A key adviser to Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the result of the West Australian election is a positive for the federal coalition's poll chances.
Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Ben Morton, said the landslide win to WA Labor was "very disappointing".
But Mr Morton said it showed voters were prepared to thank political leaders at the ballot box for effectively dealing with COVID-19.
The expected WA election result means four state and territory governments have been returned since August last year, largely based on their pandemic responses.
"We are looking at this election result very closely," the former WA Liberal state director told Seven News.
"Western Australia has had a good response to COVID, Australia has had a fantastic response to COVID - a world-leading response, not just when it comes to our health response but our economic response.
"What we are seeing is an election result that endorsed strong leadership and that is something we will take some heart from."
He said one downside would be the reduced number of state MPs would mean fewer Liberal resources for the federal election, which could be held as soon as August this year.
But Mr Morton said the fact that there was such a small Liberal state opposition could in fact motivate voters to endorse federal Liberal MPs "because they will keep this government honest".
