Mark McGowan goes after Peter Dutton, Clive Palmer, the press, everyone

The Coalition wipe-out in WA gave the state’s premier the opportunity and bravado to publicly settle some scores.

WA Premier Mark McGowan (Image: Supplied)

Western Australian emperor Premier Mark McGowan is a surprisingly bellicose mood, all things considered. Over the weekend he celebrated a second wipe-out for the Liberal Party in his state in as many years, with the traditional conservative stronghold delivering four seats and a 10% swing to the federal ALP — exceeding even the party’s most optimistic projections.

So naturally he felt in a good position for a press conference that would settle a few scores.

First, he went after the press pack that had followed Anthony Albanese around during the campaign: “Screaming and interrupting, and rude, and insulting, intimidating and bullying. The sort of thing in a workplace you’d get sacked for. They need to reflect on their behaviour. I’ve never seen anything like it.”