Just when you were sick of elections… | OPINION

At least we have a date, thanks to the current Liberal government, who introduced fixed term elections before the last election.

Western Australia will be going to the polls on March 11, 2017, which will be here in the blink of an eye.

For Mandurah, this means we would have been to the polls in 2015 (the Canning byelection), 2016 (the federal election) and 2017 (the next state election).

The federal election has given us a foretaste of how the battle between Premier Colin Barnett and opposition leader Mark McGowan will shape up.

Mr Barnett will be reaching for a third four-year term, a tough ask for any government; there is little doubt he will be approaching the election as underdog.

The state budget has been ravaged by sinking commodities prices and a soft economy, and the government is committed to a number of long-term building projects that now look unaffordable.

Mr Barnett must put his economic credentials on the line and hack out a path back to surplus.

Every day the government spends more than it takes in tax adds to the debt that will be bourne by our children.

The trouble is that Mark McGowan and Labor are promising to spend more than even the government.

From Labor, we can also expect scare campaigns of Mediscare proportions, on health or even asset privatisations, which Mr Barnett was quick to take off the table.

One thing is certain – more and more of us will be voting independent if the policy offerings from the two major parties are as underwhelming as they were during the federal election.

Fewer and fewer people are rusted on Labor or Liberal voters, and the major parties will have to work harder than ever to attract voters who are swinging harder than ever.