WA Labor bracing for April Federal poll as PM kicks off election year across nation’s north

WA Labor is bracing for protracted back-to-back electoral campaigns this year, with insiders believing Anthony Albanese is preparing to call a Federal poll in the immediate aftermath of the State election.

The move, which would see West Australians head to the ballot box twice in little over a month, could see the Prime Minister announce a Saturday, April 12 election just hours after WA’s March 8 poll.

Multiple State Labor insiders said they believed Mr Albanese was gearing up for the earlier than expected poll, after backlash to speculation over a date during WA’s State campaign.

An April 12 schedule would mean Federal Parliament would return as planned in February, but the proposed March date for the Federal Budget would be scrapped.

That would give Labor the chance to assess the impact of the first Reserve Bank meeting of the year in mid-February, and escape what is expected to be a bruising set of economic and financial conditions at the Budget.

The April 12 election day would allow for a 34-day campaign, and would get ahead of a busy fortnight of Easter and Anzac Day events scheduled for the following two weeks. The election would need to be called by March 10.

Suggestions last year the Prime Minister would call an election in concert with the State poll prompted revelations Premier Roger Cook had sought legal advice on shifting WA’s election date.

Fixed by law on the second Saturday in March every four years, the only means of moving WA’s date is via Federal election or referendum, or by agreement with the Opposition Leader.

“We have to be prepared for any contingency,” Mr Cook said in November.

But the issue prompted the Opposition to accuse Federal and State Labor of conspiring to override WA’s election date.

The April 12 speculation comes as Mr Albanese is kick start the election year with a cross-country trip across Australia’s north, in a bid to sure up Labor’s vote in crucial electoral battleground states, including WA.

Starting in Queensland, where the Government is eager to win back a number of seats, including Griffith in Brisbane, Mr Albanese will visit the Sunshine Coast, Rockhampton, Cairns and Mount Isa before heading to the Northern Territory.

The Prime Minister’s visit to the Northern Territory comes after Labor was thrown out of government there last year, putting pressure on the party to hold their two Federal seats.

Mr Albanese’s trip will conclude in WA, where he will visit the Kimberley — in the electorate of Durack, long-eyed by Labor — before finishing the week in Perth.

The Prime Minister’s pre-election campaign pitch will focus on Labor’s slogan of “Building Australia’s Future” and the Government’s planned investments in infrastructure, health, child care and housing.

“This election is a choice between building Australia’s future or taking Australia backwards,” Mr Albanese said on Sunday.

“My Government cares about Australians. That’s why we are delivering cost of living relief while strengthening Medicare and investing in infrastructure, childcare and dignified aged care.

“Over the next three years, we can work together to build on the foundations we have laid.”

Amid polls showing Labor headed for a minority government, the Prime Minister must call an election for May 17, or earlier.

Asked last November about the timing of this year’s poll, Mr Albanese downplayed May.

“Well that’s when it’s due,” he said. “It could be beforehand, but that will be a matter for me to make in conjunction with my Cabinet colleagues.”