty trade union movement, we are the party that dares to be as big and as bold as the Australian people are themselves.

The party that sees our nation’s great potential and understands that it can only be achieved when we come together.

Our Team V Their Team

At the moment, we have a Prime Minister who pays lip service to the idea of Team Australia, but in reality spent a million taxpayer dollars trying to help Clive Palmer tear down your border.

Just imagine if they had succeeded.

And that wasn’t enough for Scott Morrison. Having failed in his attempt to attack you with a dinosaur, he called you cave-dwellers. It’s like a bad episode of the Flintstones.

From north to south, east to west, Australia needs a unifier. Instead we have the great dividing rage of Scott Morrison.

An easy way to get the picture is look at which WA Liberals have left - Julie Bishop, Mathias Cormann, Michael Keenan. Now Steve Irons is walking away as well.

Amid the rabble of infighting and pre-selection battles, what’s left? If you squint hard and look past the bright glow of Ian Goodenough, you see what’s left of this galaxy of stars. Exhibit A: Michaelia Cash.

And then there’s her predecessor as Attorney-General. He is one who should have walked away. The spectacle of Christian Porter has been extraordinary.

He should have stood aside as those allegations were investigated. Instead, we saw the whole protection racket swing into gear.

A so-called blind trust that wasn’t a blind trust. Donors shrouded in secrecy. Now an insistence that it didn’t matter if a member of Parliament receives anonymous donations for what is a private endeavour.

If this is allowed to stand, it will make completely redundant the basic provisions of declarations of interest, which are in place to stop corruption of our political system.

No wonder they have opposed a National Anti-Corruption Commission.

Scott Morrison has created a festering culture of secrecy and an endless mad scramble to avoid responsibility and accountability.

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan summed up the sleaziness with accidental perfection when he said this. I kid you not. Direct quote: “If you have to disclose all of your donors, people won’t donate to you.” That is what he said.

The stench has not abated. The Porter caravan might have moved on to the backbench, but the blowflies are still buzzing.

A National Anti-Corruption Commission cannot come fast enough.

Of course, Barnaby Joyce reckons Christian Porter will be back soon. Guided by the lurid glow of his own experience, the Deputy Prime Minister believes you can bounce back from anything.

Well, anything except the ballot box.

The good news in all this is that we have a terrific candidate to take on Christian Porter.

Wanneroo Mayor Tracey Roberts will give the people of Pearce the voice they deserve.

In Swan we have engineer Zaneta Mascarenhas, and in Hasluck we have Tania Lawrence, a small business owner with 20 years of senior government and industry experience. Outstanding candidates in those three seats.

I have every hope that after the election, they will all come to Federal Parliament and become part of my wonderful West Australian team:

Madeleine King, Matt Keogh, Anne Aly, Patrick Gorman, Josh Wilson, Louise Pratt, Sue Lines, Glenn Sterle, and the one and only Patrick Dodson.

The next election will give West Australians a clear choice.

Labor, which knows that it’s WA that puts the “big” in the big picture.

Or Scott Morrison, who takes you for granted and then takes you for a ride.

Standing with WA

We all owe Western Australia a special debt of gratitude. You sent John Curtin to Canberra. You nurtured Bob Hawke.

You gave us Dorothy Tangney as our first female senator, and Carmen Lawrence our first female Premier.

You gave us not one, but two Kim Beazleys.

WA has contributed so much to the nation. You deserve respect when it comes to shaping your future.

On the question of the GST, I will listen to Premier McGowan, not Liberal treasurers in eastern states. I’ll repeat to you what I said to him: Federal Labor remains committed to giving WA your share of the GST.

As Prime Minister, I will continue my proud record of delivering for WA.

As Infrastructure Minister in the last federal Labor government, I lifted investment in the West from $154 to $261 per West Australian. And we got a lot done.

The same spirit was represented by the McGowan Labor Government’s establishment of Metronet.

Put us together and we will be an unbeatable force.

Scott Morrison, on the other hand, gave $2 million for a study on buying trackless trams from China.

This is a Liberal compulsion – to look overseas for our transport solutions, then turn to Australian workers to make them fit for purpose.

The Labor way is to get it right first time and build them here. We build trains and trams in Australia. And we build good ones.

We see it in Queensland. We see it in Victoria. And we see it in WA.

And we won’t quarantine funds for a project like Perth Freightlink that would have devastating environmental impacts, which is why it has been rejected by the McGowan Government and the people of Western Australia – not once but twice.

Your state represents the future is so many ways.

As a lithium powerhouse, WA will help to fuel the new energy economies of the 21st century, creating regional and metropolitan jobs in the process.

But that’s WA Labor – you’ve never been afraid to look forward. 

The gas reservation policy brought in by the Carpenter Labor government in 2006, for instance, has proven to be a visionary act. And it was done in the face of stiff opposition.

Then there’s WA’s abundance of renewable energy, which is cheap and getting cheaper.

Renewable energy will cut power bills across WA and the nation, clearing the way for businesses to do what they do best — create jobs.

Scott Morrison was entirely missing on climate until he popped up with a bit of window dressing just a few days ago.

Unsurprisingly, he is surrounded by people who view net zero through the prism of ideology – not science and jobs.

It’s like a bad reboot of Jurassic Park in which the dinosaurs get speaking roles – and none of the cars are electric.

When decent, thoughtful people like Darren Chester are stepping away from the party they have so faithfully served, it should trigger alarm bells.

You can’t face the future with people who only look to the past. Australia is at risk of being left behind by the rest of the world.

Once again, WA provides the contrast.

Last month, the McGowan Labor Government announced a plan to end logging in native forests while investing in softwood timber plantations. It’s the essential equation – fighting climate change, and creating jobs in the process.

That sort of forward-thinking is a WA hallmark. You have Fortescue investing a billion dollars in renewables and green hydrogen. You have BHP tapping heavily into solar power for its nickel refinery.

What Australia needs is the WA spirit in Canberra.

COVID and Beyond

First, we need to chart a path to 2022.

Let’s finish vaccinating the unvaccinated and prepare for the future. Let’s get our children vaccinated. Let’s secure booster shots to make sure we push this virus out of our lives.

And let’s create an Australian Centre for Disease Control to give ourselves the best possible chance against any future challenges.

We will put this pandemic behind us. And when we have, we will have work to do. I and my team are raring to go.

A Labor government I lead will be ready with a plan to build back stronger.

With a plan for Australian families.

With a plan for secure jobs.

With a plan for a Future Made in Australia.

Australian Working Families Plan

Working families are the backbone of the Australian economy – of Australian life.

They have been all but invisible to a Liberal-National Government blinded by self-interest, but they will be at the heart of what we do with our Australian Working Families Plan.

Labor will make sure that it’s easier for families to get ahead and stay ahead. We’ll build an economy that works for them, not the other way around. That means delivering on the things that make a real difference.

Like cheaper child care. Like affordable housing. Like an aged care system that respects our loved ones.

Like strengthening Medicare. We know that for West Australians it has become harder and more expensive to see a GP during the Coalition’s eight long years of diminishing returns.

Labor invented Medicare. You can count on us to sort it out.

And you can count on us to make sure families get the fair deal they deserve.

Secure Australian Jobs Plan

Secure, well-paid work is an unshakeable principle for Labor and is at the heart of our Secure Australian Jobs Plan. We are focused on secure jobs for West Australian workers that they deserve. Jobs you can raise a family on.

We will build on the proud legacy of workers’ rights and protections that we so proudly share with our friends in the trade union movement.

We will end the exploitation of casual workers, deliver a better deal for gig workers and end wage theft by introducing criminal penalties for employers who rip off their workers.

And we also will deliver a Future Made in Australia Plan.

Labor believes the next decade should be one where we make things here at home again – with Australian workers, Australian resources and Australian ingenuity.

Just like the great example WA is setting, our Future Made in Australia Plan will turn Australia into a renewable energy superpower.

We’ll create secure jobs and strengthen our economy, while providing cheaper power to homes and businesses alike.

We will use our abundant natural resources to build and export batteries, solar panels and wind turbines, fuelling a new manufacturing boom.

And we’ll make sure the future is Made in Australia. And as you are already showing us, a lot of the future is being made in Western Australia.

WA is building that future with vision and courage, powered not just by your immense wealth of natural resources, but by your understanding that’s it not enough to just extract and export.

The key to the future is adding value. We must harness our vital resources to make things here in Australia – become a key player in multi-billion-dollar value chains that create good, secure, high-wage jobs for Australians.

And we can underpin it all with our National Reconstruction Fund, which will work in partnership with the private sector, including the superannuation industry, to diversify our industrial base and develop our sovereign capability.

And we can use the power of government purchasing to bolster the defence sector in WA.

The path forward is ambitious, but clear. For eight long years, we have seen the alternative. For Australia’s sake, for Western Australia’s sake, it’s time to turn the page.

At a time when Australia is going through one of the toughest periods in our modern history, we are cursed with our worst ever federal government.

And at its rotten apex sits a Prime Minister whose most burning mission is to tell you what he doesn’t do, starting with, “I don’t hold a hose, mate.”

He’s not a Prime Minister for every Australian. He’s not a Prime Minister for every region. He’s certainly not a Prime Minister for women.

And he’s not a Prime Minister for Western Australia - a man so devoid of vision, empathy and imagination, you’d think he grew up in a cave – and never got around to leaving it.

We can have a better future, but it cannot be left to chance. And it certainly cannot be left to them.

With Labor, we can get there.

And we will be the partner WA needs in Canberra.

I say to Australians: You deserve what West Australians already have – a Government of courage and vision that breaks records and shapes the future.

A Government that is on your side.

A Federal Government that’s on Western Australia’s side.

I look forward to working with you to achieve that federal Labor victory and to partner with the Western Australian Labor Government to advance the interests of your state and our great nation.