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Election 2022: WA sees huge swing away from the Liberals, with Swan, Pearce, Hasluck lost

A Labor supporter is crying in the seat of Swan as the Labor party takes election victory. (ABC News: Jake Sturmer)

Western Australia has turned its back on the Liberal party with a massive swing of around 10 per cent, and the loss of four seats to Labor.

The collapse in the Liberal vote is the biggest swing in the country away from the Liberals and a massive result for a state where the conservative side of politics has traditionally performed strongly at a federal level.

With a national swing away from the Liberals of around 2.5 per cent, Scott Morrison's Coalition has lost government and Anthony Albanese will become the Prime Minister.

However, it is unclear whether Labor will have enough seats to govern in its own right or will have to form a minority government.

"Western Australia has behaved completely differently from the rest of the country.

"It's a clear and very strong rejection of the Liberal Party and a big swing to the Labor Party."

Pearce, Swan, Hasluck, Tangney fall to ALP

Labor has picked up the previously safe Liberal seat of Pearce, which used to be held by former Attorney-General Christian Porter and Swan, which was held by the retiring Liberal Steve Irons. 

It has also gained Hasluck, held by indigenous Affairs Minister Ken Wyatt, while the very safe Liberal seat of Moore, held by Ian Goodenough, is also in doubt.

 Indigenous Affairs Minister Ken Wyatt's seat of Hasluck is one of at least four seats the Liberal Party lost to Labor (ABC News: Dave Weber)

And in another Liberal shock, Liberal Ben Morton has lost Tangney, which he previously held with a margin of almost 10 per cent, with Labor challenger Sam Lim set to be sworn in.

Public Service Minister Ben Morton, a close confidant to Scott Morrison, has lost the seat of Tangney, which he held since 2016. (ABC News: Rebecca Carmody)

Before today, 10 of the 15 federal electorates in WA were held by the Liberal Party, and the remaining five were Labor.

With four of these confirmed to have fallen to Labor, several others are too close to call, and even previously safe Liberal seats such as Canning, held by Andrew Hastie, have become marginal.

The most marginal of Labor's seats previously was Cowan in Perth's south-east, held by Labor's Ann Aly by a slim 0.9 per cent, but she appears to have substantially increased her majority.

Former Wanneroo mayor Tracey Roberts is the new ALP member for Pearce, in Perth's north east, while engineer Zaneta Mascarenhas is the ALP's member for the inner Perth seat of Swan.

Tracey Roberts celebrates after winning the seat of Pearce which was previously held by Attorney-General Christian Porter. (ABC News: Nic Perpitch)

Ms Mascarenhas said she felt there was a strong sense of change and people wanting more from the Federal Government.

Labor's Zaneta Mascarenhas has won the seat of Swan with more than 40 per cent of the primary vote. (ABC News: Jake Sturmer)

"We've seen poor leadership from Scott Morrison, out of touch, [he] doesn't want to take responsibility."

"What we saw with Mark McGowan was how he decisively led during the pandemic — something we didn't see from Scott Morrison."

Tania Lawrence has won the seat of Hasluck from Indigenous Affairs Minister Ken Wyatt. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)

Meanwhile, Tania Lawrence has defeated Mr Wyatt in Hasluck, on Perth's eastern outskirts.

Curtin result set to be close

One of the most interesting battles has taken place in the affluent western suburbs seat of Curtin, where so-called "teal" independent Kate Chaney is leading Liberal Celia Hammond.

Antony Green says Ms Chaney is "well-positioned" to win the blue-ribbon seat which was once held by former Defence Minister Julie Bishop.

Ms Hammond, the former vice-chancellor of Notre Dame University, previously enjoyed a margin of almost 14 per cent.

Celia Hammond is under threat from Kate Chaney in the Perth electorate of Curtin. (ABC News: Andrea Mayes)

Ms Chaney, a former corporate lawyer and strategy director at charity Anglicare, has been campaigning for more action on climate change, political accountability and women's issues.

The significance of the west to the national vote was not lost on the leaders of the two major parties.

Labor launched its campaign in Perth for the first time since 1940 and Prime Minister Scott Morrison dashed across to WA for the last day of his political campaign in a final bid to win over the voters of Swan, Pearce, Hasluck and Cowan.

New Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's victory speech in full
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