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State Election 2021: Zak Kirkup reveals why he didn’t wear a tie during Thursday’s debate with Mark McGowan

The West Australian
VideoPremier Mark McGowan and Zak Kirkup deliver their opening pitches during the WA election debate.

Zak Kirkup says if he could do over Thursday night’s debate, he would probably wear a tie.

The Liberal leader’s decision to take on Premier Mark McGowan bare-necked and stubble-faced stirred debate on social media, with some viewers accusing him of showing a lack of respect.

“My perspective was people were sitting at home watching telly not wearing ties,” a defiantly tie-less Mr Kirkup said from the campaign trail.

“So I thought ‘well it’s not particularly formal, we’re here in a conversation about the future of our State’.

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“It’s something I thought a bit about. The no-tie was something I was comfortable with but you can’t please everyone all the time.”

Mr Kirkup said if he had the chance to do it over, he would consider wearing a tie, though it would depend on the setting.

The 33-year-old said he would take full responsibility for his unorthodox decision to concede his party had no chance of winning the election, more than two weeks out from polling day.

“This is the reality.The WA Liberal party will find itself in a very difficult position after this election and I think the people of WA deserve to have a honest conversation about what it means if Labor was to get total control of the Parliament,” he said.

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