Saffioti appointed acting premier and tourism minister for early November

Rita Saffioti will act as Premier, and as Minister for Defence Industries and Minister for Tourism, Trade and Investment, from 1 to 4 November 2026 while Roger Cook is absent from those offices. The temporary appointment was approved by the Governor under section 12(c) of the Interpretation Act 1984 and is notified “for public information” in the Western Australian Government Gazette No. 136 of 27 October 2026, notice PR402.

The notice, signed by M. Carey, Director General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, sits in the Premier and Cabinet section of the gazette at page 2447, alongside four further acting arrangements covering the summer holiday period. The gazette is published by the Government Printer for the State of Western Australia on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Three offices, four days, both dates inclusive

The commission transfers to Rita Saffioti the duties of the offices held by Roger Cook for a four-day window:

• The office of Premier;
• Minister for Defence Industries;
• Minister for Tourism, Trade and Investment.

The notice fixes the period as “1 to 4 November 2026 (both dates inclusive)”, so the acting appointment runs across the whole span from Sunday 1 November to Wednesday 4 November, rather than ending before the final day.

This is the second time the same three-office arrangement has been gazetted in seven weeks. The identical acting commission for Rita Saffioti, in the absence of Roger Cook, was published in the Government Gazette No. 116 of 11 September 2026 for the period 17 to 25 September 2026.

A statutory mechanism, recorded in the gazette

The instrument relies on a single legal hook: section 12(c) of the Interpretation Act 1984, cited in the text as the authority under which the Governor approved the arrangement. The notice is written in standard form as a notification for public information rather than as a commission, and it carries the signature of the department’s Director General, M. Carey, who is also the signatory of the four other acting arrangements in the same section.

A companion notice rewrites the October cover

On the same page, notice PR401 records a second appointment for Rita Saffioti. In the absence of J. N. Carey, she acts in the office of Minister for Planning and Lands; Housing and Works; Health Infrastructure; and Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport and Major Infrastructure from 25 to 30 October 2026, both dates inclusive. That notice states expressly that it “supersedes acting arrangements relating to the above office that were published in Government Gazette No. 122 of 25 September 2026”, which had set the same cover from 24 to 30 October.

Read together, the two notices produce a continuous sequence: Rita Saffioti carries the four Carey-related offices until Friday 30 October, and then takes up the premier’s duties from Sunday 1 November.

Further acting appointments notified for summer

The same section of the gazette lists three further temporary appointments approved by the Governor:

• A. Sanderson to act as Minister for Creative Industries; Heritage; Industrial Relations; Aged Care and Seniors; Women, in the absence of S. F. McGurk, from 25 December 2026 to 10 January 2027 (PR403);
• D. R. Michael to act as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs; Racing and Gaming; South West, in the absence of D. T. Punch, from 4 to 10 January 2027 (PR404);
• D. T. Punch to act as Minister for State Development; Economic Diversification; Finance; Electoral Affairs; Goldfields-Esperance, in the absence of D. R. Michael, from 11 to 24 January 2027 (PR405).

For readers, the practical effect is that for four days in early November the state’s executive authority in the premier’s office, defence industries and the tourism, trade and investment portfolio rests with Rita Saffioti, and decisions taken in that window carry the authority of an acting premier formally approved by the Governor and publicly recorded in the state’s official gazette.

Source: Western Australian Government Gazette, No. 136 of 27 October 2026, Premier and Cabinet, p. 2447 (official reference: PR402).