July 15, 2026 — 2:05pmWA’s Liberal Party is poised to nominate a candidate with a similar career background to outgoing MP Paul Papalia to challenge for Secret Harbour in a looming byelection.Ryan Robertson is a councillor for the City of Rockingham, a former submariner, and is the only person to have put his hand up to run for the seat as a Liberal candidate.City of Rockingham councillor Ryan Robertson is shaping as the WA Liberals’ likely candidate for Secret Harbour. Facebook/Ryan RobertsonIt is expected his nomination will be formally endorsed this weekend, pending any last-minute applications.“He was a submariner at the very highest level for 12 years. He was Submariner of the Year in 2020 – a distinguished service career – in many ways the sort of career before coming into the political space that Paul Papalia had,” Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas said on Wednesday.“I talk about the uniqueness of that electorate, and clearly there is a very strong naval presence. There are unique features of each electorate that different candidates can satisfy, and I think this is unique.“If successful, I think he will be an outstanding advocate for the people of Secret Harbour.”Zempilas said he had observed “great frustration” in the local area regarding promises made by the state government, like the Karnup train station, falling by the wayside.“I think any byelection is a test for everybody, but the biggest test at this byelection is for [Premier] Roger Cook and his state government. Labor have always held this seat,” he said.Zempilas said the Liberals were entering the race with the aim of winning the seat, but he was realistic about growing support for One Nation.“I don’t see [One Nation] as a threat to the Liberal Party in Secret Harbour. The threat is for WA Labor – if they lose this seat, well, that is a huge slap in the face for them,” he said, predicting One Nation’s expectation of playing a “meaningful part” in the byelection.“What I am really determined to try and achieve ... is the removal of Labor holding that seat, and that will be a win for us and for anyone who plays a role in that.“I have been asked consistently: ‘will you preference One Nation?’ We will certainly preference them above Labor and above the Greens.”Pressed on whether more should have been done to source a female candidate, Zempilas said that was “presupposing that didn’t happen”, and that it was a process that happened at a branch level, “that’s not right for me to talk about in this forum”.“I think it will become obvious that [Robertson] was entirely the right sort of person to be pre-selected … he has a track record and career dedicated to service, both in the navy and then in local government,” he said.“You would be hard-pressed to find a better candidate than Ryan Robertson, and perhaps that is how this decision has been reached, or rather, that is how this process has played out.”Last week, Labor revealed their candidate, long-time Warnbro local Georgia Tree, who has worked with Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King and oil and gas giant Woodside, who they hoped would be key to the party retaining Papalia’s seat.Tree gave a direct answer to a pointed question when asked if she was “pro-gas”, given her work history, simply replying: “Yes.”While the admission may rankle some further on the left of politics, the battle for Secret Harbour is shaping as a contest between Labor, the Liberals and One Nation – and the latter have no qualms about admitting they are also “pro-gas”.Premier Roger Cook said the community knew Tree would “fight for working West Australians every day”.“We don’t take any seat for granted. We work hard, we fight hard for the trust of the people we represent,” he said.“We know that this is going to be a tough fight. Every byelection is a tough fight, every election is a tough fight. We know the people of this community expect us to deliver.”Holly Thompson is a journalist with WAtoday, specialising in education and the environment.Connect via X or email.From our partners