Secret Harbour byelection LIVE updates: WA seat up for grabs in Labor, One Nation showdown following resignation of Paul Papalia

Updated August 29, 2026 — 4:21pm,first published 4:15pmKey PostsWelcome to our live coverageBy Hamish HastieHello and welcome to our live coverage of the Secret Harbour byelection.Schools are covered in corflutes, voters are dodging colourful party faithful and P&Cs have been slinging sausages this morning as one of the most fascinating political contests in this state in recent memory nears a close.Half of the electorate has already voted with more than 18,000 people opting for prepoll or postal voting, meaning volunteers vastly outnumbered voters at the booths this masthead visited in the morning.Labor candidate Georgia Tree with Premier Roger Cook.Colin MurtyPremier Roger Cook said he would be heartbroken if his party’s candidate Georgia Tree loses the seat while One Nation’s Luke Herdegen said the electorate was hungry for change.Interestingly, none of the major party candidates could vote for themselves this campaign because none of them actually live in the electorate. Tree lives the furthest distance away at 61 kilometres, which the Liberals have taken great delight in reminding voters with their political signage.Behaviour at booths has been mostly cordial but Labor volunteers did wake up to some of their signs at Secret Harbour Primary School slashed by a masked man on an e-scooter in the early hours of the morning.Police had been notified. Latest Posts4.18pmTrain delayBy Hamish HastieImmediately after this byelection was announced, the promised Karnup train station came boiling to the surface as a major voter gripe.It’s a rare example of a public transport promise that Labor has not delivered.It featured as a Labor promise in the successive elections since 2013 but no money had been committed and no start date set – until now.Liberal Leader Basil Zempilas and Ryan Robertson Liberal Candidate at Singleton Primary School polling booth.Colin MurtyIn late July Liberal candidate Ryan Robertson and opposition leader Basil Zempilas announced it would build the station for $90 million.A week later Transport Minister Rita Saffioti announced it would start construction of a $156 million station in 2028 with the feds expected to pay half.Labor’s failure to build the promised station on the Mandurah line has been cited as a major issue for voters in the area who have to travel south to Lakelands or north to Warnbro to catch the train.4.13pmWhy does this byelection matter?By Hamish HastieIn normal political circumstances, a byelection in Secret Harbour or its previous iterations Warnbro and Peel would not register as extraordinary or interesting.WA Premier Roger Cook and Georgia Tree the Labor Candidate have a sausage at Singleton Primary School polling booth.Colin MurtyThat’s because the blue collar, largely Anglo electorate has been held firmly by Labor since the 1980s.In similar circumstances, the Rockingham byelection following the resignation of popular former premier Mark McGowan in 2023 was easily won by his replacement Magenta Marshall – albeit with a more tame margin of 11 per cent compared to the COVID-highs of McGowan’s extraordinary win in 2021.But with polling suggesting One Nation could erode Labor’s support in outer suburban seats like Secret Harbour right across the country, today’s byelection is the first major test of that theory.4.13pmThe three likely candidatesBy Hamish Hastie1 of 1