Political Issues
Western Australia is generally considered to be the most conservative state in Australia; it was the only state to vote in favour of John Howard over Kevin Rudd in the 2007 federal election and the Liberals and Nationals won 12 of the state's fifteen seats in the 2010 election.
This is primarily due to economic reasons - the state and national economy is heavily dependent on the resources that are exported from the state such as iron ore, LNG and gold. Policies implemented by the federal Labor government such as the carbon and mining taxes are widely viewed as being detrimental to the state economy with incumbent premier Colin Barnett being one of Gillard's fiercest critics. In contrast, social policies aren't seen as divisive - WA is one of three states which permit same-sex adoption and polls conducted in the state show a majority in favour of same-sex marriage. In contrast to their federal counterparts, Barnett and Nationals leader Brendon Grylls have both stated support for civil unions (though Barnett is opposed to full marriage rights) while opposition leader Mark McGowan has stated his support for gay marriage.
Read more about this topic: Politics Of Western Australia
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