Michael Sutherland  in good mood this evening.
Camera IconMichael Sutherland in good mood this evening. Credit: Supplied/Giovanni Torre

WA Election: Mt Lawley incumbent Sutherland laments Liberal deal with One Nation

Giovanni TorreEastern Reporter

LIBERAL MLA for Mt Lawley Michael Sutherland said early on election evening that the One Nation deal had been “out of our hands” and “one of those things I had to deal with”.

Mr Sutherland was not involved in the preference deal, and there is no One Nation candidate in Mt Lawley, but he conceded that some constituents had been unimpressed with the arrangement.

“I had about 10 people contacting me,” he said.

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Mr Sutherland said a number of issues had been at play in the campaign.

“One issue is I think there is an element of the ‘it’s time’ factor after eight and a half years in government. There are many balls up in the air and the more balls up in the air the harder it gets,” he said, adding that the One Nation deal was one of those troublesome balls.

At 6.45pm on election night Mr Sutherland predicted the result in Mt Lawley would be “very close – perhaps even closer than in 2008”, when Mr Sutherland was first elected by a margin of about 2 per cent.