Roger cooks his Perth move sell

Well, it would appear the rumours were true: he really was buggered.

And I’m not talking about David Littleproud, who played a significant part in blowing up Sussan Ley’s leadership before announcing he was too “buggered” to remain leader of the Federal Nationals.

I’m talking about Roger Cook. At the end of last year several well-informed senior Labor sources told me Roger Cook was exhausted (they didn’t use the word buggered).

In fact, one told me they were very worried about Cook who had just gone through a gruelling 2025 — a State election, helping Albo during the Federal election, a State budget, and dealing with massive problems in health and housing.

Cook, in an end-of-year interview with The West Australian said he was heading south for a few weeks to “recharge”, declaring: “I need a break.”

He also divulged that he listened to music from Tokyo-based producer and DJ Shingo Nakamura at home to relax, which I have to say had me worried.

So, am I shocked the Premier, citing being closer to work as the reason, has decided, along with his wife Carly, to move out of the home they built in Wellard 17 years ago to an apartment in West Perth?

No. While my initial response to him moving house to Perth was to think he was maybe paving the way for an exodus from politics before the 2029 poll, I just wonder whether this might actually be about extending his political career, which is now 18 years long.

Rightfully, however, the good folk of Wellard and the electorate of Kwinana have reason to be a little peeved.

When Cook spoke to the press in Kwinana on election day last year, I must have missed the bit where he said he was moving to Perth a year after the poll.

Those in his electorate who voted for him in droves (Cook enjoys a 25 per cent margin) would have expected him to remain living in Wellard throughout his term as Premier. Even Labor figures privately claimed this week the optics of Cook’s move to Perth in April weren’t great.

In reality, Cook started to think about a move to the city a few years ago when he and his wife bought an apartment in North Fremantle.

My guess is he had planned to pull the pin on his political career before last year’s election and move into his new digs.

But then the universe delivered him the premiership — after Mark McGowan left politics in 2023 to pursue big bucks in the corporate world — with Cook then going on to win the 2025 poll and become an elected premier.

McGowan, who now lives in Fremantle, had also thought about moving out of his Rockingham electorate before he pulled the pin three years ago. He was house hunting in Perth before apparently being talked out of leaving Rockingham by supporters, waiting until after he retired from politics to move.

Interestingly, a Labor source this week bemoaned the fact McGowan had been talked out of moving to Perth before 2023, speculating that if he’d moved from Rockingham earlier, his political career might have been extended.

Sure, like McGowan, Roger Cook is chauffeured around in a taxpayer-funded car. But still, you can understand that being on the road several hours a day and heading back to Wellard late at night many a time would take a toll.

So, why not buy an apartment in Perth, stay overnight when you need to, and still live in your house in Wellard?

Cook says he is renting out the Wellard property.

He reckons he can’t afford to fund two houses (in addition to an apartment in North Fremantle and a property in Waroona).

And that’s what got Cook into trouble this week. His sell to the public as to why he had decided to move to Perth was average.

If you are going to deliver controversial news to the public, particularly on the one-year anniversary of your re-election, the reason behind that decision has to be explained clearly and has to be believable.