WA Liberal MP Jonathan Huston Quits Party Over Mining Royalty Policy

Basil Zempilas has had his first brush with the political truism "disunity is death".

Luckily for him, chances are — at this stage at least — the Liberal leader won't be the one in a political grave because of it.

The decision of Nedlands MP Jonathan Huston to quit the party that elected him just over a year ago was hardly shocking to his colleagues.

More surprising was the policy which prompted his departure: raising mining royalties to fund the abolition of payroll tax and the creation of a sovereign wealth fund.

"If your personal philosophy is to increase taxes and charges for Western Australian businesses to fund your own agenda, you are not a conservative or aligned with the Liberal Party's values," veteran MP Steve Thomas said.

"Such an agenda, with its in-built antipathy to the mining sector which powers WA and delivers 46 per cent of our economy, belongs with the communist party, the Greens, or perhaps an independent."

Zempilas similarly rubbished the idea — one which Huston had argued matched Liberal Party values because it was a practical way of eliminating the scourge of payroll tax.

Huston's discovery of his independent streak has prompted plenty of questions, including why he ran for the Liberals in the first place (he'd hoped to convince his colleagues of the merits of his idea) and when Zempilas first knew of the divergence (it's unclear).

It's perhaps more easily brushed off than it otherwise would be because few, certainly among Liberal MPs, appear likely to miss Huston's presence in their partyroom.

One indicated the member for Nedlands never formally raised his ideas with colleagues. Zempilas hinted at the same.

Huston admits to being a member of the Liberals "on and off" over the years, and two party sources noted he had an independent streak which didn't mesh with the unity required by a political party.

Putting all that to one side, his divergence on a key Liberal policy — how to ensure the immense wealth of Western Australia is shared with its residents — highlights a key tension for the party, particularly amid the rise of One Nation.

The One Nation challenge

Precisely how worried the Liberals should be about One Nation is in the west is hard to gauge.

A DemosAU poll of 1,015 WA voters conducted between late May and early June puts the minor party at third most popular on primary vote (18 per cent), behind Labor (33 per cent) and the Liberals (23 per cent).

That's just one poll, and hardly enough to draw meaningful conclusions from. Nationally, the support for One Nation is much higher.

Their rise is something Zempilas is alert to, having declared — unprompted at a business breakfast — that he has an "open mind" to working with Pauline Hanson and co.

Their populist policies, like a new royalty on gas production, appear similar in some ways to Huston's idea of taxing the rich to give to the poor.

That's not to say he's eyeing off a switch from blue to orange, having told 102.5 ABC Perth he's "not concerned with One Nation".

"I think that would be a very poor choice for anybody in the seat of Nedlands," he added.

Mining policy 'road-tested'

It does though raise the question posed endlessly in the party's attempts to rebuild support at state and federal levels: how do the Liberals recapture the attention of voters?

Is their path to victory reclaiming the traditional political centre Labor has captured in recent years?

Or should they take lessons from the playbook of parties like One Nation and consider what might be considered more populist or non-traditional policies?

On this occasion, Zempilas has chosen a more traditional path, particularly in a state like WA where many people do benefit directly from the prosperity associated with the resources industry.

That prosperity also provides the sector with deep pockets to fund campaigns against any disadvantageous changes.

"We know of the significant investment that goes into producing that wealth for Western Australia. We can't compromise it."

Huston, on the other hand, believes there's a desire in the community for miners to pay a greater price for the benefits they extract, even among Liberals.

"In the 12 months since I've been a member of parliament I've been as far as I can in the state … road testing this with people," he said.

"I'm absolutely convinced … that 95 per cent of the hundreds of people … who have heard me and asked this question do not believe that the mineral wealth of Western Australia has been shared fairly amongst the ordinary people."

Political survival

Beyond the question of what influence he has to implement this policy, the more fundamental challenge for Huston now is ensuring his political survival without the party that has held his seat almost continuously since it was created in 1930.

He has been vocal on a few issues which appear to be stirring up voters in his electorate, including the building of a ferry terminal at Matilda Bay and the sale of Irwin Barracks.

But history is hardly on his side. Liberal Sue Walker wasn't re-elected in the party's heartland after she tried her hand at going independent in 2008.

Zempilas will no doubt be wishing for the same this time, promising the Liberals will run against their former colleague at the 2029 poll.

He'll also be hoping this is a case of removing a rogue operator before too much damage is done.

But it comes at the risk of taking both the Liberals and Nationals to six seats apiece in the lower house.

If any further disunity prompted a departure, he could be left in the embarrassing position of the Liberals becoming the minor opposition party once more.

A battle lost, perhaps, in the hope of winning the war ahead.