Anatomy of a retraction: WA Labor closes ranks like they were never broken

You’ve got to be quick if you want to catch a chink in the WA Labor armour. Backbench Labor MP Chris Tallentire was the first to go public in Parliament and the press with a stinging critique of Labor’s nature law reforms and willingness to be cowed by industry and media pressure. On Friday, another retiring Labor MP Jessica Shaw briefly became the second. Shaw was the closing speaker at a Smart Energy Council summit also attended by many of the top energy companies with a foot in the renewables fold. Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue, Yara Chemicals and the Australia Manufacturing Workers Union had already gone first and lambasted the lack of a renewable energy target from the WA government as introducing uncertainty and slowing the energy transition. Shaw appeared to agree. 

“We have to achieve something that is truly gargantuan in scale. We have got to talk about this stuff, but we’ve actually got to start getting on with it,” she told the summit, as reported by Nine and AAP. “I get frustrated about it, and I’ve decided not to run for parliament again in March because I’m sick of talking about it. We have to start taking meaningful action.”

WAtoday ran her comments under a headline that initially read “Mining giant, Yara call for renewables target as Labor MP airs concerns” and spoke of “a second Labor MP breaking ranks”. Not for long. Less than three hours later, a glossy photo of Shaw and Roger Cook standing shoulder to shoulder popped up on her Facebook page below some extended revisionism. 

“I am saddened and disappointed to learn that statements I made at the Smart Energy Council summit yesterday have been taken out of context. I have also been misquoted,” the statement began, although people present at the event have confirmed the quotes (reported identically in two different outlets) accorded with their recollection.

Contrary to her comments at the summit, Shaw insisted that her departure from politics was because spending most of her time in Parliament or dealing with her bloody constituents distracted from her total focus on facilitating the green energy transition.

“The fact is that under Premier Cook’s leadership, there is more action underway towards addressing climate change than at any other time in WA’s history,” she went on, despite her government’s signature climate change legislation being postponed indefinitely and her remarks on Thursday that “we have to start taking meaningful action.”

She even credited Cook’s speech at a previous energy transition conference with motivating her to leave politics to contribute more, which is a pretty backhanded compliment - that moment when your boss is so inspiring that you immediately quit.

Shaw has spoken publicly about seeking to work in the renewables sector after leaving Parliament, and presumably attends events like last week’s with one eye on this prize. There has also been speculation she may not have finished with politics forever, and may look for a federal Labor seat in time. Whatever the reason, it’s clear the WA Labor machine is still more than a match for most internal dissent. If this is what leadership looks like in WA in 2024, it’s probably time for a bit more anarchy, because this lot are truly puny.