Shorten and Albanese in Perth pitch
Labor leadership aspirants Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese will appear in Perth on the Queen's Birthday public holiday to woo rank and file party members.
They will make their pitch at a morning barbecue at Hyde Park for the party faithful on Monday, September 30.
The senior frontbenchers in the Rudd and Gillard governments will each make a speech, answer questions and mingle with members.
More than 3800 Labor members in WA will be eligible to vote in the party's first leadership ballot conducted under new rules designed to democratise the process.
Under the changes, pushed through by Kevin Rudd after his return to the prime ministership, voting in the leadership ballot has been weighted at 50 per cent for MPs and 50 per cent for rank and file party members.
Mr Shorten and Mr Albanese are relying on a combination of campaigning through the media and reaching out to the grassroots.
Both have done press conferences or speeches most days and held campaign events in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
They have also trickled out high-profile endorsements of fellow frontbenchers and party elders.
Former Queensland premier Peter Beattie and Keating government minister and NSW ALP president Michael Lee hosted drinks last night for Mr Shorten to meet party members in Sydney.
On Thursday, former deputy prime minister Brian Howe helped launch Mr Albanese's campaign in Melbourne.
As part of his campaign, Mr Shorten has phoned branch secretaries and presidents to enlist support.
Mr Albanese is planning a series of so-called telephone town halls, when he will call thousands of members at once to speak to them and answer their questions.
Both contenders also have a strong online presence, with their own Facebook pages and campaign websites asking people to sign up for emails or volunteer their time.
Mr Shorten's "BillforLabor" website looks more slickly produced but Mr Albanese's "Alboforleader" has so far attracted more pledges of support from branch members.
Senator Louise Pratt and new Perth MHR Alannah MacTiernan have declared their support for Mr Albanese, while Senator Glenn Sterle is backing Mr Shorten.
Other WA MPs are yet to show their hands.
Bookmakers have installed Mr Albanese the favourite.
The new leader will be announced on October 13.
