The thin veil obscuring Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas’ political ambitions is growing more tattered by the day.
He publicly continues to say his focus is the City of Perth, fresh after his re-election as Lord Mayor, and will probably continue with that message until Liberal preselections for the 2025 election begin next month.
City of Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas.
Privately, he has expressed a desire to run for the Liberals in his home seat of Churchlands, with a view to leading the party in 2025, but this is not a guaranteed prospect as some party faithfuls don’t want the Channel 7 personality jumping the line to a blue-ribbon seat, and he will not confirm it publicly.
These hurdles haven’t stopped him from piggybacking on City of Perth issues like homelessness and parking levy, and using his significant media presence on talkback radio and column inches in the state’s only daily newspaper, to wage a pseudo-election campaign against Labor.
The most blatant example of this occurred on Friday when he had a crack at WA Premier Roger Cook for running election-style radio ads on Radio 6PR, the radio arm of Nine Entertainment which also publishes this masthead.
On Zempilas’ weekly “Mayor on Air” segment when he takes calls from radio listeners, 6PR Mornings presenter Gary Adshead played him Cook’s ads, paid for by WA Labor.
WA Labor said the ads were about the party’s promotion of the Labor Government and highlighted the work of Roger Cook and his cabinet on cost-of-living relief and other issues that mattered to West Australians.
Zempilas’ assessment to Adshead was that Cook was trying to regain the narrative and “correct opinions or impressions of his leadership”.
Then he launched into a tirade about Cook’s absence on talkback radio, complete with some advice for the premier drawn from Zempilas’ years of broadcasting experience, including at 6PR, which will no doubt go down like a double-gee-sprinkled cupcake in the premier’s office.
“I’ve been criticised, or rather, people have been critical of me having an opportunity to come in here, but I come in here because I was asked, ‘would you like to connect with the people of Perth?’” he said.
“Here’s a little bit of advice from where I’ve sat … as a broadcaster for 30 years and including in these studios – if you want to connect with the people of Western Australia come and do some talkback every now and then.
“Take some calls, get some compliments, get some credit, and maybe, maybe, have to answer some difficult questions.
“If you connect with the audience and speak to them, then perhaps that will earn you some respect.”
Cook has been on talkback on both the ABC and 6PR more frequently than his predecessor Mark McGowan, but it is sporadic and issues-based.
He also appears on FM radio and fronts media several times a week at press conferences.
Zempilas’ comments veered away from mayoral issues and under the guise of “advice”, amounted to a direct attack on Cook’s commitment to accountability as the state’s leader.
Recently, he has also peppered both federal and state Labor with criticism through his weekly column in The West Australian.
Friday’s column’s first two points criticised the Albanese government on infrastructure and migration issues, while the third remarked on reports that Labor Nedlands MP Katrina Stratton was mulling a move to the upper house, characterising this as a lack of confidence in the premier.
Cook’s office declined to comment but senior Labor figures are irritated with how much airtime Zempilas is drawing in WA media.
They are also worried his strong links to the state’s biggest media company will elicit favourable coverage if he does run for the Liberals in 2025.
And with each new appearance and column, Labor’s blood will only boil further.
In Zempilas’ case, words are speaking far louder than actions, and they’re bursting eardrums in political circles saying that he wants to be the state’s next premier.
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Basil Zempilas’ words speak louder than actions on Liberal leadership
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25.11.2023
The thin veil obscuring Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas’ political ambitions is growing more tattered by the day.
He publicly continues to say his focus is the City of Perth, fresh after his re-election as Lord Mayor, and will probably continue with that message until Liberal preselections for the 2025 election begin next month.
City of Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas.
Privately, he has expressed a desire to run for the Liberals in his home seat of Churchlands, with a view to leading the party in 2025, but this is not a guaranteed prospect as some party faithfuls don’t want the Channel 7 personality jumping the line to a blue-ribbon seat, and he will not confirm it publicly.
These hurdles haven’t stopped him from piggybacking on City of Perth issues like homelessness and parking levy, and using his significant media presence on talkback radio and column inches in the state’s only daily newspaper, to wage a pseudo-election campaign against Labor.
The most blatant example of this occurred on Friday when he had a crack........
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