Senior Turnbull government minister Mathias Cormann has not ruled out doing a preference deal at the federal level with One Nation, despite the crushing defeat suffered by the Liberal party in the West Australian election.
WA's new Labor Premier Mark McGowan threw out Colin Barnett's two-term government on Saturday, claiming as many as 41 MPs in the 59-seat parliament.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull congratulated Mr McGowan on his victory, while thanking Mr Barnett for his "outstanding leadership" over more than eight years.
"Colin has been a powerful advocate for the interests of Western Australia and a very wise voice around the COAG table," Mr Turnbull said in a statement on Sunday.
Senator Cormann said the result was not unexpected when internal polling suggested the WA Liberals' primary vote was as low as 29 per cent and the defeat was a "long time coming".
"All of the published and internal polling indicated that this was the way it was going to go," he told ABC TV.
But he said the WA Liberals' decision to preference One Nation over the Nationals was necessary to minimise losses and maximise their chances of holding onto seats.
Despite the result, he did not rule out making a similar deal at a federal level.
"We will review all aspects of the campaign and the ultimate outcome and relevant judgments will be made at the right time," the WA senator said.
Treasurer Scott Morrison would not be drawn on the issue, telling reporters in Tamworth he would leave it to the Western Australian division to go over the entrails of the result.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten tweeted WA voters have given their verdict on the Liberal-One Nation deal.
"But this morning Turnbull Govt won't rule out more deals. Appalling." he said.
Greens Leader Richard Di Natale said the clear message is Australians are "not mugs" when the Liberal does a "grubby" deal with One Nation.
"If you side up with a party that is openly racist, bigoted, short-sighted, xenophobic, economically illiterate you will be pushed for it, and that's what we saw with Colin Barnett's result in WA," Senator Di Natale told Sky News.
Federal opposition frontbencher Mark Butler labelled Labor's win as "stunning".
"Landslide is sometimes a term a bit overused in Australian elections, but this is genuinely a landslide," Mr Butler told ABC television.
He said One Nation's performance was a completely "damp squib", while the WA Labor branch was getting feedback that the national penalty rates decision accelerated the swing away from the Liberals.
"The decision to cut penalty rates and their preference deal with One Nation was a very, very big mistake," he said.
ACTU president Ged Kearney said the penalty rates factor was the "last straw" in a state where workers are feeling the pinch and more people than ever are relying on unemployment benefits.
"I think it was probably a bit of an icing on the cake type of issue for people in WA," she told Sky News.
