Updated February 13, 2017 19:25:31

Several WA One Nation candidates say they will refuse to preference the Liberal Party, contrary to a statewide deal announced on the weekend.

The WA Liberals will preference One Nation above the Nationals in the Upper House in regional areas, with One Nation preferencing the Liberals in all Lower House seats in return.

High-profile One Nation candidate Margaret Dodd, who is contesting the Liberal-held seat of Scarborough for One Nation and is the mother of murdered teenager Hayley Dodd, today condemned the decision and accused the party of bullying its candidates.

Speaking outside a Perth court where her daughter's alleged murderer, Francis Wark, appeared today, Ms Dodd said she had "not been informed of any [preference] deal whatsoever, and I'm sure all the candidates haven't".

"I will make my own choices on who I will give my preferences to, and it certainly will not be the Liberal party," she said.

"The Liberal party will be at the bottom on the how to vote card."

Last month Ms Dodd backed Labor's "no body, no parole" promise to enact legislation where convicted murderers would not be eligible for parole unless they had cooperated with police to locate their victims' remains.

She had long campaigned for the law change, and said she was backing the Labor pledge because she felt the Liberal Government treated victims of crime as "second-class citizens".

"I was told by One Nation they support no body, no parole. We all know that Liberals don't," an angry Ms Dodd said today.

"We all know that Liberals want to sell off Western Power. One Nation doesn't, so what the hell is going on?

"I encourage other members of One Nation to stand up, do not be bullied and do not be dictated to.

"I will not be part of a dictatorship."

One Nation Upper House candidate Charles Smith is also refusing to preference the Liberals.

In a post titled "Re Preferences" on his official Facebook page, Mr Smith urged voters to put the Liberals last.

"If you do not like the Liberals as I don't mark them last!" the post reads

One Nation's Moore candidate Jim Kelly and South Metropolitan candidate Philip Scott also used their Facebook pages to urge voters to choose their own preferences.

Meanwhile, Premier Colin Barnett declared he was not a racist, and denied the preference deal would effectively hand Pauline Hanson's party control of WA's Upper House.

"I am anything but a racist and I will be judged on my values and my standards as will the Liberal Party, that's my accountability, I'm not accountable for One Nation," he told ABC Radio Perth.

But political consultant and so-called "preference whisperer" Glenn Druery said the deal was a "very bad" one for the Liberals and showed they were "desperate to cling onto government".

He said most Australians found One Nation's racist views abhorrent, and the deal would lead to Liberal voters abandoning the party.

"This was a ridiculous, a silly desperate deal by a Liberal party that is no doubt about to lose government and this deal will just stick another torpedo into the side of an already sinking ship," he told ABC Radio Perth.

However, it was a good deal for One Nation, Mr Druery said, and could lead to the party picking up six to nine Upper House seats and gain the balance of power.

Labor has confirmed it will preference One Nation last in all seats in both houses of Parliament, with state secretary Patrick Gorman describing the Liberals' deal as "sneaky and desperate".

"This is a deal, hammered out behind closed doors, that is all about tricking One Nation voters into re-electing Colin Barnett," he said in a statement.

"Make no mistake: a vote for One Nation is a vote for the Liberal Party."

Topics: elections, political-parties, minor-parties, wa

First posted February 13, 2017 12:50:58

Originally posted here:

WA One Nation candidates refuse to preference Liberals - ABC Online