Moore MLA Shane Love becomes leader of WA Opposition and Nationals Party

WA’s new Opposition Leader has become the first Mid West politician to hold that role in more than 50 years but hasn’t ruled out relinquishing that title to the Liberals. Moore MLA Shane Love officially become WA’s newest Opposition Leader, succeeding Mia Davies, when his Nationals colleagues unanimously voted him as party leader on Monday. Mr Love is the first Mid West-based MP to take on the task of leading the Opposition since David Brand, Liberal MLA for the seat of Greenough, resigned in 1972. His situation is very different from Mr Brand’s, who had been Premier from 1959 to 1971 and led an Opposition of 25 seats in the Lower House. Mr Love, who was elected to Parliament in 2013, is the sixth Opposition Leader to challenge Mark McGowan’s Government since 2017 and does so with an Opposition of six Lower House seats. His deputy is Roe MLA Peter Rundle. It was a position which eventually wore out Ms Davies, who said she didn’t “have any fuel left in the tank” for politics past the next election. Mr Love hasn’t dismissed the option that new Liberal leader Libby Mettam take over as Opposition Leader, but said he was confident in leading the Nationals to the next election in two-and-a-half years. “We have an existing alliance agreement and I’ll be seeking to have that continue into the start of the new parliamentary year while we further explore further options going forward into 2025,” he said. “I’m certainly committed to being the leader, to carry us through to the election, have a strong election in 2025 and represent regional Australia. “I wouldn’t have taken the position of leading the National Party if that I didn’t think I could do and my party has supported me into that position.” Mr Love assured Moore voters he would still dedicate time to representing the Mid West and highlighting the issues it faced. “It is a challenge to take the position of the party on and that does mean you have obligations outside of your own electorate, but I would hope the people of my electorate would understand that and they will continue to see me in their electorate as much as I possibly can, and the affairs of the Moore electorate are fundamentally important to me,” he said. “I will certainly be seeking to highlight issues of importance to the Mid West and right across the State; there’s issues with health, power, housing, damage from cyclone Seroja, there’s a number of issues in the Mid West which will remain important to me.” North West Central MLA Merome Beard, who was elected as Opposition Whip, said it hadn’t come as a shock to see Ms Davies resign from her position as Opposition Leader and was looking forward to working with Mr Love. “Mia has done an amazing job, she’s been a wonderful role model, she’s been in Parliament a very long time and I think at some point she was always going to step away and the timing’s right for her,” she said. “She will be a great mentor for the next two years.” Nationals Agricultural Region MLC Colin de Grussa said Mr Love was an excellent pick to lead the Opposition. “He had the unanimous support of the party; his experience and his political nous will be very good for us as we head into a tricky period coming up to the next election,” he said. Fellow Agricultural Region MLC Martin Aldridge said Mr Love’s connection to the local area made him an excellent representative for regional people. “He has a diverse background in local government, in agriculture, in small business, and I think his connection to this part of the State will add strength to issues and concerns people face at the highest level of opposition,” he said.