Labor won in the West for all the worst reasons

Sometime towards the end of 2008, former Prime Minister John Howard came to Perth to give a speech on human rights at the University of Western Australia. Until shortly before his visit, every state, territory, and the Federation had been ruled, for a few months, only by Labor governments. However, by the time Howard came to Perth, the Liberal Party had been elected in Western Australia; it was the only non-Labor government in Australia at that time. John Howard, in his introduction, jovially observed that it is “good to inhale liberal air for a change” (or words to that effect).  

Only thirteen years later, the Liberal Party has been obliterated in this weekend’s WA election. The size of the victory of…