Secessionism in Western Australia

Pro independence sentiment and movement

Secessionism has been a recurring feature of Western Australia's political landscape since shortly after Federation in 1901. The idea of self governance or secession has often been discussed through local newspaper articles and editorials. On a number of occasions secession has been a serious political issue for the State, including in a successful but unimplemented 1933 state referendum. One recurring argument by proponents of secession is based on the assumption that a federal government in Canberra will favour the business and popular interests of the larger population centres lying to the east of this state. A common complaint is that Western Australia is a forgotten or Cinderella state, which contributes more to federal funds than it gets back, and is discriminated against by the more populous states. The Constitution of Australia, however, describes the union as "one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth" and makes no provision for states to secede. Western Australia is the only state not specifically listed in this preamble, as its final decision to join came too late for the constitution, already enacted by the UK Parliament, to be altered.

Petitions asking for representative elections for some of the positions in the Western Australian Legislative Council were presented to London in 1865 and 1869. This was granted in 1870 but maintained a Governor's veto. In 1887 a new constitution including the right of self governance was drafted and in 1890, the Act granting self government was passed by the British House of Commons and assented to by Queen Victoria.

Iron ore magnate Lang Hancock founded the Westralian Secession Movement in 1974. His group focused largely on taxes and tariffs, arguing that trade barriers around Australia harmed the State's mainly mining and wheat export industries which earned a disproportionate amount of Australia's foreign exchange. In the 1974 Senate election, the party fielded Don Thomas as an ultimately unsuccessful candidate. The Western Australian economy was, however, in an upswing at the time with major capital works underway and prosperity at an all time high. The movement stagnated after a few years.

+ Western Australia's shares of various resources in 2010% of AustraliantotalPopulation10.3%Gross domestic product13.1%Mineral and energy output48%Merchandise exports39%Exploration55%Private investment28%Share of GST8.1%

At the start of the 21st century, Australia was in the middle of a "resources boom", which once again meant that Western Australia's economic contribution to the Australian economy was at a high point. Perceptions of a disproportionately low share of federal resources sent to the state relative to its economic contribution to the country further fanned a wave of secessionist rhetoric. For example, at the 22 October 2008 Vista Public Lecture, former Western Australian Premier, Richard Court, said that the case for secessionism only strengthened while the Commonwealth continued to exploit the State's resource rich economy. He argued that, at the time, Western Australia accounted for 35% of the nation's export income yet most of the revenue was used to strengthen the "financial muscle growing in Canberra". The state had approximately 9–10% of the nation's population, generated over 10% of the Goods and Services Tax revenue, but received only 6% of what was being distributed. Western Australia was grouped with Scotland, Wales, the Basque Country, and Catalonia as "places seeking maximum fiscal and policy autonomy from their national capitals" in an October 2013 opinion piece in The New York Times. In 2016, the pro secessionist WAxit Party was formed. The party failed to gain a significant number of votes in subsequent elections. Support for WA secession grew again during the COVID 19 pandemic and WA's hard border closure with the rest of Australia in 2020. A poll run in October 2020 found that 28% of Western Australians support Western Australia leaving the Australian federation.