Robert Kennedy resigns amid fallout from problem-plagued March 8 state election
WA Electoral Commissioner Robert Kennedy will leave his post on January 30, avoiding a parliamentary vote to sack him.
Secretary of Electoral Affairs David Michael announced late Tuesday that Kennedy submitted his resignation to Gov. Chris Dawson earlier in the day, effective in the new year.
Kennedy has been on leave since March following the troubled March 8 state election, which saw voting booths endure massive lines, a lack of ballots, as well as understaffing issues.
The incident, which became the subject of an investigation by former governor Malcolm McCusker, found that the election was underfunded and that staffing on the day was “totally inadequate”, with some voters waiting up to three hours at the polls and others not being able to vote at all because they had run out of ballots.
Opposition electoral affairs spokesman Shane Love tabled a motion in August highlighting the serious findings from the inquiry, declaring the council had no confidence in the WA electoral commissioner and declaring him to be sacked.
The deadline for this motion was extended to Thursday, but Kennedy was reportedly given an ultimatum to resign before that date or face parliament impeaching him.
Michael thanked Kennedy in his statement.
“Mr Kennedy has served the Western Australian community as a public servant for three decades, including as WA Electoral Commissioner since 2020,” he said.
“On behalf of the Government of Western Australia, I would like to thank Mr Kennedy for his service to the community.
“The appointment of the new Electoral Commissioner and Deputy Electoral Commissioner will be made in due course in consultation with other parties in parliament.”
The love shined less brightly in Kennedy’s statement following his resignation.
“I welcome the decision to resign by the WA election commissioner. This is something I have consistently called for following the results of the state election,” he said.
“The WA Electoral Commission (WAEC) did not have the stable leadership required to implement the findings of the latest special investigation into the planning and conduct of the 2025 state election.
“Had the Cook Labor government acted more urgently in sacking the commissioner, it might have given voters some reassurance that the government was serious about fixing the numerous flaws identified in the state election.”
Love said the next task was to ensure stable leadership at the WA Electoral Commission and the government should set up a parliamentary oversight committee and look at how the commission was funded.
Earlier Tuesday, Prime Minister Roger Cook refused to answer questions about Kennedy’s future.
“I’m not going to go into the conversations that took place between the Public Sector Commissioner and the Electoral Commissioner, these are sensitive issues and obviously it’s important that they are handled in that way,” he said.
“We are currently carrying out a series of processes, there is a motion in the parliament and we are meeting with the Speaker of the Parliament regarding that motion.”
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Hamish Hastie is WAtoday’s state political correspondent and the winner of five WA Media Awards, including the 2023 Beck Award for best political journalism.Connect with: excitement or email.
