The man who would be the new king of WA

Basil Zempilas is arguably the highest-profile name in Western Australian politics, and he hasn’t even been elected to parliament.

The 53-year-old broadcaster and Perth lord mayor spent two decades as the face of Channel 7’s local sport coverage, he’s been the voice of Perth morning radio and still helms a column in the Kerry Stokes-owned The West Australian newspaper.

After decades of being beamed into Western Australian living rooms, Mr Zempilas is now making his pitch for state politics, having been preselected by the Liberal Party for the blue ribbon seat of Churchlands.

If you ask some within the party, he’s the Liberals’ best bet to become the next premier of WA.

Standing on the precipice of a state political career, Mr Zempilas sees no reason to distance himself from Mr Stokes and the Seven West empire, which has helped him become one of the most recognisable faces in Western Australia.

“I understand the interest in it,” Mr Zempilas told The Australian Financial Review, about his association with Mr Stokes, the founder of conglomerate Seven Group Holdings.

“I’m not going to say ‘oh, gee, it would be handy if that wasn’t part of my story because some people might think I’m closer to Kerry than I am’. I know what the reality is, I consider myself hugely fortunate and very grateful to have had the opportunities that I’ve had.”

Mr Stokes’s media properties, which include a string of regional publications plus the Seven Network and The West Australian, have helped deliver him almost-unparalleled influence in Australia’s west for decades. In just one example, the Seven-backed annual charity Telethon Ball is a roll-call of the state’s rich, along with premiers and often the prime minister.

Before he had even been nominated to run for state parliament, Mr Zempilas had been touted by The West Australian as a genuine alternative Liberal Party leader.

Now, less than four months out from a state election that looks almost certain to return Labor for a third term, Liberal leader Libby Mettam is fending off questions over her political future on an almost daily basis.

Labor has held complete electoral dominance over the Liberals since the 2021 election, when then-premier Mark McGowan (famously dubbed the “King of WA” by The West Australian) reduced the Liberal Party to just two lower house seats.

Few would give the Liberals any chance of winning this time around. But some within the party believe Mr Zempilas would give it the chance to win back enough seats to mount a serious tilt at government in 2029.

Conversations about Liberal leadership are based on more than media speculation and rumour.

The ‘top end of town’
Mr Zempilas has been unequivocal he will make no play to roll Ms Mettam as leader, but is more ambiguous on whether he would take the leadership if she were to voluntarily resign.

“People have seen me long enough and know the sort of person I am. I was calling a footy one day, next minute I put my hand up to run for lord mayor, and I’ve won. I think that tells you a bit about the sort of person that I might be,” Mr Zempilas said.

“But I’ve said this consistently: you don’t have to be the leader to be a leader.”

Mr Zempilas believes his decades in the broadcast and sports commentary game have prepared him for the cut, thrust and theatre of politics, endeared him to a section of Perth’s electoral base and introduced him to dealmakers across the state.

“My broadcast career has given me an exposure to the top end of town that I might not have otherwise had, so I do feel as though I come at it with a great community network, but also a network of business people in WA,” he said.

The son and grandson of Greek migrants has been beamed into West Australian lounge rooms since the 1990s, reading sport on Channel 7 news, hosting Mr Stokes’ annual Telethon event, as well as Olympic Games and AFL coverage.

The annual Telethon draws donations from across Western Australia’s hefty business community. The events often provide some insight into Mr Stokes’ inner circle.

Mr Zempilas said his role in hosting so many of the events had put him in a “closer working relationship with the proprietor” than he may otherwise have had.

“But it is an employer-employee relationship. I don’t go out for dinner with Kerry Stokes,” he said.

“If you had the opportunity to be close to someone like that, in a professional sense, someone who’s achieved what he’s achieved, made himself into the person that he is. Why wouldn’t you learn by observation from those people?”

Mr Zempilas and his wife Amy have also developed a solid relationship with Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, who he says initially reached out to him over his plans as lord mayor to keep Australia Day celebrations on the 26th of January.

The AFR reported in March Mrs Rinehart had employed Amy Zempilas as an integrated marketing specialist for brands, including Rossi Boots.

He said the relationship he had developed with Mrs Rinehart was “based on mutual respect of working together on some projects”.

“She, too, has been supportive without being someone who has tried to influence,” he said.

The mining magnate was earlier this month celebrating Donald Trump’s election victory with the president-elect’s closest confidants including Elon Musk in Florida. She is also emerging as a key supporter of federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

The colourful characters and mining billionaires that have afforded WA its “wild west” reputation in Sydney and Melbourne are looked upon with some degree of admiration in Perth, Mr Zempilas said.

A huge proportion of the state works for them, he points out.

“That wild west phrase embodies that sense of getting in, having a crack, taking a risk, making things happen and frankly, those in the east can say what they like, it doesn’t really matter to us, we don’t really need them,” he said.

Asked what he’d do if he were in Mr Cook’s shoes tomorrow, Mr Zempilas pointed to current speculation over the implications of an early federal election on WA and what it said about the premier’s authority.

“The mere fact that they might be considering tinkering with our date to suit their own purposes I think is revealing,” he said.