Steve Thomas decision ‘tough’, Mettam declares as questions mount over Burke contact with Liberals

Liberal MP Steve Thomas has admitted contact with Brian Burke has “possibly” cost him his political career. Speaking to reporters since resigning from the Liberal front bench, Dr Thomas blamed his contact with Mr Burke on his enthusiasm for the energy issues in Collie. Dr Thomas resigned on Tuesday after The West revealed he used Mr Burke to set up a meeting with prominent businessman John Poynton just two weeks before Liberal leader Libby Mettam denied her party had any connection with the former premier. “I’ve apologised to all of my parliamentary colleagues, and I apologise to the wider Liberal Party because they expect a higher standard than that,” he said. “The issue was so important for the constituents down in my patch and the energy industry itself, and I thought that I could manage the risk (of contacting Mr Burke), so I intended to keep the interactions very brief and rare. “I avoided a lot of phone calls, but even the small amount of risk that was there was too much. And that was my misjudgment.” With Liberal preselection for the party’s Legislative Council set to be decided in March, Dr Thomas said he would speak with preselectors about his record in a bid to save his career but said it was possible Liberal members would vote him off the ticket. Describing her decision to ask Dr Thomas to resign as a “strong stand”, Liberal leader Libby Mettam said his contact with Mr Burke was a “massive breach of trust”. “Steve Thomas understands the gravity of what has happened. It was an error of judgment that he made with a view to getting a good outcome for his community,” she said. “I accept his explanation, but it is not without consequence, and that consequence is that he will have to step down from his shadow portfolios.” Ms Mettam admitted to not asking colleagues if they had contact with Brian Burke before declaring earlier this month her team had not been speaking to the former premier. “I had an expectation, as leader of the Liberal Party, that my colleagues would not be engaging with this former disgraced premier,” Ms Mettam said. “That is the standard that I set. And that is the line in the sand that I have made abundantly clear.” Dr Thomas said after Ms Mettam had made the statement to the media, he had been trying to work out how to tell her about his contact with Mr Burke, describing it as a “very complex and sensitive issue”. “In hindsight, my communication needed to be better,” he said. But Ms Mettam refused to rule out Dr Thomas returning to the shadow ministry, vowing to consider the matter over the coming days. “This is not an easy task of being the leader of the parliamentary Liberal Party with such few members,” she said. “We have a very small team. This was a very difficult decision for me to make, but I take the issues of leadership and integrity very seriously.” A meeting of Upper House MPs was hastily called to replace Dr Thomas as leader, with retiring Liberal MP Peter Collier taking over the role. Ms Mettam said she would likely call a meeting on Wednesday to elect a new deputy leader and then decide on shadow ministerial arrangements. Premier Roger Cook described the Liberals as a dysfunctional shambles. “If you can’t trust the Liberal Party with the very basic question like ‘have you had contact with an individual?’ Then you can’t trust them with government,” he said. “It’s another sign that they can’t be trusted to be the leaders of the State.”