The conservative parties of WA have provided stable and largely good government for the past eight years. Colin Barnett’s Liberals have had some problems along the road but generally have been a dependable and effective team at the helm of the administration.

While there have been some skirmishes and disagreements, the juniors in the alliance, the Nationals, have played a steady support role.

However, it is difficult to imagine how Brendon Grylls and Mr Barnett might stitch together a stable coalition to govern WA for the next four years after tomorrow’s election.

Since before the campaign even began, Mr Grylls’ radical mining tax proposal, which Mr Barnett rightly rejects, has made the idea of a Liberal-National government almost impossible to imagine.

Then came the Liberals’ decision to give preferences to One Nation ahead of their governing partners in some Upper House seats. The two conservative parties have always campaigned against each other in the regions at election time but the One Nation deal was an unprecedented kick to the Nationals. Now, the parties are at each others’ throats in open warfare. In a statement yesterday, the Nationals described the Liberals’ plan to take $800 million from Royalties for Regions in their costings as the “final betrayal” of their signature policy.

This unworkable relationship is a symptom of the decline of the Barnett-Grylls Government and one of the reasons why The West Australian is advocating for Labor to be given an opportunity for a fresh start.

Mr Barnett is a long-serving premier and has made some good decisions for WA. If he loses office tomorrow, he will leave a “can do” legacy around Elizabeth Quay, the new stadium, hospitals and other public projects. He should be given credit for having the courage and fortitude to push through despite the naysayers — and he will leave impressive infrastructure as a reminder of his leadership.

But some of these projects have absorbed more public money than we can afford and there have been deep concerns raised by this newspaper about the level of secrecy in some of the contracts.

“Commercial in confidence” has been used on too many occasions to prevent the public from being told how money is spent, including the operating contract of the stadium.

This lack of transparency, highlighted several times by the independent Auditor-General, is unacceptable.

This Government also seems to have taken for granted that it could rely on its infrastructure achievements going in to this election. It needed to address the looming financial issues of debt and deficit and it has not done that.

The plan to sell Western Power is a valid one but there was so much bickering and indecision within the Government before the decision was made on the eve of the election campaign, it became a difficult proposition to sell to the public. And the fact the Western Power sale needs Upper House approval makes the deal with One Nation even more questionable and puzzling: Liberal preferences will most likely elect One Nation MPs who will block any attempt at privatisation.

Mr Grylls’ plan to increase revenue via an increased tax on BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto has been a disaster and could even cost him his seat in the Pilbara.

There is no doubt the finances need fixing: this Government has presided over a huge blowout in debt, forecast to reach $41 billion by 2019-20.

When Treasury came out with its Budget “debt challenge” chapter before the official campaign got under way, the Premier was far too flippant, saying it was “unnecessarily pessimistic”. That attitude doesn’t bode well going forward given the enormous financial challenges.

And despite having friends in Canberra, the Liberals have not managed to do anything about the imbalance in WA’s GST share, other than spread false hope.

Malcolm Turnbull’s promise in August to set a GST floor was hollow and the Prime Minister was hopelessly exposed when he returned in the campaign with only general mutterings.

It proved that a Liberal State government has no greater chance of fixing the GST issue than a WA Labor government.

Understandably, Mr Barnett looks tired. There is a feeling in the community that it is time for a fresh approach.

That feeling might have been avoided if the Liberals had found a credible alternative and switched leaders in time for the electorate to assess him or her.

Losing former treasurer Christian Porter to Canberra was a blow and even Mr Barnett has conceded the Liberals might be in a different position if he had stayed.

Without a credible succession plan, Mr Barnett is asking people to vote for him even though he’ll be gone mid-term and cannot say who will take over as premier. That is not a realistic sales pitch.

In contrast, Mark McGowan is offering himself as an energetic alternative premier.

While Mr McGowan is comparatively youthful, he has experience as a minister and has grown in the role of Opposition Leader. He is a much more viable option at this election than he was as a first-timer last time around.

However, questions remain about whether a McGowan government can steer WA towards a path to Budget surplus.

Labor appears not to have a “robust” debt management strategy as called for by Treasury and its $5 billion-plus in promised spending is worrying if revenue or savings cannot be found to pay for it.

During the campaign there was inconsistency between shadow treasurer Ben Wyatt and his leader. Mr McGowan promised no new taxes at the same time that Mr Wyatt was saying (perhaps more realistically) that no new government could make that promise because the public doesn’t believe it.

Labor’s blase reliance on a belief it will convince the Commonwealth to reassign more than $1 billion of Federal money earmarked for the Perth Freight Link is dangerous and could result in a black hole. Metronet has the potential to be a good public project, if it can be funded. But it would be a shame for a Labor government to stop the freight link and, if elected, Mr McGowan should give a second thought to stopping an important project with guaranteed Federal funding.

Another concern is the influence of unions in the Labor Party. Mr McGowan does not come from a union background but many of his colleagues do and the party is still structured in a way that allows for far too much power to be vested in the hands of union heavyweights. If he becomes premier, Mr McGowan should be on notice that the people of WA will not take kindly to the likes of the militant MUA or CFMEU getting away with bad behaviour on building sites, at ports or anywhere else in the State.

Another risk to good government comes from the possibility of One Nation and other minor parties being elected to a balance of power position in the Legislative Council. The major parties only have themselves to blame for the rise of “protest” parties by not listening enough to the people. But politics will not improve if the elected government is not allowed to govern properly.

West Australians should reject those who want to wreck the system, and stick with the major parties.

The West Australian believes voters are looking for new ideas and new leadership. Labor has a suite of positive policies, including a promise to inquire into secret contracts, provide schools with 300 extra education assistants, tackle the methamphetamine scourge with a border force and tougher parole laws for the worst criminals.

Mr McGowan has shown a commitment to addressing the unemployment and job security issues of many West Australians by creating local jobs. He deserves the opportunity to implement his plans and to not be hindered by a gaggle of small parties in the Upper House.