The best roasts of 2025 in WA’s new parliament
A re-energised and (slightly) better resourced opposition under Basil Zempilas has fired up their Parliamentary strategy and, in turn, prompted the Cook government to fight back a bit harder in the chamber.
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- National
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There is no doubt about it, the 42nd Parliament of Western Australia has contained more thrills and spills in its first nine months than the entire four years of the 41st Parliament.
A re-energised and (slightly) better resourced opposition under Basil Zempilas has fired up their Parliamentary strategy and, in turn, prompted the Cook government to fight back a bit harder in the chamber.
Question time in particular has been the site of some soul-crushing barbs and while some MPs’ behaviour is often more childish than the school students watching from the public gallery, for the most part, 2025 has been entertaining political theatre, complete with impeccable comedic timing and deft use of props.
Only a mug
On what was to be the last question time of the year, three senior cabinet members Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson, Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti and Housing Minister John Carey used their dixers to roast the opposition with Christmas-themed props.
Saffioti brought in a home-made advent calendar complete with red and green panels she peeled off to reveal transport projects completed by Labor in 2025 while Carey brought out a “3D Christmas statue” he had brought on Temu for $62, complaining that it was nothing like the item was advertised – like Zempilas.
Amber-Jade Sanderson holding up her secret santa ‘Only a Mug’ mug.Credit: WA Parliament
But it was Amber-Jade Sanderson’s secret Santa gift and liberal use of the word “turd” that earns her entry to this list.
She proudly displayed her secret Santa gift, which was a coffee mug with Zempilas’ face on it with the slogan “only a mug” written on the back.
The joke was a callback to Zempilas’ comments while the Liberals were debating their net zero position earlier this year that “only a mug” wouldn’t connect the Liberals’ poor state and federal election results with climate policies.
“As well as my secret Santa gift, there is another gift doing the rounds, and that is the gift of ditching net zero. It was first gifted by Pauline and Barnaby, and then the Nationals adopted it and gifted it,” Sanderson said.
“They literally handed the Liberal Party a turd. Sussan Ley polished and put glitter on the turd and then pretended it was the best gift she had ever received. She has continued to sell it. The question is: Will the WA Leader of the Liberal Party accept the gilded turd?”
