The boundaries of Secret Harbour have been redrawn twice in the past four decades, and the name may have changed (Peel and Warnbro were earlier iterations) – but it has remained a solid Labor stronghold.
Indeed, the suburbs bounded by the electorate — Port Kennedy, Secret Harbour, Golden Bay, Singleton and Madora Bay — are something of a worker’s paradise, with residents enjoying a laid-back beachfront lifestyle without the price tag of properties further up the coast.
Even when there was a considerable swing against sitting member Paul Papalia in 2025, Labor was sitting on such a huge lead it still won the seat with a two-party-preferred margin of 23 per cent.
But that was before Pauline Hanson sent a shockwave across the Australian electorate by tapping into concerns about immigration and the housing and cost-of-living crisis.
Anger at the failure of the government, both federally and at the state level, is so strong that even rusted-on Labor voter and long-time Secret Harbour resident Mick is considering voting for One Nation’s candidate, Luke Herdegen.
“I’ve always worked with my hands. I’m working class through and through,” Mick tells me after his shift in a mine in the Peel region.
“And I’m a union member. But I’m so sick of Labor not doing anything for the country I’m seriously thinking about voting for One Nation.
“Not that I believe One Nation can do anything. I just want to send Labor a message.
“They are not listening. I want them to pull their fingers out.
“Everything seems to be getting more expensive. Nobody seems to be doing anything. They are reactive, not proactive. Like the fuel excise.
“We have all the resources here. We just don’t use them properly.
“Why are we paying so much for energy when we have abundant supplies?”
However, Mick has no confidence in One Nation, nor does he agree with the party’s policies on immigration.
“I don’t think One Nation has the smarts to run the country, but what they can do is hold the government to account,” he says. “It will be a protest vote to force Labor to start listening to the people.”
Mick says that it is not only him. He is hearing the same grumbling about Labor inaction from many of his mates – so much so that he believes Labor is in serious trouble in Secret Harbour.
“They are desperate,” Mick tells me over coffee in a Secret Harbour Square cafe. “That’s why they are down here talking about a train station. Give me a break!”
Retiree Christine is another long-time Labor voter who is considering voting for One Nation.
“A lot of people want a change and they are thinking about One Nation,” says Christine, a former IT worker at The West Australian.
“People are doing it tough. The cost of living is making it hard for so many people. And it is impossible for young people to buy a house.”
Christine’s main local issue is the explosion of traffic on the Kwinana Freeway and the lack of a train station.
Her husband Roy, also a former West Australian employee and also a long-time Labor voter, agrees that One Nation will attract voters who are unhappy with both the federal and state Labor governments.
However, he doesn’t believe Pauline Hanson’s party has a chance of winning government.
“One Nation is a little too racist for most people,” argues Roy.
“I was born in South Africa and have always hated the way white people treated its black population.
“And I hate the way we treat Aboriginal Australians. We are all one nation, but not in the way One Nation wants it to be.”
However, even with his solid Labor values and embrace of Indigenous Australians, Roy knows price rises are hurting people, and they will blame the government “even if it is Donald Trump’s fault”.
Home carer Lisa agrees that One Nation has made significant inroads into Secret Harbour, especially among baby boomers.
“Pauline Hanson has managed to exploit the fears of older people, much in the same way that Donald Trump has in the United States,” Lisa tells me while keeping an eye on her elderly father.
“But we shouldn’t fear migrants who have given so much to this country.
“We emigrated here from England, so we have sympathy for people who weren’t born here. We’d be hypocrites if we didn’t,” says Lisa.
While left-leaning Lisa will not vote for One Nation, she does not fear the arrival of the disruptive far-right party as much as others of her persuasion.
“Pauline does go at it like a bull in a China shop, but that’s OK. She is shaking things up.
“Everybody needs a challenge. It’s good for democracy.”
Read the full article here
