Basil Zempilas addressing his supporters at his campaign launch. (ABC News: Andrew O'Connor)
Labor ripped off the gloves and levelled up its attacks on Liberal candidate Basil Zempilas in the first week of WA's state election campaign.
The Liberal candidate for Churchlands, a high-profile Perth media personality and Lord Mayor, is considered by many Liberals as a major asset on the campaign trail and a potential future leader.
But it was Labor doing most of the talking about Mr Zempilas in week one on the hustings, while Liberal Leader Libby Mettam at times did her best to bat away questions about him.
There were a few unwelcome guests outside Basil Zempilas's campaign launch party. (ABC News: Andrew O'Connor)
It started on Tuesday evening, when half a dozen protesters carrying Labor-authorised anti-Basil signs showed up to crash his campaign launch party.
Among the slogans displayed was a question that continues to plague the Liberals: "Who paid for your secret polling, Basil?"
Libby Mettam survives leadership challenge
Photo shows A mid shot of a serious-looking Libby Mettam outside parliament, wearing a dark jacket and light top.
This referred to revelations late last year that Mr Zempilas's former campaign manager was involved in secret polling that was leaked to media in an attempt to undermine Ms Mettam's leadership in favour of Mr Zempilas — who has strenuously denied any involvement.
After the leak, Ms Mettam called a party room meeting where she challenged her detractors to "put up or shut up" before ultimately surviving a motion from one of her parliamentary colleagues that called for Mr Zempilas to be the party's election campaign leader.
The whole episode exposed a chasm in the party while also throwing a spotlight on Mr Zempilas's leadership aspirations and a view by many Liberals that — provided he is elected to parliament on March 8 — he will inevitably lead the party one day.
Ms Mettam and Mr Zempilas are talking up their support for one another. (ABC News: Andrew O'Connor)
Which is why it made for a somewhat awkward juxtaposition when a handful of Labor protesters were holding up signs about the polling debacle, while Basil Zempilas and Libby Mettam were mere metres away, talking up their camaraderie.
An important phone call
Speaking to a crowd of 200-odd Liberal party faithful, Mr Zempilas revealed an "absolute unknown" about the pair's relationship.
"Lots of people comment on and ask questions about Libby and my relationship," he said.
"We talk regularly, every couple of days.
The WA Liberals are presenting a united front, but it hasn't been without its hiccups. (ABC News: Andrew O'Connor)
"And [here] is something that is an absolute unknown of our journey: The first contact I had from anyone from the parliamentary Liberal Party was from Libby Mettam.
"I got a phone call out of the blue almost two years ago … and Libby said — have you thought about a career in state politics? I think you'd be great. It would be wonderful to work together."
Fast-forward to the 2025 campaign trail and the leaked polling saga has given Labor endless material to work with.
His critics were also handed free ammunition on Wednesday, when it was revealed Mr Zempilas had been ordered to apologise for a minor breach of the Local Government Act — posting about his candidacy for the Liberal Party on a Facebook page titled "Basil Zempilas — Lord Mayor of Perth".
This prompted a live countdown on WA Labor's Youtube channel titled "Basil's been told to apologise — how long will it take??"
'Chaos and dysfunction'
Asked this week why Labor was giving Mr Zempilas so much oxygen, Treasurer Rita Saffioti said it was about drawing attention to the "chaos and dysfunction" of the Liberal Party.
"They are doing it to themselves," she said.
"As part of any election process you point out the weaknesses of the opposition."
Ms Saffioti says giving oxygen to Mr Zempilas draws attention to the dysfunction of the WA Liberals. (ABC News: Courtney Withers )
Ms Saffioti didn't directly answer a question about whether it was because Labor was threatened by Mr Zempilas.
"He has been out there every week criticising us without an ability for us to respond. Now this is an election campaign, and we are responding," she said.
Aspirations unshaken
Seemingly, none of this has shaken Mr Zempilas's political ambitions.
"Six months ago I realised that actually [a] 30-year broadcasting career was preparing me for the career I was always supposed to have — and it's this one," he told the crowd in Churchlands.
Mr Zempilas says he's grateful to Ms Mettam for sparking his political career. (ABC News: Andrew O'Connor)
Later on in the speech he thanked Libby Mettam for starting him on that journey.
It's now up to the people of Churchlands to decide Mr Zempilas's political fate.
If he wins the seat, speculation about who leads the Liberal party looks set to continue.
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