Labor is likely to win the federal election and much-courted seats in the nation's west probably won't affect that outcome, a former longstanding Liberal premier says.
Former West Australian party leader Colin Barnett said federal hopeful Peter Dutton had worked hard but it had been a lacklustre campaign.
Mr Barnett, who was premier of the resource-rich state from 2008 to 2017, told a Business News breakfast the opposition leader had stumbled on policy with his pledges to cut the public service and limit its employees working from home.
"Why would you go out and talk about sacking public servants in an election campaign and ... upset people who enjoy working from home," he said on Tuesday.
Both approaches reflected a lack of vision and made no sense, Mr Barnett said.
"The Liberal campaign stalled mid-term and didn't really recover," he said, noting the polls were probably accurate in showing Labor ahead.
"It does look like Labor is going to get back into power."
Mr Barnett said overseas events, including US President Donald Trump's tariffs and the death of Pope Francis, had all bolstered Labor's campaign.
"That created an environment where people think, 'Well, we're not quite sure that the Liberals are ready to govern and we're not particularly fond of Albanese', but people stick with what they know," he said.
Both the prime minister and opposition leader have made multiple visits to WA during the election campaign, with the coalition targeting several seats lost to Labor at the 2022 poll.
But Mr Barnett said the state was unlikely to play a decisive role in the election, highlighting just two seats he believed the Liberals could win: Bullwinkel and Curtin.
"I don't expect to see much change in other seats ... there's been a lot of media speculation and discussion that WA is going to be vital to this result - I don't think so," he said.
"The results of this federal election will be determined in Victoria ... and the western suburbs of Sydney."
