WA vote shows Labor's woes: Julie Bishop The Labor brand has taken another belting with West Australian Labor losing at least seven seats in the weekend state election. Federal deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop says the poll is an indicator of federal Labor's woes before the September 14 election. "If ever there were a state election that had federal implications, this was it," she said. West Australian premier Colin Barnett celebrated the Liberals' performance in winning enough seats to govern on its own. The WA Liberals and the Nationals will form a coalition with a predicted 40 seats of 59, while Labor could slide to 19 from 27. Mr Barnett said federal issues were background to the win, while he noted WA Labor leader Mark McGowan's call for Prime Minister Julia Gillard not to visit during the campaign was a mistake. "Mark McGowan was standing as a Labor leader, and not to have a Labor prime minister appear in the state actually weakened further the image of Labor in this state," he said. Prime Minister Julia Gillard issued a three-sentence statement on Sunday congratulating Mr Barnett on his re-election and acknowledging the work of WA Labor. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said a strong message was sent to Ms Gillard and Labor. Defence Minister Stephen Smith said Labor had plenty to work on before the federal poll. "We've had a tough time federally - you don't need to be a rocket scientist to work that out," he said. There's no doubt we have been a drag on Mark (McGowan) and there's no doubt we haven't been helpful. Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor said state issues dominated the WA poll but federal problems drifted into the election. "Any challenges that might occur federally will sometimes splash on to elections that occur around the country," he said. Former West Australian Labor premier Geoff Gallop said the electorate was not impressed with the party. "They don't like the way it works, they don't like the way it functions," Dr Gallop said. Ms Bishop said safe Labor state seats switching to the conservatives gave encouragement to the federal coalition in winning the electorates of Perth and Brand held by Defence Minister Smith and Special Minister of State Gary Gray respectively. The focus of Labor will be prominent with a Newspoll to be released early this week, while MPs return to Canberra for the final parliamentary fortnight before the May 14 budget. A Galaxy Poll on Sunday showed the government's primary vote had fallen three points to 32 per cent in the past month, while 48 per cent chose the coalition. On a two-party preferred basis, the coalition was 55 per cent to Labor's 45 per cent. Australian Greens leader Christine Milne said the WA vote reflected an electorate switching to conservative politics nationally. "That's why you need the Greens in the Senate ... because we need to stand there as a bulwark against everything that Tony Abbott would tear down," she said.