Steve Thomas quits Liberal frontbench over contact with Brian Burke after meeting with leader Libby Mettam

Deputy Liberal leader Steve Thomas has quit his frontbench position, after The West revealed his contact with former Labor premier Brian Burke. Dr Thomas, the party’s Shadow Treasurer, met with Liberal leader Libby Mettam on Tuesday morning where he quit both his senior roles. The West spoke with a visibly dejected Dr Thomas as he left the meeting on Tuesday — refusing to say whether he was still in the Shadow Cabinet, saying he did not want to be “independent of the process”. In a statement released on Tuesday morning, Ms Mettam said she asked Dr Thomas to resign from his positions as Deputy leader, Upper House leader and Shadow Treasurer. “I have not been afraid to make the difficult decisions required for the Liberal Party to regain the trust and support of Western Australians and I will continue to do so,” Ms Mettam said. “I also expect a lot from my team, as do Liberal supporters and Liberal members across the State. I will continue to hold my team to high standards, particularly those in senior leadership positions, and I make no apology for that. “The revelations of two-way interactions between my Deputy, Steve Thomas, and Brian Burke, were brought to my attention yesterday afternoon by the media and were deeply disappointing. “This morning, I met with Dr Thomas to receive a full explanation and I accept that he was motivated by trying to do the very best by his electorate.” Dr Thomas’ resignation places more pressure on the Liberals’ already depleted ranks, with now just eight members available to serve in the Shadow Cabinet after Ms Mettam sacked Upper House MP Nick Goiran from the frontbench last year. Ms Mettam said she would consider what role Dr Thomas would play in the Shadow Ministry over coming days. Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti said she was shocked by the revelations. “It describes or shows where the Liberal Party is in WA — dysfunctional and chaotic,” Ms Saffioti said. “We have a complete divide between the leader and the deputy leader. Obviously the deputy leader lied to the leader. “In relation to the leader, she ran out an all-out attack on this issue, and now it’s blown up in her face.” Before the meeting between Dr Thomas and Ms Mettam, Liberal Upper House MP Neil Thomson described the contact Mr Burke as “unacceptable”. “It’s just unacceptable for anybody to be seeking advice from Brian Burke,” Mr Thomson said. “He has been an insidious influence on Western Australian politics for a generation. And I would say this, within the strongest absolute terms, anybody seeking his services, should not.” The West revealed Dr Thomas used Mr Burke to set up a meeting with prominent businessman John Poynton just two weeks before Ms Mettam claimed her party did not accept any connection with the former Premier. When first asked to describe any contact with Mr Burke since being elected as an MP, Dr Thomas wrote he had “never met” the twice jailed former Premier but had last year asked questions about his involvement with a proposed pumped hydro project in Collie. Mr Burke subsequently told The West Australian he was “surprised” by Dr Thomas’s failure to recall a number of recent phone calls between the pair, including “to the extent of asking me to arrange a briefing for him with a prominent Perth businessman”. When confronted with Mr Burke’s response, Dr Thomas confirmed he had used the 76-year-old to set up a January 18 meeting with Mr Poynton and his business partner Chris Stavrianou at corporate advisory firm Poynton Stavrianou.