1
00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:02,239
Speaker 1: Tell you who I reckon was dancing in the moonlight

2
00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:05,880
Speaker 1: last night was one Sarah mcgow because the look on

3
00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:09,280
Speaker 1: her face when the Premier was stepping down yesterday was

4
00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:13,200
Speaker 1: one of joy and relief and happy to have her

5
00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:15,960
Speaker 1: husband back. Of course, Mark McGowan announced his stepping down

6
00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:19,160
Speaker 1: as Premier and treasure and Member for Rockingham. This will

7
00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:22,560
Speaker 1: be his final week and Michael Jenevie's as Channel nine

8
00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,560
Speaker 1: state political reporteries joining us for a chat.

9
00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:29,280
Speaker 2: Good morning, Michael, Lisa, good morning. Yes, he was smiling.

10
00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:31,360
Speaker 2: You can't blame her.

11
00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:33,040
Speaker 1: She's got a list as long as a realm of

12
00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:34,840
Speaker 1: stuff that he's done around the house.

13
00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:38,080
Speaker 3: Yeah, she gets her hubby back. Yeah, she was the

14
00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:40,240
Speaker 3: only one who knew about it, apparently.

15
00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:40,800
Speaker 2: I don't care.

16
00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:44,400
Speaker 3: You get a gut feel whenever you feel like you've

17
00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:46,879
Speaker 3: missed a massive story. But anyone who tells you that

18
00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:51,199
Speaker 3: they knew yesterday was coming, that just bamboozled us.

19
00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:53,159
Speaker 2: All that was as big as surprise to you as

20
00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:55,960
Speaker 2: it was to us. It was. Yeah.

21
00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,960
Speaker 3: So the media alert went out in the morning saying

22
00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,000
Speaker 3: that there would be a press conference at around about midday,

23
00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:04,800
Speaker 3: and then there was a few whispers getting around that

24
00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:06,520
Speaker 3: it was a pretty significant one and that we might

25
00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:08,920
Speaker 3: want to cut into programming to take.

26
00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:10,360
Speaker 2: It like the old days of lockdown.

27
00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:15,000
Speaker 3: Yes, well, someone said maybe we're going back into lockdown.

28
00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:17,880
Speaker 2: No, thankfully it wasn't that.

29
00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:19,760
Speaker 3: But then we started to fill up the media room

30
00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:22,040
Speaker 3: at to my house, which is underneath the office where

31
00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:24,960
Speaker 3: the premiere and all the ministers work. And then fourteen

32
00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:28,200
Speaker 3: of his cabinet ministers filed in and a number of

33
00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:30,399
Speaker 3: them looked like they had been crying. All were on

34
00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:33,800
Speaker 3: the verge of crying. And then he's chief of staff

35
00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:36,800
Speaker 3: and a few other lieutenants kind of moved towards the

36
00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:38,480
Speaker 3: back of the room and we knew, well, yeah, this

37
00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:41,920
Speaker 3: is it. And then the question was why, and we

38
00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:44,280
Speaker 3: got the explanation that he was simply done.

39
00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:45,759
Speaker 2: He was cooked, exhausted.

40
00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:51,320
Speaker 1: He has had a very interesting time in history to

41
00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:54,080
Speaker 1: be in charge. And I'm not just COVID. There was

42
00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:56,800
Speaker 1: a lot going on. He had Clive Palmer at him,

43
00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:00,640
Speaker 1: he had you know, I mean it credit to him.

44
00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:01,760
Speaker 2: He did.

45
00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:06,080
Speaker 3: Yeah, he did extremely well in a lot of capacity.

46
00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:08,760
Speaker 3: He got criticized a lot, and that was part of

47
00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:13,040
Speaker 3: the decision. Dealing with the fallout of COVID from my

48
00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:15,240
Speaker 3: point of view, Look, I went away for eighteen months

49
00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:17,920
Speaker 3: during his premiership, but I covered him in opposition. I

50
00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:20,120
Speaker 3: covered his first few years and then I've covered his

51
00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:22,679
Speaker 3: last twelve months as well. And when I got back,

52
00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:26,480
Speaker 3: I could really see a difference in Mark McGowan going

53
00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:30,440
Speaker 3: to press conferences almost every day and asking him really

54
00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,560
Speaker 3: reasonable questions, but a lot of the time journalists would

55
00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:37,960
Speaker 3: get quite short, abrupt responses. That's totally fine, that's totally acceptable,

56
00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:40,840
Speaker 3: but it was a change. And then in the last

57
00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:44,720
Speaker 3: few months, I mean, hindsight's hindsight's good. Now that we've

58
00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,080
Speaker 3: got it, you can kind of see all, okay, he

59
00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:49,000
Speaker 3: just didn't want to talk about certain issues. He didn't

60
00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:52,960
Speaker 3: want to deal with it, and we kind of realize why.

61
00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:55,480
Speaker 3: The man was just exhausted and it's going to be

62
00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:58,200
Speaker 3: for the next leader to try and tackle those next issues.

63
00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:03,560
Speaker 1: You're in between times was dealing with Donald Trump, so

64
00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:07,320
Speaker 1: Marc McGowan bookends I'm pretty good around that.

65
00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:10,600
Speaker 2: So yeah, but he's leaving so quickly.

66
00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:14,400
Speaker 1: Is that because you know, once once you've said it,

67
00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:16,840
Speaker 1: the m a as well, just things may as well

68
00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:17,639
Speaker 1: just happen quickly.

69
00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:20,839
Speaker 3: And that was my line of questioning yesterday, I said,

70
00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:22,480
Speaker 3: did anyone try to talk you out of this?

71
00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:26,560
Speaker 2: And he said no, he said, and that was it.

72
00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:29,120
Speaker 3: And so that gives you a sense of the character

73
00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:31,560
Speaker 3: and how much sway he's actually got over the Labor

74
00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:33,080
Speaker 3: Party and the WA government.

75
00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:34,720
Speaker 2: And that leads us to what's next.

76
00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:37,600
Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, but at the end of this week he's

77
00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,120
Speaker 3: going to walk away from it and he will formally

78
00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:43,320
Speaker 3: resign as both Premier and the member for Rockingham so.

79
00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:44,920
Speaker 2: Treasurer as well.

80
00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:47,800
Speaker 3: So that really there's three seats up, well, three titles

81
00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,480
Speaker 3: up for grabs here and there are three contenders. Roger

82
00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,520
Speaker 3: Cook on paper is next in line. He's titled his

83
00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:58,320
Speaker 3: deputy Premier. He has said that he's going to put

84
00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:01,560
Speaker 3: his hand up and go for it. Amber Jade Sanderson,

85
00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:04,160
Speaker 3: who is the Health Minister, she will also go for it.

86
00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,680
Speaker 3: She hasn't said that publicly, but she will. And Rita

87
00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,320
Speaker 3: Safiotti is the third one. Now this will come down

88
00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:12,280
Speaker 3: to and stop me when I bore you, But this

89
00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:16,279
Speaker 3: will come down to a factional fight. So on the

90
00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:17,960
Speaker 3: left Labor Party.

91
00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:21,680
Speaker 4: Which is a big part of it, is exactly your majority.

92
00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:23,039
Speaker 2: So this is crucial, right.

93
00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:27,400
Speaker 3: So Roger Cook and Amber Jane's Amber Jade Sanderson are

94
00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:32,560
Speaker 3: both on Labor's left, while Rita Safiotti remains unerligned. So

95
00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:38,000
Speaker 3: realistically that means it would probably come down to Roger

96
00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:41,960
Speaker 3: and Amber and who the left factions and the factions

97
00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:43,400
Speaker 3: within the left faction.

98
00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:46,159
Speaker 2: The left and then the further left.

99
00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,719
Speaker 3: Yeah, and then it'll come down to those votes, and

100
00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:55,120
Speaker 3: that's going to be decided well, hopefully this morning, hopefully today.

101
00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:56,640
Speaker 2: It could last a couple of days.

102
00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:58,599
Speaker 3: But what they really want to do is come to

103
00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:02,760
Speaker 3: a consensus through these types of meetings rather than having

104
00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:06,240
Speaker 3: to take the leadership to a vote, because that would

105
00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,600
Speaker 3: take weeks and nobody wants the state to be without

106
00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:12,000
Speaker 3: a premier limit, so I don't see that happening. I

107
00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:15,440
Speaker 3: do see them deciding maybe today, maybe as long as tomorrow,

108
00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,080
Speaker 3: and then there'll be a four day break and then

109
00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:21,160
Speaker 3: they'll have a full caucus meeting and that person will

110
00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:23,719
Speaker 3: become the candidate who then gets sworn in as the

111
00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:25,440
Speaker 3: thirty first premier of Wa.

112
00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:28,640
Speaker 4: Some people have said that the you know, having the

113
00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:32,200
Speaker 4: health ministry is a poisoned chalice. So you have a

114
00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:37,000
Speaker 4: former health minister, you have a current health Minister choice

115
00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:41,160
Speaker 4: of the two front runners, enough time behind.

116
00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:43,520
Speaker 2: Him to make him a little bit more palatable.

117
00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:47,120
Speaker 3: Well yeah, well that would be the argument for him, right,

118
00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:49,800
Speaker 3: and then the argument for hamber Jade Sanderson. She'd be

119
00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:51,839
Speaker 3: looking at it to say, well, you might call it

120
00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:54,279
Speaker 3: a poison chalice, but she saw it as an apprenticeship

121
00:05:54,279 --> 00:05:57,200
Speaker 3: in a crucible more than anything. You know, get your

122
00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:00,719
Speaker 3: runs on the board, cop a few ruses and black

123
00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:04,640
Speaker 3: eyes along the way, deal with these major issues that

124
00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:07,479
Speaker 3: are impacting Western Australians. And you need a thick skin

125
00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:09,159
Speaker 3: if you want to be premier, and I think she

126
00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:11,880
Speaker 3: does and she does have that skin. But working against

127
00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:15,159
Speaker 3: her would be experienced. But on the other hand, I'd

128
00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:17,919
Speaker 3: be naive to write off Rita Safiotti. Anyone would the

129
00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:21,359
Speaker 3: Transport Minister. But she's also had her sight set on

130
00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:24,320
Speaker 3: becoming Treasurer as well, and given the Mark McGowan was both,

131
00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:26,120
Speaker 3: that's another job that's up for grabs.

132
00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:29,520
Speaker 1: All right, Well, we shall see, and as you said,

133
00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,400
Speaker 1: we'll probably see sooner rather than later. In the meantime,

134
00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:36,360
Speaker 1: I think that most West Australians probably think Mark's leaven

135
00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:39,080
Speaker 1: behind a pretty good legacy, whatever your political leanings. I

136
00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:40,960
Speaker 1: think most people were pretty in the way.

137
00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:41,599
Speaker 2: That's for sure.

138
00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:44,440
Speaker 1: He got us through that COVID period. I mean, look

139
00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:46,760
Speaker 1: at the way people voted. That says speaks to herself,

140
00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:47,200
Speaker 1: doesn't it.

141
00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:49,839
Speaker 5: No other premier has ever been known as state Daddy.

142
00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:55,359
Speaker 5: He's the rest of his lot. That that's going. Let's

143
00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,719
Speaker 5: not pass that. Let's not have a state Mummy. No,

144
00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:01,240
Speaker 5: they're a state Roger. Let's just leave that.

145
00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:07,040
Speaker 1: Let's just leave that as a COVID moment in time. Done, Michael,

146
00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:08,560
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us.

147
00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:11,000
Speaker 2: Thank you, Michael Russ Lisa. Thanks going