ANALYSIS: How a radioactive week in Western Australia energised the flatlining Liberal Party
While news of the loss of a tiny radioactive capsule triggered an urgent and unusual public health scare, WA politics was experiencing a seismic shift on the other end of the spectrum.
Mettam entered politics in 2014 in a by-election triggered by the resignation of another former Liberal leader Troy Buswell.As Mia Davies was giving a tearful press conference to announce she'd be stepping down as opposition leader, Mettam was mulling her options.Within hours she'd called David Honey, and emailed her colleagues, officially challenging him for the party's leadership.
In one of her first acts as leader, she asked two of its members who remain in the state parliament to apologise for offensive and derogatory language they'd used in group chat messages leaked in 2021.Peter Collier did and kept his place in the shadow cabinet. With her former boss watching, she did what he couldn't, or wouldn't – tackle the internal issues the group caused, pledging that: "the issues that have dogged the party surrounding the so-called Clan will not be part of my leadership going forward".
Mettam was trying to tell people she would be a leader in the community, for the community — speaking to real people, and proposing solutions people actually wanted.
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