Labor 'competitive' in Hasluck, Swan says Stephen Smith Defence Minister Stephen Smith, pictured in Parliament last week, says Labor is now sitting strong in Hasluck and Swan. THE new-look Labor Party has improved its competitiveness in federal seats in Western Australia, Defence Minister Stephen Smith says. Mr Smith, who announced his resignation from politics last week after Kevin Rudd's dramatic coup, said he always believed the party could hold onto the seats of Perth, Brand and Fremantle at the forthcoming election. Today he said Labor was now sitting strong in the seats of Hasluck and Swan, where its candidates are Maritime Union of Australia WA branch deputy secretary Adrian Evans and Victoria Park deputy mayor John Bissett, respectively. "This is a real contest," Mr Smith told reporters in Perth. And given the response to Kevin Rudd's return as prime minister, I think not only will we be competitive in Perth, Fremantle and Brand ... I think we'll also now be competitive in Hasluck and in Swan. Local and central ballots close on July 15. And if the pre-selection process in WA proved close, Labor's federal executive could step in and choose "all half a dozen seats together," Mr Smith said. A Labor spokesman said the sixth seat he was referring to was Cowan, where lawyer Tristran Cockman is the party's candidate. Asked about replacements for Perth, the seat Mr Smith has held for 20 years, the minister said his favourite would be "the candidate who the party chooses," adding he had volunteered to be Labor's campaign director. Mr Smith said he was disappointed that barrister Tim Hammond had announced he wasn't seeking to run because he had a young family, but understood those reasons entirely. Mr Hammond would in due course become a very good member of parliament, Mr Smith said. He said another lawyer and nominee for the seat of Perth, Matthew Keough, and former West Australian Planning Minister Alannah MacTiernan, both had his full support. Ms MacTiernan, the Mayor of Vincent, will announce her intentions on Thursday, when nominations close. In 2010, she ran for the seat of Canning, but lost to Liberal Don Randall. Given local council amalgamations are on the cards in WA, with the potential for Vincent to be merged with the City of Perth, a second tilt at federal politics may well be on her mind. But she declined to comment today. Mr Smith said other people may come forth for the Perth seat. He also said he did not yet know what he would do once his political life had ended, but joked he had been offered work in local ice cream and bottle shops. He would leave his portfolio tidy, take a short holiday and perhaps wait until the new year to make a decision about his future. I'm not going to rush into anything. What I'll do as a public citizen, I don't know. Mr Smith said he never had any doubt that his decision to step down was the right one.