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But lessons could be learned from the higher than usual number of people who had given their vote to third parties, he said. One Nation had benefited from that, as had the Greens and other independents.
One Nation's vote was lower than it had been in the 1998 federal election and had been highest in the seats that didn't change hands, Mr Beazley said. Under leader Pauline Hanson, One Nation had recorded a modestly poor performance, he said.
"She pulled big votes in the seats which didn't matter," he told reporters. "You can only emphatically say that one seat changed hands on the basis of One Nation preferences - Albany."
Votes for One Nation had been highest in areas Mr Beazley described as pocket boroughs and that was due to the gerrymander in WA. Those pocket boroughs were mainly in three federal seats: O'Connor, Forrest and Pearce. O'Connor was a safe Liberal seat and the other two had previously been safe for the Liberals, he said.
Despite the higher than usual third-party vote, One Nation had failed to perform, earning fewer votes than previously. "One Nation's share of the third-party vote went down dramatically in WA," Mr Beazley said.
Saving native forests had been a significant state issue for voters and the ALP and Greens had won votes because of it.
He noted that Labor's primary vote was up substantially in the state. Buoyed by the win in WA, Mr Beazley hit the phoney campaign trail today at the start of a four-day trip through northern New South Wales seats and issued a warning to Prime Minister John Howard.
"The problem that John Howard confronts is very similar to that of (former WA premier) Richard Court," Mr Beazley said. "He's just not listening to ordinary Australian families and he doesn't understand the impact of his policies or economic life on them."
A federal election is expected in October or November although no date
has yet been set.
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