Federal election 2025: Heavy political hitters make an appearance in must-win tussle for Tangney

When both Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton were in Perth last weekend, they made a beeline for the seat of Tangney, nestled in in the inner suburbs south of the Swan River. Both hosted community barbecues for the party faithful in an effort to solidify a win in one of WA’s big four Federal seats — those that Labor took from the Liberals in 2022, delivering Mr Albanese majority government. Held with a margin of just 2.8 per cent by Sam Lim, Tangney is the most marginal of those four seats and the Liberals need it back. This week, on top of Mr Dutton’s weekend visit, the most successful Liberal Prime Minister since Menzies also paid a visit — John Howard rallying the faithful in aid of Howard Ong. Now in the closing fortnight of the campaign, the battle of the heavy-hitters is far from over, and Tangney voters are set to remain in the major parties’ sights. With fianceé Jodie Haydon by his side, Mr Albanese sounded like a leader rallying troops on Saturday at Winthrop Park. “Who here is going to make phone calls for Sam Lim?” he shouted to supporters. “Who is going to doorknock for Sam Lim? “Who here is going to vote for Sam Lim?” And then, Mr Albanese gave the crowd “a little task”. “You need to convince five people each, five people who aren’t sure about what way they are going to vote on May 3, who maybe haven’t thought about it a lot — neighbours, people after school in the pickup. “I want you to talk to people who you don’t know (about voting for Sam Lim). “Because that’s the key to this election.” Until Mr Lim’s upset win, Tangney had been considered a safe Liberal seat and heading into 2022 was held by Scott Morrison confidant Ben Morton on a 9.5 per cent margin. Named after Dame Dorothy Tangney and covering the shores of the Swan and Canning rivers, the seat is divided by the Kwinana Freeway — running from Bicton to Riverton and as far south as Murdoch, Leeming and Canning Vale. More than 160 ancestries are represented in Tangney, making it one of the most diverse electorates in Australia. About 20 per cent of its voters are people of Chinese and Indian backgrounds. Many parts of Tangney are affluent, like Bicton and Rossmoyne, but there are many middle-class voters in areas like Canning Vale. The fact that State seats within Tangney — like Bicton, Bateman and Riverton — remained with Labor in this year’s WA election has given the Feds fresh hope Mr Lim will hold on. But Mr Howard’s foray back into WA came with it a strong endorsement of Mr Ong. “He brings a lot of local knowledge, he and his wife run a very successful business,” Mr Howard told a crowd of about 100 at Raffles in Applecross. “He has achieved a great deal in a relatively short life and he looks much younger than I did at the age of 59.” “I wish you luck, it’s not going to be easy . . . he’s got the energy, he’s got the background and most importantly of all, he’s got the values that are relevant to this electorate.” The life stories of Sam Lim and Howard Ong have one common thread — they both emigrated to WA in search of new adventure and a better life. Born Bon Cheng, Mr Lim goes by Sam, after a Brother at a Catholic school in Malaysia suggested Samuel was “not as difficult to remember”. In Malaysia, Mr Lim worked as a dolphin trainer, a small business owner and a police officer. He even spent one month living as a Buddhist monk. In 2002, Mr Lim, his wife Chew and three children migrated to Perth, before joining the WA Police Force in 2006. In 2020, he received the Western Australian Police Force’s highest honour, Officer of the Year for his community policing and work with multi-cultural communities. Mr Lim says the past three years in the Federal parliament have been a steep learning curve — but fulfilling. “In my first year, I was disbelieving in my capacity to work as a parliamentarian and then over the next two years I learned a lot and am very proud to be a member of parliament,” Mr Lim said. He has door knocked some 24,000 houses this election campaign. “I really want to go for another term — that’s why I have worked so hard,” he said. Mr Ong is fourth-generation Chinese and came from Singapore to WA in 1987 to study at Curtin University, before deciding to settle here in WA with his now wife Hilda and their 25-year-old daughter. Mr Ong’s brother, Ye Kung, is a health minister in the Singaporean government and he is hoping to follow in his brother’s footsteps by entering politics. Mr Ong’s birth name is Thung-Yean, deciding to call himself Howard when he moved to Australia. He had a successful IT business, prior to deciding to contest Tangney for the Liberals. “When I came to Australia for the first time as a student, I adopted the name Howard, just to make it a bit easier,” he said. “The meaning of the name is a defender. I like the concept of having something to defend – like family and community.” In many ways, the fight for Tangney is very much a grassroots battleground. Mr Lim says “different patches” of his electorate bring up different topics during doorknocking. He proudly talks about achievements, like getting more CCTV for Willagee, for example. “I listened to all the comments at the doors and managed to get $1.4m to install CCTV at a hot spot (in Willagee),” he said. “That’s why door knocking is important – listening to community issues.” Mr Ong proudly talks up a $10 million election commitment towards a new Canning Vale Sports complex. But just like electorates throughout Australia, cost-of-living hikes and housing affordability — particularly for young people — are major election issues in Tangney, They are issues voters in Tangney also bring up — with Mr Lim and Mr Ong both espousing their respective party’s policies as being best for their electorate. “Cost-of-living is one of the top things people mentioned to me, but I am also very proud to say to them that as a proud Labor member of parliament we are providing a lot of cost-of-living relief, including cheaper medicines,” Mr Lim says. Mr Ong says the difficulties of young people being able to buy or build a home is on voters’ minds in Tangney. “I’ve met many young people in Tangney who still live with their parents,” he says. “People are saying ‘I can’t afford to move out. “And then you also have older folks saying they worry about their children – and grandchildren.” As a migrant, Mr Ong knows first-hand the opportunities WA delivers people from all parts of the world. Labor has forecast net overseas migration will slow to 260,000 people in 2025-26. Mr Dutton has committed to slashing that by an extra 100,000 people. While Labor wants to cap the intake of overseas students next year at 270,000, the Opposition says this figure should be 240,000. How does that sit with Mr Ong? “We definitely welcome migrants and overseas students — but we need to keep them (levels) at a manageable level,” he replies. “I’m a migrant and was also an overseas student. “The level of immigration and overseas students back in my days, or even a couple of years ago, is nothing like it is today. “We are meeting the housing demands at a 50 per cent level. For every two migrant families needing a home, we provide one. “Not to mention the other infrastructure stress it presents to our system — roads, schools and hospitals for example.” Mr Lim said Peter Dutton’s commentary on migrants “has come up” in Tangney. “(It has come up) big time — especially in the Chinese and Indian communities,” Mr Lim said. “I am proud that Labor is the protector of multiculturalism.”

Federal election 2025: Heavy political hitters make an appearance in must-win tussle for Tangney

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