Federal election 2022: Liberal incumbent for O’Connor Rick Wilson says election has lacked policy ambition

Liberal incumbent for O’Connor Rick Wilson says both major parties have lacked a “bold policy agenda” during the Federal election campaign as he hopes for a repeat of the Coalition’s upset victory in 2019. Mr Wilson is one of nine candidates for the WA electorate of O’Connor — a conservative stronghold which spans more than 1.1 million sqkm, taking in parts of the South West, Great Southern, Wheatbelt and Goldfields. He is expected to comfortably retain his seat for a fourth term, with an electoral redistribution last year increasing his margin from 14.5 per cent to 15.4 per cent. After casting his vote at Mt Lockyer Primary School in his home city of Albany on Saturday, Mr Wilson said he was nervous but cautiously optimistic about the national result. “It is similar to 2019 when everybody had written us off and the polls were against it,” he said. “But there’s an extra three years of baggage and COVID has made governing in the last couple of years very difficult. “People are grumpy about a lot of the restrictions that they’ve had to live with, including vaccine mandates and other things, and they’re blaming whatever government happens to be up for election at the moment — and that’s us. “ Mr Wilson said he was buoyed by Scott Morrison’s 11th hour visit to Perth, which gave him hope for crucial WA seats such as Swan and Pearce. Holds in those seats, combined with a late swing towards the Coalition in NSW, could be a path to victory. “(Scott Morrison) wouldn’t have spent the last day of the campaign in Perth if those seats weren’t in play,” Mr Wilson said. “There’s a lot of speculation that they’re going to be taken up by the Labor Party, but like I say, he wouldn’t have been here if they weren’t close enough. “So I’m hopeful that there will be a late swing, and the momentum’s been with us in the last few days. “Albanese’s had another shocking week and it’s quite extraordinary that he’s in the hunt, but anyway, we’ll see what happens tonight.” Reflecting on the broader election campaign, Mr Wilson said it had been short on policy ambition, and he criticised Labor for a lack of originality. “I think everybody’s a little bit disappointed that neither party really has a bold policy agenda,” he said. “From our perspective, we’ve obviously relied on our track record, the last three years have been quite difficult and the general population probably doesn’t have the appetite for radical taxation reform. “But from my perspective, you get into government to change the world, and certainly if we’re re-elected, I’d be very keen to see us develop a much more ambitious agenda.” With his party’s team of election day volunteers “decimated” because of COVID and close contact isolation rules, Mr Wilson said he would spend most of the day handing out how-to-vote cards at polling places in Albany. “I’ll be at the polling booths until 6pm, but obviously tonight I’ll be glued to the coverage,” he said.