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March 1, 2025
West Australian Labor Premier Roger Cook was not invited to nor was he aware of Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke's citizenship and voter sign-up blitz this week in Perth, where federal Labor MPs were guests of honour at mass ceremonies that later funnelled the crowds towards Australian Electoral Commission officers to be put on the roll in time for the imminent election.
Mr Cook, who will face voters at the WA election next Saturday, said he was not given notice of the three-day Perth leg of Mr Burke's national citizenship tour.
Instead, the events gave speaking roles to federal Labor MPs facing battles to keep their seats. Liberal-turned-independent MP Ian Goodenough, whose campaign against his former party's new candidate could deliver the seat of Moore to Labor on preferences, was also a guest of honour.
The Coalition has branded Labor's rush of 25 citizenship ceremonies a vote-stacking exercise on the eve of the federal election.
On Friday, Mr Burke was back at the Perth Convention Centre with Labor's MP for Pearce Tracey Roberts. Ms Roberts joined him at the riverfront venue for a mass citizenship ceremony for residents of the City of Wanneroo in her electorate. Another of Mr Burke's mass citizenship ceremonies in Perth this week included residents of the seat of Cowan held by Labor's Anne Aly.
Opposition Home Affairs spokesman James Paterson questioned whether the events complied with the government's own code requiring that citizenship ceremonies must be apolitical and bipartisan.
On Friday, Senator Paterson said: "Tony Burke has taken his industrial-scale election-eve citizenship ceremonies on the road to another Labor seat and again stacked it with more Labor colleagues. This is outrageous politicisation of the citizenship process that undermines public support for our migration system.
"Only a desperate government would do something so reckless."
Asked if the presence of Australian Electoral Commission staff risked politicising Mr Burke's citizenship ceremonies, Mr Cook replied: "Well look I hope not but obviously any opportunity to welcome someone to Australia as a citizen is a very proud moment for that person and a very important part of Australia's life".
West Australians go to the polls next Saturday, March 8, for the fixed-term state election but the Cook government is not considered by political observers to be at risk of defeat.
WA Labor has had two landslide victories in succession since 2017 and even optimistic WA Liberal insiders say a return to government is a two-term project for the state's Liberal-National alliance.
Mr Cook said on Friday that citizenship ceremonies were usually driven by the federal government and local governments did the vast majority of work.
"State governments get involved when there is an opportunity to go along to ceremonies but we are not always involved in these things," he said.
Mr Cook said he knew from state transport minister David Michael, a former deputy mayor, that local governments struggled to keep up with demand from people wanting to become citizens.
"There is always a backlog of people wanting to go through a citizenship ceremony," Mr Cook said. "I am pleased that the federal government is making an effort to ensure that we can allow people to swear in, become a great Aussie citizen as soon as we can."
A spokesman for the Department of Home Affairs said that between February 17 and March 4, it would host a total of 25 of these citizenship ceremonies in Hobart, Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Toowoomba.
"More than 12,800 approved applicants have been invited to the additional department-hosted ceremonies being held in the period," the spokesperson said.
On Thursday, Mr Burke watched about 400 residents of the Labor-held seat of Tangney and the up-for-grabs seat of Moore become Australians. Mr Goodenough estimated about 230 of the people who became citizens on Thursday were from the City of Joondalup in his electorate of Moore, where he holds the seat as an independent since falling out with the Liberal Party.
"I was able to meet the people and congratulate them and have a photo with them," Mr Goodenough told The Australian.