In a heated debate two days before the election, Basil Zempilas, the Liberal Party's high-profile candidate, stirred controversy by refusing to rule out leadership aspirations. The exchange occurred during a half-hour debate with his Labor rival, John Carey, where tensions escalated over the release of the Liberal Party's election costings, which Labor dismissed as a "sham."Zempilas' leadership ambitions became the focus of intense questioning from ABC presenter Nadia Mitsopoulos, who asked if he would consider running for the leadership if the current leader, Libby Mettam, resigned. Despite Mitsopoulos' persistence, Zempilas evaded a direct answer, stating, "No hypotheticals from me, Nadia".
Basil Zempilas has refused to rule out ambitions to lead the WA Liberals. (Getty)Mettam, for her part, expressed confidence in her leadership, stating that she had no issue with Zempilas' comments on the radio. Nonetheless, leaked polling within the Labor Party raised concerns about Zempilas' statewide popularity, particularly among women, with a net favourability rating of minus 12.Amidst the leadership drama, the Liberals released their election costings just two days before the election, hoping to silence critics. The party revealed $3.458 billion in commitments over the forward estimates, increasing the state's debt to $41 billion. Savings of $623 million would be achieved in part by dropping Labor's Swan River ferries expansion and Metronet projects under development.Shadow Treasurer Steve Martin spruiked the costings, emphasising the Liberal Party's focus on key priorities such as health, housing, crime, cost of living, and regional services. However, the figures were not costed by Treasury but rather by former Howard Government public servant Peter Conran, prompting criticism from Treasurer Rita Saffioti, who labelled the process a "sham".In response, Martin defended Conran's 30 years of experience in the field, dismissing concerns about his independence.This article was produced with the assistance of 9ExPress.