2001 Australian federal election

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Australian federal election, 2001

← 1998 10 November 2001 (2001-11-10) 2004 →

All 150 seats in the Australian House of Representatives
76 seats were needed for a majority in the House
40 (of the 76) seats in the Australian Senate
  First party Second party
  Image-Howard2003upr.JPG Kim Beazley.jpg
Leader John Howard Kim Beazley
Party Liberal/National coalition Labor
Leader since 30 January 1995 (1995-01-30) 19 March 1996 (1996-03-19)
Leader's seat Bennelong Brand
Last election 80 seats 67 seats
Seats won 82 seats 65 seats
Seat change Increase2 Decrease2
Popular vote 5,846,289 5,627,785
Percentage 50.95% 49.05%
Swing Increase1.93 Decrease1.93

Prime Minister before election

John Howard
Liberal/National coalition

Elected Prime Minister

John Howard
Liberal/National coalition

Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 November 2001. All 150 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 seats in the 76-member Senate were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia John Howard and coalition partner the National Party of Australia led by John Anderson defeated the opposition Australian Labor Party led by Kim Beazley.

Results

The disproportionality of the lower house in the 2001 election was 9.43 according to the Gallagher Index, mainly between the Coalition and Labor Parties.
House of Reps (IRV) — 2001–04 – Turnout 94.85% (CV) — Informal 4.82%
Party Votes % Swing Seats Change
  Australian Labor Party 4,341,420 37.84 −2.26 65 −2
  Coalition          
  Liberal Party of Australia 4,244,072 37.40 +3.18 68 +4
  National Party of Australia 643,926 5.61 +0.32 13 −3
  Country Liberal Party 36,961 0.32 +0.0 1 +1
  Australian Democrats 620,197 5.41 +0.28 0 0
  Australian Greens 569,074 4.96 +2.82 0 0
  One Nation Party 498,032 4.34 −4.09 0 0
  Christian Democratic Party 69,294 0.60 +0.02 0 0
  Unity Party 24,653 0.21 −0.58 0 0
  Citizens Electoral Council 18,352 0.16 +0.09 0 0
  liberals for forests 16,042 0.14 * 0 0
  No GST Party 14,164 0.12 +0.10 0 0
  Australians Against Further Immigration 12,033 0.10 * 0 0
  Save the ADI Site Party 6,029 0.05 * 0 0
  Progressive Labour Party 4,467 0.04 −0.02 0 0
  Lower Excise Fuel and Beer Party 4,292 0.04 * 0 0
  Help End Marijuana Prohibition 3,277 0.03 * 0 0
  Curtin Labor Alliance 2,496 0.02 * 0 0
  Non-Custodial Parents Party 769 0.01 * 0 0
  The Fishing Party 720 0.01 * 0 0
  Tasmania First Party 621 0.01 −0.03 0 0
  Outdoor Recreation Party 485 0.00 * 0 0
  Independents 311,121 2.71 +0.95 3 +2
  Not Affiliated 20,997 0.18 +0.05 0 0
  Total 11,474,074     150
Two-party-preferred vote
  Liberal/National Coalition WIN 50.95 +1.93 82 +2
  Australian Labor Party   49.05 −1.93 65 -2

Independents: Peter Andren, Tony Windsor, Bob Katter


Popular Vote
Labor
  
37.84%
Liberal
  
37.40%
National
  
5.61%
Democrats
  
5.51%
Greens
  
4.96%
One Nation
  
4.34%
CLP
  
0.32%
Independents
  
2.71%
Other
  
1.41%
Two Party Preferred Vote
Coalition
  
50.95%
Labor
  
49.05%
Parliament Seats
Coalition
  
54.67%
Labor
  
43.33%
Independents
  
2.00%

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Senate (STV GV) — 2002–05 – Turnout 95.20% (CV) — Informal 3.89%
Party Votes % Swing Seats Won Seats Held
  Australian Labor Party 3,990,997 34.42 -2.99 14 28
  Liberal/National (Joint Ticket) 2,776,052 23.88 +2.00 6  
  Liberal Party of Australia 1,824,745 15.69 +2.06 12 31
  Australian Democrats 843,130 7.25 -1.20 4 8
  One Nation 644,364 5.54 -3.44 0 1
  Australian Greens 574,543 4.94 +2.22 2 2
  National Party of Australia 222,860 1.92 +0.06 1 3
  Christian Democratic Party 129,966 1.12 +0.03 0 0
  liberals for forests 87,672 0.75 * 0 0
  Progressive Labour Party 76,150 0.65 * 0 0
  Democratic Labor Party 66,547 0.57 +0.30 0 0
  Help End Marijuana Prohibition 63,648 0.55 * 0 0
  No GST Party 50,053 0.43 +0.29 0 0
  Country Liberal Party 40,680 0.35 +0.03 1 1
  Phil Cleary – Independent Australia 36,122 0.31 * 0 0
  Unity Party 30,193 0.26 -0.57 0 0
  The Fishing Party 27,591 0.24 * 0 0
  Lower Excise Fuel and Beer Party 23,767 0.20 * 0 0
  Australians Against Further Immigration 21,012 0.18 +0.11 0 0
  Republican Party of Australia 9,939 0.09 +0.08 0 0
  Citizens Electoral Council 8,896 0.08 +0.00 0 0
  Reform the Legal System 8,199 0.07 * 0 0
  Helen Caldicott – Our Common Future 5,358 0.05 * 0 0
  Nuclear Disarmament Party 4,596 0.04 -0.05 0 0
  Non-Custodial Parents Party 4,071 0.04 * 0 0
  Tasmania First Party 3,895 0.03 -0.01 0 0
  Curtin Labor Alliance 3,494 0.03 * 0 0
  Hope Party Australia 2,947 0.03 * 0 0
  Advance Australia Party 1,936 0.02 * 0 0
  Taxi Operators' Political Service 670 0.01 +0.01 0 0
  Other 43,712 0.38 +0.08 0 0
  Harradine Group * * * 0 1
  Shayne Murphy * * * 0 1
  Total 11,627,529     40 76

House of Representatives preference flows

  • The Nationals had candidates in 14 seats where three-cornered-contests existed, with 87.34% of preferences favouring the Liberal Party.
  • The Democrats contested 145 electorates with preferences favouring Labor (64.13%)
  • The Greens contested 145 electorates with preferences strongly favouring Labor (74.83%)
  • One Nation contested 120 electorates with preferences slightly favouring the Liberal/National Coalition (55.87%)

Seats changing hands

The following table indicates seats that changed hands from one party to another at this election. It compares the election results with the previous margins, taking into account redistributions in New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and both territories. As a result, it includes the seats of Macarthur and Parramatta, which were held by Liberal members but had notional Labor margins. The table does not include the new seat of Hasluck (retained by Labor); the abolished Northern Territory, which was divided into Lingiari (retained by Labor) and Solomon (retained by the CLP); or Paterson, a Labor seat made Liberal by the redistribution

Seat Pre-2001 Swing Post-2001
Party Member Margin[1] Margin Member Party
Ballarat, Vic   Liberal Michael Ronaldson 2.77 5.50 2.73 Catherine King Labor  
Canning, WA   Labor Jane Gerick 0.04 0.42 0.38 Don Randall Liberal  
Dickson, Qld   Labor Cheryl Kernot 0.12 6.09 5.97 Peter Dutton Liberal  
Dobell, NSW   Labor Hon Michael Lee 1.53 1.91 0.38 Ken Ticehurst Liberal  
Farrer, NSW   National Tim Fischer 14.18 N/A 16.37 Sussan Ley Liberal  
Kennedy, Qld   National Bob Katter 11.19 N/A 19.69 Bob Katter Independent  
Macarthur, NSW   Labor notional 1.69 8.65 6.96 Pat Farmer Liberal  
New England, NSW   National Stuart St. Clair 13.66 N/A 8.30 Tony Windsor Independent  
Parramatta, NSW   Labor notional 2.49 3.64 1.15 Ross Cameron Liberal  
Ryan, Qld   Labor Leonie Short* 0.17 8.79 8.62 Michael Johnson Liberal  
  • *Leonie Short was elected to Ryan in a by-election earlier in 2001.

Background

ABC news report of the Tampa affair and its political context, October 2001.

Throughout much of 2001, the Coalition had been trailing Labor in opinion polls, thanks to dissatisfaction with the government's economic reform programme and high petrol prices. The opposition Australian Labor Party had won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote at the previous election and had won a series of state and territory elections. Labor also recorded positive swings in two by-elections, taking the Queensland seat of Ryan and coming close in Aston.

The 11 September attacks and the so-called Children Overboard and Tampa affairs were strong influences in the minds of voters at this election, focusing debate around the issues of border protection and national security. Polls swung strongly toward the coalition after the "Tampa" controversy but before the 11 September attacks. Another major issue was the collapse of the country's second biggest airline Ansett Australia and whether it should be given a bailout; the Coalition was opposed to the bailout because it was not the government's fault. However, Labor was for a bailout because the company's collapse was about to result in the biggest mass job loss in Australian history, whilst also arguing that the government was partially responsible for allowing Ansett to be taken over by Air New Zealand who had caused Ansett's failure.[2] Although the two-party preferred result was reasonably close, the ALP recorded its lowest primary vote since 1934.[3]

Political scientists have suggested that television coverage has subtly transformed the political system, with a spotlight on leaders rather than parties, thereby making for more of an American-presidential-style system. In this election television news focused on international issues, especially terrorism and asylum seekers. Minor parties were largely ignored as the two main parties monopolized the camera's attention. The election was depicted as a horse race between the Howard, who ran ahead and was therefore given more coverage than his Labor rival.[4]

The election-eve Newspoll reported the Liberal/National Coalition on a 53 percent two-party-preferred vote.[5]

See also

References

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  4. David Denemark, Ian Ward, and Clive Bean, Election Campaigns and Television News Coverage: The Case of the 2001 Australian Election. Australian Journal of Political Science. (2007) 42#1 pp: 89-109 online
  5. Newspoll archive since 1987

External links