Mark McGowan with West Swan MLA and Rita Saffioti.
Camera IconMark McGowan with West Swan MLA and Rita Saffioti. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

WA Election: Rita Saffioti resoundingly retains West Swan

Lisa ThomasThe Advocate

Ms Saffioti, who is likely to retain her portfolio as the new minister for transport, said she was keen to implement a lot of the work she had done as the shadow transport representative into government.

She said she was felt humbled by the result on election night and was looking forward to continuing working for her community.

“The result was massive across the state and in my seat,” she said.

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“My priorities are of course the rail line to Ellenbrook, for both my seat and for my potential portfolio as well as education and roads.”

Ms Saffoti confirmed that a train line to Ellenbrook would happen under a Labor Government.

She said Liberal party candidates and outgoing members were only letting down the electorate if they continued to play down the need for a rail line.

“It’s a major commitment and we intend to begin planning straight away,” she said

“The Liberal Party needs to learn a lesson. There is a reason there was such a big swing in WA and in West Swan.”

Ms Saffioti thanked her team, volunteers and voters for supporting and re-electing her.

“I couldn’t be more humbled by the voter confidence,” she said.

“We had a great campaign and it was run by great people. It was a great result.”

Candidate Rod Henderson gained 31 per cent of votes in the election race.

He said he congratulated his opponent on her success and said the result was greater than he expected.

“I’m not happy about the result and it would have been good if the Liberal Party had gotten in for another term, but it was always going to be a tight race,” he said.

“We worked really hard, but the people made their decision.”