State election 2021: ABC electoral analyst Antony Green calls election for Labor after 42 minutes

ABC electoral analyst Antony Green has called the WA State election for Labor just 42 minutes after counting began.

At 6.42pm and with just 0.7 per cent of the vote counted, Mr Green said the McGowan Government had won a second term in power.

Although just a fraction of votes have been counted, Labor has recorded a 12 percentage point increase in primary support.

By comparison, the Liberal primary vote has collapsed 13.5 per cent.

“At this stage I'm prepared to call the election,” Mr Green said, adding: “We can safely say the McGowan Government has been returned to office.”

It’s the fastest Green has called an election since he called Queensland for Labor in 2001.

Police Minister Michelle Roberts said: “It’s an incredible result for Mark McGowan”.

“He can take a lot of the credit for it absolutely,” she told the ABC election night panel.

“I think it’s a choice people have made between an experienced responsible government and a very inexperienced Opposition Leader and team opposite us.

“I think this contrast was pretty stark, and whilst those of us in politics see that, the community clearly have seen it as well.”

But former Liberal opposition leader Matt Birney said it way too early to declare a winner.

“It is looking like a fair smashing for the conservatives admittedly but with less than 10 per cent of the vote counted I think it is a little early to be calling elections,” he said.

Mr Birney said the Liberal Party couldn’t pin its hopes on preferences.

“Many seats are typically won and lost on preferences but they wont save the Liberal Party in this election with Labor running up 59 per cent of the primary vote and the Liberal Party sitting at just 21 percent,” he said.

“By way of comparison Labor finished with 42 per cent of the primary vote and the Liberal Party with 31 per cent in the 2017 election”