What lessons might the UK’s beleaguered Labour Party be able to learn from its Australian counterpart? Peter White draws on his experiences in last year’s Western Australia state elections.

How does Western Australia keep bucking the trend and returning progressive Labor governments in the face of an onslaught from the hard right, billionaire-backed campaigns and the bot-driven noise of the internet? The answer is simple. A relentless, positive campaign that clearly and consistently demonstrates the benefits of Labor, while exposing the inadequacies of the opposition.

The number one issue on the doorstep, no matter which electorate you were campaigning in, was the cost of living. It cut across every demographic and community in Western Australia.

Before diving deeper, it is worth a quick primer on Australian politics. Voting is compulsory, with turnout typically around 90 percent, and election day looks very different to the UK. The world famous “democracy sausage” is an Australian rite of passage, a fundraising staple run by local schools and community groups at polling booths.

While, like the UK, Australia has multiple levels of government, the Constitution clearly delineates responsibilities between the Commonwealth and the states. All Australians share the same Prime Minister, but each state has its own Premier. Crucially, only the Federal Government can levy income tax, while the states are funded through a redistribution of Goods and Services Tax revenue, creating a system where some states contribute more than they receive and others rely more heavily on that distribution.

This is where the Western Australian model becomes instructive. Labor did not simply acknowledge cost of living pressures, it owned the issue and responded with clear, tangible measures that voters could understand and feel. Power bill credits worth thousands of dollars, free public transport for school students, free Technical and Further Education courses, and direct payments to families were not abstract policy ideas: they were practical interventions that landed in people’s daily lives.

Crucially, these were not presented as one-off giveaways, but as part of a broader narrative of economic competence. The Cook Labor Government consistently reinforced that strong financial management was what made this support possible. In contrast to the chaos often seen in other jurisdictions, the message was simple and disciplined: a strong economy under Labor allows government to ease pressure on working people.

That message was then localised with precision. Campaigns were not run in the abstract; they were grounded in community outcomes. In South Perth, for example, investment in schools, upgrades to local infrastructure, and funding for new indoor sporting facilities were front and centre. These are not headline-grabbing national policies, but they are exactly the kinds of commitments that voters see, use and remember.

This is perhaps the most important lesson for UK Labour supporters. Electoral success is not built on a single national message alone. It is built on thousands of local conversations where voters can clearly connect a Labor government to improvements in their own lives. Whether it is a new school upgrade, safer streets, or better access to sport and community facilities, the campaign constantly answered the question voters ask: what has Labor done for me and my community?

At the same time, Labor did not shy away from contrast. The opposition was framed not just as an alternative, but as a risk. On issues such as community safety, the campaign highlighted both investment under Labor and the potential rollback under a Liberal National government. Again, the messaging was simple, disciplined and repeated relentlessly: Labor delivers, the opposition cuts.

There was also a strong sense of future optimism embedded throughout the campaign. Investment in renewable energy, housing supply, and job creation was not treated as a distant ambition, but as part of a credible pathway forward. This balance between immediate relief and long-term vision is critical. Voters need to feel both supported today and confident about tomorrow.

Perhaps most importantly, the tone of the campaign remained overwhelmingly positive. This does not mean soft. It means disciplined. While the right leaned heavily into negativity, culture wars and online noise, Labor focused on delivery, stability, and community outcomes. The contrast worked because it aligned with voter priorities. When people are worried about their bills, their jobs, and their families, they are not looking for outrage, they are looking for competence.

For UK progressives, the lesson is clear. Electoral success is not accidental, and it is not purely ideological. It is built on clarity, discipline and delivery. You win by understanding what matters to voters, responding with real policies and communicating those policies in a way that is simple, local, and repeated endlessly.

Western Australia did not buck the trend by chance. It did so by running a campaign that was focused, grounded, and relentlessly connected to the everyday lives of voters. That is what electoral success looks like.

Peter White was the Campaign Director for Western Australia Labor in the seat of South Perth at the 2025 State Election. First won during the COVID landslide that saw WA Labor secure 53 of the 59 seats in Parliament in 2021, South Perth became the number one target for the Liberal Party. Despite sustained opposition focus and significant external pressure, the seat was retained by Labor on a margin of 1.4 percent.

Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South_Perth_Western_Australia_5.jpg South Perth Western Australia. Source: Flickr. Author: Chris Johnson. Reviewer: Andre Engels, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.