Mike Nahan quits as WA Liberal leader and finally achieves clarity that eluded him

In resigning as Opposition Leader last night, Mike Nahan finally achieved the clarity that had always eluded him as leader.

Nahan made a simple and clean case that now was the best time to resign as leader, and his going now would give his successor the best chance of taking the fight to the McGowan Government.

A sometimes comical figure — lampooned as Ned Flanders from The Simpsons — Nahan had done the best he could in two jobs where circumstances were against him.

He was State treasurer in the Barnett government as WA’s finances fell apart in front of his eyes, thanks largely to decisions that were made by others and due to circumstances beyond his control.

He watched helplessly as GST relativities went south, and the hangover from the biggest economic boom in a generation set in.

He then took on what must be the most thankless job of any in Australian politics — leading a divided and defeated Opposition following a thumping by Labor and Mark McGowan.

Nahan was then forced to sit and curse his luck as years of griping from all parties over WA’s paltry GST share finally had an effect and a fairer share of the Commonwealth pie was delivered to WA.

Nahan was always an unlikely choice to lead the Liberals to the next election.

An economist by training and temperament, he lacked much of the political mongrel needed to whip a defeated party into a respectable force to take on Labor.

But where he lacked the cut-throat instinct required to run an Opposition, perhaps more importantly, Nahan was widely regarded as decent and dedicated.

It was a shame that a man of his apparent intellect was so ready to lash out at news outlets such as The West Australian when it rightly challenged him.

Nahan observed that it is rare for the first Opposition leader after a party’s defeat to take that party to the next election.

It’s rarer still for that leader to take that party back into government.

Nahan’s likely replacement — deputy leader Liza Harvey — will also struggle to make a serious dent in the McGowan Government’s dominance.

The Government sees Harvey as weak on policy detail and many on the Government frontbenches have been quietly relishing the idea of Harvey taking on the Opposition leadership.

But Harvey is seen by many in her own party as relatable and will offer a real alternative to McGowan in the daily media fight.

WA deserves a strong, organised and united Opposition. Nahan’s resignation is the first step towards that.

On the other side of politics, new Federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese was in Perth this week, pledging to take Labor back to the drawing board on most major policies it took to the election as the Opposition seeks to reconnect with middle Australia.

Franking credits, negative gearing — even environmental policies are up for review.

But while the new Opposition Leader appears genuine in his desire to recalibrate and appease, some in WA Labor were left wondering how much actual listening was going on in this listening tour.

Albanese used his visit west to speak to mining billionaires, catch the train down to the safe Labor seat of Brand and then appear at a pub function in Fremantle.

He made no appearance in Swan — the seat Labor had fancied as a sure win at last month’s poll — and stayed well clear of the southern electorate of Canning, where Labor copped one of the worst swings of any seat in WA.

There’s no doubting Albanese’s popularity among Labor members, but there are big doubts in the party as to whether those voters in the wider community will ever come around to him.

Wind back to 2013 when Labor was seeking a new leader after its loss to Tony Abbott.

Albanese won the punter’s vote among branch members, but lost the balance of the caucus ballot to Bill Shorten.

Pointing back to this moment, some were left wondering if the party might have now found its own Jeremy Corbyn — a leader who is thumpingly popular among leftie rank and file members, but unelectable for the wider voting public.