Heather Reid WA Liberals candidate for Bunbury following uncontested preselection

Environmental compliance adviser Heather Reid will be the one to embark on the tall task of switching Bunbury to blue come the 2025 State election. Ms Reid was officially ratified by the WA Liberal State Council on July 27 after being the party’s only nominee for the seat. She said she was excited for her chance to get on the road and meet more of the community. “I’m really looking forward for the opportunity to get stuck into the campaign,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity for me to get out and about, meet the community, enter into conversations with wider networks. “I’m really looking forward to the campaign . . . and providing a real choice for Bunbury. “Bunbury people that want to vote for change could count on me to be part of that change mechanism.” Ms Reid is involved in several groups in the Bunbury area, serving on the South West Football League executive, and as treasurer of the South West Indian Group. It is not her first attempt to run for public office, vying for Liberal preselection to replace the retiring John Castrilli at the 2017 State election before being defeated by lawyer Ian Morison. The seat of Bunbury is held by WA Labor Cabinet member Don Punch, who has been in the seat since 2017. After WA Labor’s monster win in 2021 following the COVID-19 pandemic and record approval for former Premier Mark McGowan, Mr Punch won the seat on a margin of 22.5 per cent thanks to a 12 per cent swing. While Statewide polls have tightened for the WA Liberals, they have not caught up quite yet. Bunbury is a seat which tends to swing with the government of the day, having only been won by the non-government party once since 1974. Ms Reid said she believed the seat was up for grabs because the community were under intense cost-of-living pressure. “I do think the seat of Bunbury is winnable because I really believe that we have reached a turning point where people living in the Bunbury region feel that their livelihoods, their lives, their future aspirations are being held back,” she said. “There’s a feeling of somewhat stagnation happening in Bunbury, and people are looking for a vision, hope and strong advocacy for their requirements.”