Labor facing wipeout in WA

The Federal Government faces electoral annihilation in WA because of its proposed resources super profits tax, with a new Westpoll showing all WA Labor politicians are at risk of losing their seat if an election were held tomorrow.

The Westpoll of 400 voters, taken this week while Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was in Perth trying to sell the tax, shows the ALP's primary vote has collapsed to just 26 per cent, 12 percentage points lower than what it gained at the 2007 election.

It would be the lowest primary vote recorded by the ALP in WA in any poll dating back to Federation. The coalition's primary vote has jumped to 52 per cent, in part driven by a large increase in Nationals support, which now stands at 5 per cent.

Despite growing support for the Greens in the Eastern States, the party's support in the Westpoll was just 9 per cent.

On a two-party preferred basis, the coalition leads Labor 62 to 38. At the 2007 election, the coalition took WA 53 to 47.

If the result was repeated across the State at this year's Federal election, the seats of Hasluck (held by Sharryn Jackson by a margin of one per cent), Brand (held by Gary Gray; a margin of 6.1 per cent) and Perth (held by Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith; a margin of 8.1 per cent) would be lost. Only Fremantle MP Melissa Parke would survive, but it would be a cliffhanger. She holds her seat by 9.1 per cent.

It would be Labor's worst result in WA since the Federal election of 1977 when the ALP claimed 32.5 per cent of the primary vote, leaving it with one of the State's 10 seats.

The collapse in Labor's vote seems directly connected to the planned mining tax, which was announced by the Government on May 3. Only 19 per cent of those quizzed believe the tax would be quite or highly positive for the State's economy, with 63 per cent saying it would be quite or highly negative.

Of those quizzed, 43 per cent said the tax would have quite or a very strong influence on their vote while 22 per cent said it would have no real influence. Another 32 per cent said it would have a minor influence.

Treasurer Wayne Swan signalled yesterday the Government was close to finalising the tax as some of the nation's biggest miners argued the consultation process had been a sham and should be started again.

Speaking to the Australia-India Business Council yesterday, Mr Swan conceded debate over the tax had not been easy but it was pivotal to the Government's overall aims in areas such as superannuation and reducing the corporate tax rate.

In a letter to Mr Rudd signed by representatives from companies including BHP Billiton, Downer EDI, Barrick Gold and Paladin Energy, miners claimed the discussions over the tax had caused uncertainty and were hitting the national economy.