In a Federal election campaign that experts are tipping could go either way, Durack MHR Melissa Price says she will be doing all she can to ensure she plays her role for the Liberal Party.
On September 7, 2013, Ms Price was voted in by the people of the Durack region, and she has triumphed at the next three elections. Albeit her last election victory in 2022 was soured by the party’s overall defeat.
Approaching her fifth consecutive election, she said securing her spot would not be any easier.
“You only have to look at the election results from the last election where just about every Liberal-held seat, lost about 11 per cent,” she said.
“If you didn’t have a margin over 10 or 11 per cent at the last election, you were gone.
“It’s very unpredictable. It’s certainly not a science, it’s an art. So (Durack) is not a safe seat, and I do not take it for granted.”
Across her nearly 12 years in Federal politics, Ms Price has advocated for the region across the biggest electorate in Australia.
Covering 1.4 million square kilometres, her role has seen her visit all parts of the electorate, including throughout the Mid West.
“I think I’ve got the best job in Australia, not just the best job in politics . . . because of the diversity of issues, the diversity of people,” she said.
“I represent the people in Kununurra, and I also represent the people that live in Muchea, and that’s more than 3000km in between, and that’s what makes the job interesting.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton last week was in WA, declaring WA would be key for the Liberal party to return to Government at the Federal level.
Ms Price agreed with her leader, saying WA was always a factor for the election, given the timezone difference.
She also said the Durack region would benefit from a Dutton government.
“I think because he’s a Queenslander, and a lot of Queensland is regional, a State that’s decentralised, I find Queenslanders really understand Western Australia,” Ms Price said.
“They understand regional issues, as opposed to my colleagues perhaps at inner city seats in Melbourne or Sydney.
“They don’t necessarily understand what the needs are of regional Western Australia, but Peter understands it.”
Speaking about the needs of the Mid West, Ms Price said a good road network was at the top of her list of priorities.
She slammed the condition of Geraldton-Mt Magnet Road, calling it “an absolute disgrace”.
“There’s a lot of mining activity out there and travelling out to Mount Magnet and beyond, as I do, (fixing) it is definitely on my priority list,” she said.
Ms Price has also been a strong advocate for a jetty in Geraldton, speaking publicly about her position to Parliament last year.
The party is yet to commit to funding as an election commitment, but is complying with the City of Greater Geraldton’s request from council to have an idea by their April council meeting.
She was also interested in making local roads and community infrastructure funding available again to help shires in the Mid West fund projects, saying the current government had neglected regional WA.
Meanwhile, live sheep exports were also on the agenda, with the Durack MHR advocating for an end to the ban.
If successful this year, Ms Price said she would be honoured to perform a role as a minister, having covered a number of portfolios in the past, including environment, science and technology and most recently defence industries.
Recently, she has performed the role of the Opposition Whip, working with colleagues to manage them throughout sitting weeks at Parliament.
Ms Price’s main competitor for the seat is Labor candidate Karen Wheatland, but she said regardless of who she was up against, any success was off the back of hard work in the community.
“I’m really proud of the fact that with my team, a lot of my team have been with me from day one, that we’ve been able to hold the seat for so long,” she said.
“But I like to think that’s come with hard work. There’s no luck in that. There’s no luck in politics.”
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