WA Liberal leader Libby Mettam has survived an unusual challenge to her leadership amid a campaign to pressure her out and make way for Liberal candidate and Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas. The day started with Ms Mettam calling on her detractors to ‘put up or shut up’. Whilst her leadership remains intact, the part is left bruised by the implosion, just a few months out from the state election.
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00:00Libby Metham arrived at Parliament with a clear message.
00:06It's time for dissenters to put up or shut up.
00:09Weeks of sustained pressure on her leadership came to a head after polling, which compared
00:14the party's likely success under her leadership with their chances under Perth Lord Mayor
00:20and media personality Basil Zemplis, was leaked to Seven West Media.
00:25Ms Metham was given the polling two weeks ago by a federal Liberal candidate who said
00:30it was commissioned by a businessman who wanted her to walk away so Mr Zemplis, the candidate
00:35for Churchlands, could take over before the election.
00:38Quite clearly there has been a lot of mischief undertaken by people in the shadows.
00:45Real questions need to be asked about who the businessman was who commissioned this
00:50poll, who wants to have an influence.
00:54Ms Metham emerged from the party room meeting with her leadership intact.
00:58After a motion put by Shadow Treasurer Neil Thompson, calling for the party to appoint
01:02Mr Zemplis as the campaign leader, failed.
01:06Mr Thompson later resigned from the opposition frontbench.
01:10We must now be united, move forward and focus on the issues that matter to Western Australians.
01:19Labor launched on the turmoil.
01:21What we've seen is an undermining of the Liberal leader by Basil Zemplis and what we've
01:26now seen is polling that's been commissioned.
01:30Now the question is, is how long has Basil Zemplis known about this polling, has he been
01:34pushing it and does he know the business person that commissioned this?
01:38Mr Zemplis says he's recently been told who that person is and says he might share it
01:44with Ms Metham if she asks.
01:47I haven't asked anybody to work on my behalf, I haven't engaged anybody to work on my behalf
01:51to the best of my knowledge, I don't have people working on my behalf.
01:55The Lord Mayor emphatically denying having anything to do with the polling.
02:00It's not my name to share, I don't even know if the name I've been told is correct.
02:04I think that information is for the person themselves to come forward with.
02:08But still not ruling out the possibility of becoming the party's campaign leader prior
02:13to the election.
02:14Is she the best possible leader?
02:17She's the only leader.
02:18You can only have one leader and she's the leader.
02:21So she is the person charged with the responsibility of leading us to the election and I expect
02:27she will.
02:28The question now resolved, according to Libby Metham.