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The Opposition in the Australian state of Western Australia comprises the largest party or coalition of parties not in Government. The Opposition's purpose is to hold the Government to account and constitute a "Government-in-waiting" should the existing Government fall. To that end, a Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Ministers for the various government departments question the Premier and Ministers on Government policy and administration, and formulate the policy the Opposition would pursue in Government. It is sometimes styled "His Majesty's Loyal Opposition" to demonstrate that although it opposes the Government, it remains loyal to the King.
The conservative Opposition was previously led by Zak Kirkup of the Liberal Party. In the 2021 election, the Liberal Party ended up winning fewer seats than the National Party, headed by Davies, with the National Party gaining opposition status and Davies becoming the first Nationals opposition leader since 1947.[1]
Following the 2021 election, the Liberal Party and Nationals Party entered into a formal alliance to form opposition, with National Party being the senior party and the Liberal Party being the junior party in the alliance. Shadow ministerial positions were also held by parliamentary members of both parties.[2] This was similar to the agreements between both parties when they were in government following the 2008 and 2013 elections.[3] Similar to the 2008 and 2013 agreements, the deputy leader of the senior party, Nationals deputy leader Shane Love, was the deputy opposition leader, instead of the leader of the junior party, Liberal Party leader David Honey. Under the alliance, each party maintained their independence, and could speak out on issues when there was a disagreement with their partner.[4][5]
