Just nine weeks after becoming premier, Roger Cook has been faced with his first major leadership test, and boy was it a doozy.
Sending 279 pages of the 2021 Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act to landfill was a monumental decision with ramifications that will haunt WA Labor’s lawmaking credentials.
Roger Cook has a long way to go to build up the same amount of political capital of his predecessor, Mark McGowan. Credit: Composite image
But one of the most striking things this debacle has exposed is the stark differences in how Cook and his predecessor respond to political pressure.
Despite initially adopting a stubborn approach by accusing the opposition of “dog whistling” and laughing as backbenchers accused them of being racist when, the chorus of voices against the laws evolved into a roar he cut his losses.
It’s hard to imagine former West Australian premier Mark McGowan would have taken the same path on the issue as Cook did on Tuesday.
“We got it wrong,” Cook conceded, in one of modern WA politics’ biggest mea culpas.
“When I became premier I said I’d listen, and that’s what I’ve done. I’ve heard, I’ve acted, and today we’re putting those actions into place.”
These statements signalled a drastic shift in leadership style.
McGowan rarely apologised for government missteps or failures, and policy positions remained unmoved in the face of intense levels of public outcry.
Recent examples include criticism over conditions at the Banksia Hill Detention Centre and McGowan’s decision to delay the COVID border reopening in early 2022.
The border backflip was met with huge opposition from the WA public and media, but McGowan didn’t move an inch.
In fact, the only major examples of the former premier backing down can be found in the pre-COVID years, before McGowan’s approval rating had skyrocketed.
In 2017, the government abandoned plans to move Perth Modern School after community backlash.
The government also acquiesced to a grassroots campaign to save Moora Residential College in 2018.
Cook’s backflip was framed as an example of his government listening to the community, but taking the state back to square one on Aboriginal cultural heritage will not please everyone, especially large numbers of his own backbench.
Reading between the lines, Cook was forced to cut his losses because he doesn’t have enough political capital with the public to die on any hill at the moment.
McGowan could withstand pressure from virtually any issue because his support was so great.
Nine weeks into the job, Cook does not have the same public support and, in the absence of another global pandemic, he may never get it.
WA political commentator Peter Kennedy said Cook was more exposed on government issues because his cache of political capital was bare.
Comparing the border backflip to the heritage laws, Kennedy said McGowan had a track record developed over COVID-19.
“I guess he believed that he had enough political capital to defer the decision and still come out in front,” he said.
“He toughed it out and he did without losing too much skin.
“The challenge for Roger is that he’s relying on the McGowan political capital at the moment. He hasn’t got his own yet.”
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