WA electoral commissioner resigns ahead of parliament vote to fire him

3 months ago 16

WA Electoral Commissioner Robert Kennedy will leave his post on January 30, avoiding a vote in parliament to sack him.

Electoral Affairs Minister David Michael announced late on Tuesday that Kennedy tendered his resignation to Governor Chris Dawson earlier in the day, to take effect in the new year.

Kennedy had been on leave since March, following the problem-plagued March 8 state election that saw polling booths endure big lines, a lack of ballot papers, as well as understaffing issues.

It became the subject of an inquiry by former governor Malcolm McCusker, which found the election was underfunded and staffing on the day was “completely inadequate”, with some voters waiting as long as three hours at polling booths, while others could not vote at all as ballot papers ran out.

Opposition electoral affairs spokesman Shane Love introduced a motion in August noting the serious findings from the inquiry and declaring the house had no confidence in the WA electoral commissioner, and that he be removed from office.

The deadline for that motion was extended to Thursday, but it was reported that Kennedy was given an ultimatum to resign before then or face parliament dismissing him.

Michael thanked Kennedy in a statement.

“Mr Kennedy has served the Western Australian community as a public servant for thirty years, including as the WA Electoral Commissioner since 2020,” he said.

“On behalf of the Western Australian Government, I would like to thank Mr Kennedy for his service to the community.

“The appointment of a new Electoral Commissioner and Deputy Electoral Commissioner will be made in consultation with other parliamentary parties in due course.”

Love was less glowing in his statement following Kennedy’s resignation.

“I welcome the decision by the WA electoral commissioner to resign. This is something I have consistently called for following the fallout of the state election,” he said.

“The WA Electoral Commission (WAEC) has been without the stable leadership needed to implement the findings of the recent special inquiry into the planning and delivery of the 2025 state election.

“Had the Cook Labor government acted with greater urgency to remove the commissioner, it would have provided voters some assurance the government was serious about fixing the numerous flaws identified at the state election.”

Love said the next task was to ensure stable leadership at the WA Electoral Commission and the government needed to establish a parliamentary oversight committee and look at how the commission was funded.

Earlier on Tuesday, Premier Roger Cook refused to answer questions about Kennedy’s future.

“I’m not going to go into the conversations which have taken place between the Public Sector Commissioner and the Electoral Commissioner, these are sensitive matters, and obviously, it’s important that they’re handled in that manner,” he said.

“We are undertaking a range of processes at the moment, there is a motion in the parliament, and we are speaking with the speaker about that particular motion.”