WA State election 2025: Churchlands MP Christine Tonkin says she can beat high-profile rival Basil Zempilas

Basil Zempilas’ rival in Churchlands, Labor MP Christine Tonkin, has declared she can beat the odds and keep the seat she won four years ago. Despite the 68-year-old having been almost universally written off this election, Ms Tonkin is adamant she will win on March 8. Not only does she say she can beat her Liberal opponent, but she says she will be returned with an increased margin. Ms Tonkin said she had worked hard for the electorate since becoming the first Labor member for Churchlands, in Perth’s western suburbs, in 2021. But there is another reason she reckons she will win Churchlands — she believes many voters don’t like Basil Zempilas. “Basil is in for a tight fight,” the 68-year-old defiantly told The Sunday Times this week. “I’ve been doorknocking solidly over the last year. “I have doorknocked just about the whole electorate. “The consistent message on the doors is ‘we don’t want Basil’.” Ms Tonkin said an attempt to overthrow Libby Mettam by supporters of Mr Zempilas in December last year had not gone down well with Churchlands voters. “People are telling me that they appreciate having a member who works for them,” she said. “They don’t appreciate having someone that they see as not having deep Liberal Party connections, but has been parachuted in. “The nail in the coffin is they don’t appreciate that he attempted to roll Libby (Mettam). “We do not want Basil is probably the most common theme (during doorknocking).” Ms Tonkin, who has spent decades working overseas in the field of public procurement, said there was nothing flashy about her. “We are chalk and cheese,” Ms Tonkin said of herself and Mr Zempilas. “I’m naturally a shy person. “I love speaking to people, but I’m not a showy, flashy person. “That’s not my style.” In 2021, she was one of Labor’s accidental MPs — candidates who won seats that had traditionally bled blue. The Perth grandmother beat Liberal minister Sean L’Estrange, winning by just 408 votes. She admits Mark McGowan’s then popularity was a big factor in that win, but she believes she can still retain her seat, despite the McGowan factor no longer in play. “What the Liberals haven’t understood is that there is probably only about 15 per cent of the electorate that is rusted on Libs,” she said of Churchlands electorate. “It’s not a hardcore Liberal seat, and about 25 per cent of the electorate is traditional Labor. “Yes, there was a 6 per cent McGowan factor which dissipates this election. “But I believe I can make that up because the dynamics have changed again.” Ms Tonkin said her achievements in Churchlands included road safety improvements at important intersections and crossings, school facilities improvements, upgrades to sport and recreational facilities and wetlands rehabilitation. “I got $1 million into the rahabilitation of the wetlands (at Galup-Lake Monger and Perry Lakes) and I count that as a major achievement,” she said. “I also got $3.5m into the building of two new STEM classes at Churchlands Senior High School.” Ms Tonkin says retirement was not in her thinking. “I love this job,” she said. “I would be bored witless sitting with my feet up, reading a book. “I have so many more fish to fry. I would say 70 is the new 50.”