Wilson: The Question Isn’t Interest. It’s Delivery. Where are the jobs, Labor?

MR RICK WILSON MP
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR O’CONNOR

21st July 2026

Wilson: The Question Isn’t Interest. It’s Delivery. Where are the jobs, Labor?

Federal Member for O'Connor Rick Wilson says claims he has shown no interest in Collie workers are not only wrong, but completely at odds with what local voters themselves have said at the ballot box.

Mr Wilson said Collie workers and their families had watched Labor pursue one reckless policy after another against the industries that built regional Australia.

"Labor can talk all it wants about standing up for working Australians, but the reality tells a different story," Mr Wilson said.

"First it was the native timber industry. Then it was live sheep exports. Then commercial fishing. Now they are coming after coal-fired generation and the workers who have spent generations powering WA.

"These industries are the backbone of regional Australia. They have built and sustained entire towns and regional communities as well as small businesses and families’ livelihoods.

"For many regional Australians, this is just another kick in the guts."

Mr Wilson said Collie was uniquely placed to play a major role in Australia's energy future and should be central to any transition, not sacrificed to satisfy ideological targets.

"Collie is home to second and third-generation power workers who have spent decades keeping Western Australia running.

"They are highly skilled, deeply knowledgeable and proud of the role they play in our economy, with unmatched energy IQ.”

"Yet Labor's policies continue to threaten premature closures that could force thousands of workers out of secure, well-paid jobs."

Mr Wilson rejected assertions that he had not supported Collie workers, saying his record and the Coalition's record had been consistent from the beginning.

"I've consistently argued that any transition must put workers first.

"The Coalition's position has always been straightforward. You don't destroy existing industries before replacement jobs exist. You create the jobs first.

"That means attracting investment, backing manufacturing, supporting dispatchable energy and ensuring communities like Collie remain economic powerhouses for decades to come."

Mr Wilson said voters themselves had increasingly rejected Labor's approach.

"In the state seat of Collie-Preston, Labor's margin collapsed from 23.3 per cent in 2021 to just 4.3 per cent in 2025. That's an extraordinary swing away from a party that claims to
represent working people.

"At the federal level, Labor's primary vote in Collie fell from 67.8 per cent in 2022 to 54.8 per cent in 2025.

"Over the same period, my primary vote rose from 32.2 per cent to 45.2 per cent."

"Those numbers tell a story."

"They show growing support for the position I have consistently advocated: protecting jobs, protecting industries and ensuring Collie remains central to Australia's energy future.

"Workers know who has been standing alongside them and who has been putting their livelihoods at risk."

Mr Wilson said recent concerns about promised replacement industries failing to materialise should serve as a warning to governments pursuing economic transitions without first securing real jobs.

"We are already seeing the consequences of ideological policymaking right across regional Australia."

"Whether it's timber, live exports, fishing, manufacturing or energy, Labor's approach is putting livelihoods at risk."

"Collie workers deserve better than promises. They deserve a government that values what they do and a plan that delivers jobs before existing jobs are lost."

ENDS

Media contact: Reuben Keyser
Communications and Community Engagement Adviser
[email protected]
(08) 9842 2777
0455 125 035