Albanese Gets to Work on WA Marginal Seats With $200 Million Hospital Promise

Marginal seats across Australia’s major cities will play a big part in the election.

Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese addresses the media at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on March 28, 2025. Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to announce $200 million towards the redevelopment of a hospital in a key Western Australian (WA) seat as federal election campaigning ramps up.

Albanese is set to meet with WA Labor Premier Roger Cook to make the announcement on March 31 as he seeks to shore up support for the electorate which was previously held by Liberal Ken Wyatt from 2010-2022.

Labor’s Tania Lawrence won the seat in the 2022 federal election with a 10.4 percent margin amid a broader swing against the Liberals.

Other key WA seats for Labor will include Tangney, which sits on a 2.8 percent margin, and Pearce and Swan which Labor will seek to retain.

Another seat of interest will be the newly created electorate of Bullwinkel, a new division in Perth’s outer suburbs created in 2024 and contested for the first time in 2025.

The seat is notionally held by Labor.

Further, the “teal” seat of Curtin, held by Kate Chaney, is deemed the most marginal of all the teal electorates around the country sitting on a 2.5 percent margin after preferences.

Meanwhile, Moore is currently held by Liberal-turned-independent Ian Goodenough, who won the seat in 2022 with an 11.6 percent margin despite an 11 percent swing to Labor.

Albanese’s latest move comes after his visit to the regional Queensland electorate of Hinkler on March 29 to pledge Labor’s $20 million Australian Made Campaign.

Hinkler has historically mostly been held by Coalition MPs, with former Nationals incumbent Keith Pitt previously holding on to the seat with a margin of 14.5 percent.

Further, Albanese took a brief reprieve from marginal or nearly marginal seats by spending the second day of the official election campaign in the safe seat of Canberra.

Hospital Deal

The St John of God Midland Public Hospital in the Perth suburb of Midland, is the capital’s newest hospital and services patients in the east metropolitan and Wheatbelt regions.

As part of the deal being announced by Albanese, the state will add $155 million to the project, while the federal government would cover the promised $200 million.

Tight Race Predicted

Labor’s focus on contentious electorates is no surprise given predictions of a tight race that favour neither party forming a majority government.

A recent Newspoll showed Labor was very slightly ahead of the Coalition, while the latest Resolve poll shows a 50-50 draw.

The latest YouGov modelling shows Labor could win 75 seats, with 60 going to the Coalition.

Parties need to get 76 seats for a majority.

This election, key marginal seats are spread across the capitals Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth.