‘Where’s Mark?’: A day in the life of Roger Cook

Dodging furious handball games and raucous teenagers hurrying to their next class in the dying minutes of their lunch break, Roger Cook is stopped by an inquisitive student.

“Where’s Mark McGowan?” the Greenwood College student asks the West Australian premier, recognising him from his countless pandemic-era press conferences as the health minister standing beside the then-premier.

Cook laughs, but the moment is telling. The political shadow of McGowan still looms large in the state. As an unelected premier, Cook has mammoth tasks ahead of him.

First, to communicate to the public who he is (beyond being a “dad from Kwinana” as he frequently describes himself) and what he stands for.

Second, to prove he has the political chops to be a worthy successor to the most popular premier in WA history.

Ahead of his first anniversary in the top job, fresh from his first budget and less than a year from the election, WAtoday joined Cook while he pressed the flesh in Perth’s northern suburbs.

After finishing a morning press conference announcing the musical lineup for the upcoming WA Day festival, Cook and I jump in the back of his government-issued Toyota Kluger.

It’s odd, seeing the state run from the back seat of the stereotypical soccer mum vehicle. But complete with a hanging caddy and holder for his (compostable) takeaway coffee cup, it occurs to me that this set up is probably more ergonomic than my desk.

It is here Cook coolly recounts to me the manic 36 hours following McGowan’s retirement on May 29 last year.

“My immediate thought was, ‘OK, well, this has pretty big implications’,” he says.

Cook cancelled a planned trip to the US booked that very day, instead hitting the phones to cut off a leadership challenge by current Health Minister and fellow left-faction powerbroker Amber-Jade Sanderson.

Cook says he had thought McGowan would remain premier until 2025, but reveals he had already considered the possibility of his early retirement and discussed with confidants his belief that he was the obvious successor.

“There wasn’t much soul-searching in relation to his announcement,” he says.

“It was: ‘Well, now I need to execute the plan’.”

What followed was a fascinating factional upheaval after the left faction’s powerful United Workers’ Union arm chose Sanderson, but were thwarted hours later by their metalworkers colleagues.

It was a bruising day, but Cook says no sour feelings remain.

“This is about what’s in the best interests of yourself, your group, the party, the parliament, and the state,” he says.

The biggest proverbial sandwich served up for Cook after taking office was the ongoing crisis at the Banksia Hill youth detention centre and its satellite facility for its most troubled detainees, Unit 18.

Advocate outcry peaked weeks earlier when McGowan said blaming bad behaviour on fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, which affected many detainees at Banksia Hill, was “excuse-making”.

Cook says he wanted to implement his own leadership style and Banksia Hill provided the first opportunity.

“We could have definitely handled it differently,” he says.

“[Mark] brought genuine anxiety about the issues of security and community safety to that particular debate, so we’re just different people.”

If Banksia Hill was Cook’s main course, the Aboriginal Heritage Act debacle was dessert. It quickly absorbed much of Cook’s time as farmers and the opposition ramped up opposition to the confusing and deeply problematic laws.

Cook’s solution was to scrap the laws completely in August.

He denies this move damaged his government’s reputation as lawmakers; rather, he calls it proof his government listens to feedback.

At Greenwood College Cook is greeted by school staff and his Labor colleague, Kingsley MP Jessica Stojkovski.

Cook is there to spruik the $18 million set aside for a new STEM laboratory and gym. School staff and Stojkovski politely remind Cook how desperately the school needs that gym.

When we enter it’s easy to see why. The stained wall cladding and creaky wooden floor transports you back to 1975 when the school opened.

Students and staff are happy to see the premier there, with one sports teacher saying “We love the Rog”.

Our staff escort watches gawking students closely for any mischief, and it feels a little too North Korea-staged until we walk through a group of rowdy boys who high-five Cook until one yells: “You just dabbed on the premier!”

Dabbing is an internet-popular dance move similar to someone sneezing into their elbow.

The rest of the group squawks with laughter while Cook is unfazed – he’s heard worse.

At the end of the tour he provides a group of year 12 school captains some advice on their upcoming exams: “You’ve just got to bring it home”.

It is appropriate advice for himself, as he stares down his first election as leader of the Labor government.

One of the state’s most respected political professors and an executive dean at the University of Notre Dame Australia, Martin Drum, says any leader coming in after someone like McGowan would struggle to step out from their shadow.

Drum says uniquely, Cook will want to differentiate himself but also lean into the political capital McGowan gained through COVID-19 because, as former health minister, he was there as well.

“He’s trying to portray himself as his own man, but he will also talk about his role in navigating through COVID,” he says.

Drum predicts Cook won’t offer up any major policy shifts from now until the election, adopting a cautious position.

We drive a short distance from the school to 5 Points Kitchen for lunch. It’s a quaint neighbourhood cafe, neatly decorated, and busy for a Friday lunchtime.

It’s day five of an unseasonably warm row of May days, so most people are sitting outside. A few people are bemused at Cook’s presence and shake his hand, others are indifferent.

We sit inside and Cook orders a chicken and avocado salad after being told the crispy squid has sold out. I order the eggs Benedict.

As I get deeper into questions about what Cook stands for, my fork strikes one of my eggs, which lands in my lap.

Stojkovski, the local MP, jokes that at least I don’t have egg on my face.

I press Cook about his goals, and he says on the top of his list is genuine diversification of the economy to reduce its reliance on iron ore.

“When I grew up all we did was mine things, we never made things … adding value to our resources is a passion project for me,” he says.

This includes venturing further into the critical minerals space, establishing a green steel and battery manufacturing industry. He also wants to expand the defence, space, energy, tourism and agricultural sectors.

“When people look back on my time I hope they look at those industries that have grown significantly and say that I played a role,” Cook says.

Indigenous issues are also important to Cook, whose wife Carly Lane is Aboriginal.

The Premier says he hopes his legacy will include a recognition of his understanding of the importance of one of the oldest cultures in the world.

“And that we were a little bit more nuanced, a little bit more understanding about how we reconcile that relationship with our traditional owners and First Nations people,” he says.

He then recites talking points deployed frequently by his predecessor about continuing to keep WA one of the safest places in the world.

I ask if he intends to serve the whole four years if elected in 2025.

“Well, I’m a politician, so I’ll say, ’I’ll do this until the people of Western Australia decide otherwise or whatever,” he jokes.

Cook, a running fanatic, says his agenda for the next four years is ambitious but he is up for the job.

“That’s a long-term play,” he says. “I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. I’m pretty fit.”

When Cook leaves the cafe a star-struck woman invites him into a photo with her partner, who looks perplexed.

As the white Kluger exits the car park for Cook’s next meeting, the man reveals his confusion to the cafe at large.

“I don’t know who that guy was,” he says.

It’s the perfect illustration of the task ahead for the dad from Kwinana.

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