And so was the government backdown.
Political experts say the federal Liberals would have had a word in their state counterparts' ears.
But in Western Australia, it's less a matter of costing them the election as much as threatening their massive lead.
Out of 15 seats in Western Australia - the Coalition has 12.
Ryan Emery reports.
It was such a popular scheme that the W-A government was forced to abandon its feed-in tariff for new solar power users.
But then in the recent state budget, the government went one step further and announced that those who have already signed up to the scheme would only get half of what they were promised.
The 75 thousand participants were furious.
"As far as I'm concerned, all I'm going to see is liar, liar, liar, liar. I'm sorry, but the Liberal government has sold its integrity down the drain."
In four days, the government had backed down, saying it had made a mistake.
University of Notre Dame Adjunct Professor Peter Kennedy says the federal Liberal Party would have been quick to settle the furore.
"I'm absolutely certain that the federal Liberals would have been concerned at the state government's budget decision and the reaction that resulted from it over the solar panels. The very strong opposition to the state government's decision. And they would have drawn the government's attention to the fact that with the election, the federal election just a few weeks away, it was very very poor timing. And given the reaction, given the outcry, I'm sure that was a big factor in the fact that the state government backed down in four days."
Mr Kennedy, who covered state and federal politics for several decades for the ABC, says West Australians will punish federal parties or governments for the mistakes of their state counterparts.
He says the state is fundamentally conservative, but voters won't be shy about letting candidates know what they think.
"In the current climate, the Coalition holds 12 out of the 15 federal seats, so I suppose the Coalition has the most to lose if they make an adverse decision. But West Australians will have no qualms about voting against the Coalition if they believe the Coalition's made a decision, which is adverse to their interests."
Western Australia is the nation's largest state, so it's perhaps no surprise it has the state's largest electorate: Durack, which is also one of the world's largest.
It's one-million square kilometres stretching from the country town of Merredin, about 260 kilometres east of Perth, to the top of Western Australia.
It includes much of the state's western and northern coastlines and runs out to the Northern Territory border.
In all that space, it covers about 90 thousand people.
It's a Liberal stronghold, but the incumbent, Barry Haase, is retiring and the Nationals party is feeling confident its candidate Shane Van Styn can beat their coalition partners.
Mr Van Styn says the Nationals won the majority of the first preferences at this year's state election in the seats that are covered by Durack.
So he's been on the road determined to travel the length and breadth of the seat.
"In the last five to six weeks, I've clocked up just a bit under 20 thousand kilometres in my car. I've travelled as far north as Wyndham and as far south as Cervantes and everywhere in between. It's taken me five weeks, six weeks of dedicated driving to cover about 70 per cent of the electorate. So I have another 20 or 30 per cent, which I will conclude over the next week or two."
Also hitting the roads - and the skies - of Durack will be the Australian Electoral Commission.
As it says: every vote counts, and the commission will be out there to make sure they collect each one.
Two teams will fly out to remote Aboriginal communities, mine sites and cattle stations in the week leading up to the national poll.
"Normally, particularly with the small planes, will actually fly in and out for a few hours, set up on the ground, so we can be there for three hours. Two hours for loading the plane and then off to the remote community and they'll do that for over the week period."
The seats to watch in Western Australia include Hasluck, which is held by the Liberal Party's Ken Wyatt, the first Aboriginal person to be elected to the House of Representatives.
He holds the seat by a slender 0.6 per cent margin.
Mr Wyatt says he's feeling confident he can retain the seat and he's hopeful there will be more Indigenous federal politicians.
"We are now seeing Indigenous Australians joining parties and going through the party process and on merit being pre-selected for candidacies in seats or the senate. I think that in a sense it shows the maturing of our own population, but also within Australia we're seeing more and more Indigenous people now seeing that they have a place and a role within mainstream Australian politics."
Two other Indigenous people joining the political fray in Western Australia are former AFL footballers David Wirrpanda, who played for West Coast Eagles, and Des Headland, his across-town rival, who played for the Fremantle Dockers.
David Wirrpanda is on a Nationals Senate ticket.
"Well, we all know, and it's well documented, the issues that need to be addressed with Aboriginal people in particular. My first question would probably be to make all corporates and mining companies more accountable as far as employment and training. I want to see a far greater commitment in that space."
Des Headland has accepted an offer from billionaire Clive Palmer to join his Palmer United Party and contest the massive seat of Durack.
He says even if he doesn't win, he's still hoping to inspire other Indigenous people to get involved.
"If I can path the way and show the way, even if I win or not, it doesn't matter. It's all about them seeing that I'm having a go. I work up here for the Clontarf Foundation, which helps young Indigenous men get through school and for them to see me take a new challenge, at a whole new level, will just prove to them that no matter what situation you're in, is where you want to be. You want to get in there and try to attack life as hard as you can and if I do win the seat and get as many Indigenous votes as I can then hopefully it helps."
