Resource-rich Western Australia set to elect deputy premier as new leader

SYDNEY : Australia's largest state by land area, resource-rich Western Australia, is set to elect deputy premier Roger Cook as its new leader after he secured the support of most legislators from his party.

Mark McGowan resigned as the state's leader on Monday in a surprise announcement citing exhaustion, after guiding the centre-left Labor Party to a landslide re-election in 2021.

Cook has been endorsed by Labor as the state's new leader after a key party faction offered support, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.

"I'm ready to lead, I am ready to be premier," Cook said during a televised press conference. "We know (Western Australia) is the engine room of the Australian economy. My goal is to ensure Western Australia as the engine room of the future Australian economy as well."

Cook, who was the state health minister when the COVID-19 crisis was at its peak, had been serving as McGowan's deputy since Labor formed the government in 2017. Their COVID-19 policies that effectively isolated the state from the rest of Australia proved wildly popular during the pandemic.

Labor now holds 53 of 59 seats in the state's lower house, with the next election due by 2025.

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)