NORTHAM, WA — The door closed quietly on 185 Fitzgerald Street this month, marking not just the end of an office lease, but the end of a political era. Darren West, the long-serving Labor Member for the Agricultural Region, officially retired from the Western Australian Legislative Council in May 2025 — and with his departure, the very seat he occupied vanished too.
For more than a decade, Darren West was a familiar name and face across regional WA — a champion for rural communities, a critic of city-centric politics, and a consistent advocate for the Agricultural Region’s schools, health services, roads, and farm families. His office in Northam wasn’t just a place to lodge complaints — it was a hub for grassroots advocacy.
But change was already in motion long before West stepped down.
In 2021, the McGowan Labor Government passed landmark legislation that redrew the lines of democracy in WA. The move, hailed by some as progressive reform and decried by others as the death knell of rural representation, abolished the six regional Legislative Council electorates, including the Agricultural Region. In its place: a single, statewide electorate to elect all 37 Upper House members.
It was a move Darren West publicly supported — even though it meant erasing the very seat he held.
“I’ve always said democracy should be one vote, one value,” he remarked during the 2021 debate. “This change makes every Western Australian’s vote count equally — from Fitzroy Crossing to Fremantle.”
Yet for many in places like Morangup, Goomalling, Wagin, and Esperance, the sense of loss is visceral.
“We didn’t just lose a local member,” said Cheryl, a long-time resident of Northam. “We lost someone who understood what it means to live 100km from the nearest specialist, or why the price of diesel matters more to us than it does in the suburbs.”
With no by-election necessary, no new Agricultural Region representative will be appointed. That’s because there is no Agricultural Region anymore. The 2025 State Election — held on 8 March — was the first conducted under the new system, and West's successor isn’t a direct replacement, but rather one of 37 MLCs elected statewide.
For locals, this raises pressing questions: Who do we call now? Is there still a physical office in the Wheatbelt? And can anyone truly advocate for regional WA when they're competing for attention across the entire state?
The Department of the Premier and Cabinet suggests constituents now contact any of their 37 Legislative Council representatives — a shift from the once-personalised model of regional advocacy to a broader, arguably more distant, pool of lawmakers.
As for Darren West, sources say he’s planning to focus on family and farm — possibly even a bit of travel. “After years on the road, I’m looking forward to a little more time in one place,” he quipped at his farewell.
But whether Northam's now-shuttered office will ever be replaced by another local advocate remains to be seen.
One door has closed. Whether another opens — for the towns, farms, and families of regional WA — is now up to a Parliament reimagined, and a rural community watching with cautious eyes.
Originally published: May 2025