Do we like them?

Do we like Roger Cook?

Our score: 6 out of 10. A mainstream Labor premier with no harmful words of his own turned up, but backing gas for decades and slow trans-law reform keep him mid-table.

Roger Cook is the Labor member for Kwinana, the southern Perth seat he first won in 2008. He took over as Premier from Mark McGowan in 2023 and led Labor to a third big win at the March 2025 state election. That's a long runway for a bloke most of the country couldn't pick out of a lineup.

His best-known blunder is lighthearted. Asked at a Perth event in March 2025 to finish a sentence about US Vice President JD Vance, he said “knob”, got a laugh, then apologised later that day to anyone offended. Rivals called it foolish; he said it wouldn't hurt WA's dealings with the US. A cheeky gaffe, not a character flaw, and the apology came fast.

We couldn't open the full statement, so we can't say what the new laws do for trans people. If they deliver, that eases the main LGBTQ+ complaint against him. Until we can see the detail, it's a watch-this-space.

The climate side is the real asterisk. In May 2026 he savaged a Deloitte report that said WA was unlikely to reach net zero by 2050. He has also backed gas as a transition fuel, which climate groups have slammed. Where you land depends on whether you see gas as a bridge or a trap.

The good stuff is thin in what we could read. He has been the local member for Kwinana for years, and through 2026 he has faced questions on fuel security and energy planning. We found no big charity record or personal sacrifice stories, so we're not inventing any.

So, would we support him? Probably, if you can live with a gas-friendly Labor premier who once got in strife for calling a US VP a name. No hate and no conspiracy rabbit holes in what we found, and some movement on discrimination law. Honest caveat: our evidence file is empty because the pages wouldn't open.