West Australian Premier Roger Cook has launched a scathing attack on One Nation for promoting “people who are convicted rapists, people who have charges pending, people who have been accused of sexual assault” as the battle for a looming byelection in Perth’s south heats up.

However, One Nation’s WA leader Rod Caddies returned serve, accusing Cook of “desperate and bizarre tactics” ahead of the vote in Secret Harbour, sparked by the resignation of former minister Paul Papalia in July.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Cook was asked to comment on a 2021 podcast featuring Labor’s candidate for Secret Harbour, Georgia Tree, who was working for federal Brand MP Madeleine King at the time.

On the episode of the In the House & In the Senate podcast, Tree spoke of Labor having potential “skeletons in the closet” in the aftermath of Brittany Higgins’ allegations that she was raped in Parliament House in Canberra.

On Monday, Cook defended Tree’s appearance, and said her comments showed she stood up for her community.

“She doesn’t take bullcrap,” Cook said.

“She calls it out when she sees it, and she was making a comment about the people who don’t have a voice, the people who are voiceless.

“She was providing a voice to those people, so I’m proud of the comments that she made.”

Cook added that Tree’s stance stood in contrast to One Nation.

“[One Nation] are the people who promote people who have been charged or convicted of outstanding arrest warrants for sexual assault,” Cook said.

“They promote as their campaign leader someone who is a convicted rapist.

“So when it comes to standing up for women, I back Georgia Tree any day.”

In April, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said she had fired Sean Black, who was rehired by the party as its national campaign after he was jailed in 2018 for raping and violently assaulting a woman.

In March, South Australian One Nation candidate Aoi Baxter was dumped on the eve of the election after it was revealed he was wanted in the UK for allegedly failing to appear in court over sexual touching charges.

Cook said a lot had changed in parliament since he was first elected in 2008.

“A lot has changed in relation to the culture, not only of all parts of Parliament, but certainly on my side of politics,” he said.

“We are promoting women today, and as a result of that, our party is much stronger.

“It stands in contrast to the sort of people that One Nation are putting up, people who are convicted rapists, people who have charges pending, people who have been accused of sexual assault.

“They are the sort of people that they are promoting, and that is the sort of person that [WA Liberal leader] Basil Zempilas is trying to get up in Western Australia by directing Liberal Party preferences to One Nation.”

However, Caddies said he wouldn’t be “pulled down into the gutter” by the premier.

“All sides of politics are noticing Labor and the premier’s desperate and bizarre tactics,” Caddies said.

“Their attempt to use weasel words to imply nefarious things about my candidate or me shows the premier’s lack of moral standards and character, and I won’t be pulled down into the gutter with him.

“It is interesting to see the premier endorse his candidate’s podcast comments; he seems to agree there are skeletons in his party’s closet, and perhaps he and his candidate should open up about what they are.”

Caddies said it was disappointing to see the government behave this way.

“We are on opposite sides of politics, but even I was still expecting certain basic standards of behaviour,” he said.

“We expected a robust campaign that pulls no punches, not this bizarre display of gutter politics.”

Tree said she stood by her comments on the podcast, adding that she had always been outspoken, and would always fight for what is right – particularly when it comes to women’s experiences in the workplace.

“I led a sit-in in Federal Parliament in 2021 to stand up against ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ culture and sexual harassment in the workplace,” she said.

“I was backed and fully supported by my boss at the time, Minister Madeleine King. Just as I have been ever since I spoke out on this issue.”

Tree added that since 2021, there had been great shifts within the Labor Party.

“Both the federal and WA Caucus is now made up of more than 50 per cent women,” she said.

“This is one of the reasons why I am running, we need to see more young women entering politics to fight for change and not be afraid to stand up, speak out and take their seat at the table.”