AUSTRALIAN GENERAL ELECTION, 2001

Federal election major party leaders
1998 2001 2004
'Liberal' 'John Howard' 'Prime Minister' 'Parliament': 27 years 'Leader since': 1995 'Division': Bennelong 'WIN'
'Labor' 'Kim Beazley' 'Opposition leader' 'Parliament': 21 years 'Leader since': 1996 'Division': Brand

'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.

'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
	Liberal Party of Australia	4,291,032	37.40	+3.18	69	+5
	National Party of Australia	643,926	5.61	+0.32	13	-3
	Australian Democrats	620,225	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
	Independents	332,669	2.90	+0.99	3	+2
	Other	177,696	1.55	-1.23	0	0
	Total	11,474,074			'150'	+2
	'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

'Senate (STV GV) — 2001-04 — Turnout 95.20% (CV) — Informal 3.89%'

	'Party'	'Votes'	'%'	'Swing'	'Seats Won'	'Seats Held'
	Australian Labor Party	3,990,903	34.32	-2.99	14	28
	Liberal/National (Joint Ticket)	2,776,089	23.88	+2.00	6
	Liberal Party of Australia	1,824,639	15.69	+2.06	12	31
	Australian Democrats	842,984	7.25	-1.20	4	8
	One Nation Party	644,346	5.54	-3.44	0	1
	Australian Greens	574,550	4.94	+2.22	2	2
	National Party of Australia	222,860	1.92	+0.06	1	3
	Country Liberal Party	40,680	0.35	+0.03	1	1
	Other	710,478	6.11	+1.49	0	0
	Harradine Group	★	★	★	0	1
	Shayne Murphy	★	★	★	0	1
	Total	11,627,529			40	76

Contents

House of Reps preference flows

Seats changing hands

Background

Issues

References

House of Reps 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

'Seat'	'Party, pre-2001'		'Member, pre-2001'	'Margin, pre-2001 %'	'Swing %'	'Margin, post-2001 %'	'Member, post-2001'	'Party, post-2001'
Ballarat, Vic		Liberal Party of Australia	Hon Michael Ronaldson	2.77	5.50	2.73	Catherine King	Australian Labor Party
Canning, WA		Australian Labor Party	Jane Gerick	0.04	0.42	0.38	Don Randall	Liberal Party of Australia
Dickson, Qld		Australian Labor Party	Cheryl Kernot	0.12	6.09	5.97	Peter Dutton	Liberal Party of Australia
Dobell, NSW		Australian Labor Party	Hon Michael Lee	3.35	3.73	0.38	Ken Ticehurst	Liberal Party of Australia
Farrer, NSW		National Party of Australia	''vacant''	14.62	N/A	16.37	Sussan Ley	Liberal Party of Australia
Kennedy, Qld		National Party of Australia	Bob Katter	11.19	8.77	19.69	Bob Katter	Independent
New England, NSW		National Party of Australia	Stuart St. Clair	12.93	21.23	8.30	Tony Windsor	Independent
Paterson, NSW		Australian Labor Party	Bob Horne	1.22	2.64	1.42	Bob Baldwin	Liberal Party of Australia
Ryan, Qld		Australian Labor Party	Leonie Short ★	0.17	8.79	8.62	Michael Johnson	Liberal Party of Australia

★
★ Leonie Short was elected to Ryan in a by-election earlier in 2001.

Background

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.

Issues

The September 11 attacks and the MV Tampa were strong influences in the minds of voters at this election, focusing debate around the issues of border protection and national security. The Howard Government also alleged during the campaign that asylum seekers had thrown persons overboard from one of their vessels.
By moving the debate to national security, the government turned around the opposition's lead. The ALP recorded its lowest primary vote since 1934.^[1]

References

1. australianpolitics.com


★ Australian Electoral Commission Results

★ University of WA election results in Australia since 1890

★ AEC 2PP vote

★ AustralianPolitics.com election details

★ Preference flows - ABC