TV Host Turned Mayor Launches Bid for WA State Parliament

City of Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas talks on stage during the Perth Scorchers Fan Day at Forrest Chase in Perth, Australia on Jan. 30, 2023. Paul Kane/Getty Images for Cricket Australia

TV sports host-turned-Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas has announced he will seek the state Liberal Party’s pre-selection for Churchlands, one of the wealthiest seats in Western Australia.

“I’ve been able to witness the effect of a lack of balance in our political system on how this government operates and more balance in opposition is going to produce a better government—whichever way it is,” he told reporters.

WA Liberal Leader Libby Mettam welcomed the announcement.

“It’s fantastic to see a number of high-quality candidates come forward and express interest in running for the Liberal Party in the lead-up to 2025,” she said.

Held by Independent Liz Constable between 1996 and 2013, the seat reverted to the Liberals in the 2013 election.

Sean L'Estrange held it until 2021, when it was won by the Labor Party’s Christine Tonkin, with just 50.8 percent of the two-party preferred result.

Initial votes, before distribution of preferences, saw Mr. L'Estrange win 43.9 percent to Ms. Tonkin’s 39.4 percent, suggesting that Mr. Zempilas, if pre-selected, stands a chance of winning if preferences flow his way—particularly as the swing to Labor in 2021 is seen as, at least partly attributable, to the popularity of then-Premier Mark McGowan, who has since resigned.

Mr. Zempilas initially revealed his tilt for the seat in a front-page spread and lengthy profile in his employer’s newspaper, The West Australian.

Mr. Zempilas was not a member of the Liberal Party, but said he had signed up prior to his announcement, while stating he intended to remain the City of Perth mayor until writs for the 2025 state election were issued.

Comments on Women’s Tennis ‘Misconstrued’

His announcement on social media site X (formerly Twitter) was clouded by controversy about an offhand remark to a reporter, which appeared to allude to the women’s final of the Australian Open as a “reserve game”—something he later said was “misconstrued.”

The West Australian newspaper defended Mr. Zempilas after a full clip of his comments emerged showing he was referring to the evening news bulletin as the “reserve game,” and not the women’s tennis match.

History of Colourful Comments

Late last year Mr. Zempilas was criticised for his decision to close a women’s crisis centre, insisting it was what the community wanted.

The Safe Night Space had been run from City of Perth-owned premises, sheltering up to 30 women each night, around three-quarters of whom were escaping family and domestic violence.

The WA state government stepped in and offered $3.1 million to keep the service running, but Mr. Zempilas said the offer came too late, prompting Homelessness Minister John Carey to call his actions “bizarre and erratic.”

Also in 2023, he told workers who were demanding more work-from-home days, “If you work from home and not in your office in the capital city that you live closest to, you are hurting your capital city.

“Here’s another newsflash, if you want career progression, if you want to go up the chain at work, how do you reckon you can do that if you’re staying at home?” he said during a debate on a morning television program.

In 2021, he upset Perth’s trans and LGBT community for comments on his radio show saying it was “wrong” for someone to identify as a gender different from their physical anatomy.

“If you’ve got a penis mate, you’re a bloke,” he told 6PR radio during a discussion about an LGBT boxing tournament. “If you’ve got a vagina, you’re a woman. Game over.”

He later apologised for his comments, saying he briefly “forgot” he was lord mayor., despite being elected only two weeks earlier. His house was later vandalised.

Even before winning the mayoralty in 2020, he attracted criticism for using his newspaper column to threaten to remove “disgusting” rough sleepers from city malls “forcibly, if that’s what it takes.”