After the Liberal Party shied away from running a candidate in the Perth and Freemantle by-elections, Western Australian senator Dean Smith is calling for the decision to be reversed.  

The Liberal’s justified their by-election absenteeism in the state on the basis of expenditure, with Julie Bishop and Matthias Corman saying it would be a waste of money to run. The area’s status as a Labor party “ stronghold” made victory “unrealistic,” according to the two ministers.

But Senator Smith says the move is unwise.

“The message here is a bad one,” he says.

“The decision to not run a candidate is the wrong decision. Liberals here are telling me they don’t want Bill Shorten to have a free kick in WA, they don’t want to surrender a seat like Perth, which has just a 3% margin.”

“What they want is a strong Liberal and Labor contest.”

With primary votes at the last election sitting at 42.3% Liberal and 37.5% Labor,  a Liberal victory is not a far-fetched prospect. It is thought a recent surge in post-budget Liberal support could make a win even more attainable. 

“But even a swing, not a victory would put pressure on Labor. A swing would be a fantastic result and one that is eminently possible.”

“I can’t help but think that if you’re not fronting up for these types of battles, people start to doubt your conviction and your consistency.”

After the Liberal Party shied away from running a candidate in the Perth and Freemantle by-elections, Western Australian senator Dean Smith is calling for the decision to be reversed.&nbsp;&nbsp;
The Liberal&rsquo;s justified their by-election absenteeism in the state on the basis of expenditure, with Julie Bishop and Matthias Corman saying it would be a waste of money to run. The area&rsquo;s status as a Labor party &ldquo; stronghold&rdquo; made victory &ldquo;unrealistic,&rdquo; according to the two ministers.
But Senator Smith says the move is unwise.
&ldquo;The message here is a bad one,&rdquo; he says.
&ldquo;The decision to not run a candidate is the wrong decision. Liberals here are telling me they don&rsquo;t want Bill Shorten to have a free kick in WA, they don&rsquo;t want to surrender a seat like Perth, which has just a 3% margin.&rdquo;
&ldquo;What they want is a strong Liberal and Labor contest.&rdquo;
With primary votes at the last election sitting at 42.3% Liberal and 37.5% Labor,&nbsp;&nbsp;a Liberal victory is not a far-fetched prospect. It is thought a recent surge in post-budget Liberal support could make a win even more attainable.&nbsp;
&ldquo;But even a swing, not a victory would put pressure on Labor. A swing would be a fantastic result and one that is eminently possible.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t help but think that if you&rsquo;re not fronting up for these types of battles, people start to doubt your conviction and your consistency.&rdquo;

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