The 2001 Australian federal election was 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
The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United A ...
led by
Prime Minister of Australia John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...
and
coalition
A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces.
Formation
According to ''A Gui ...
partner the
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia, also known as The Nationals or The Nats, is an Australian political party. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and regional voters generally, it began as the Australian Country Party in 1920 at a fed ...
led by
John Anderson defeated the opposition
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...
led by
Kim Beazley
Kim Christian Beazley (born 14 December 1948) is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and leader of the opposition from 1996 to 2001 and 2005 to 2006, having previously been a cabinet ...
.
Future Opposition Leader
Peter Dutton
Peter Craig Dutton (born 18 November 1970) is an Australian politician who has been leader of the opposition and leader of the Liberal Party since May 2022. He has represented the Queensland seat of Dickson in the House of Representatives sinc ...
entered parliament at this election.
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
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...
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
Ryan may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
* Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
Places Australia
* Division of Ryan, an elect ...
and coming close in
Aston
Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre.
History
Aston wa ...
.
However following the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
, and the
Children Overboard and
Tampa affairs, Polls swung strongly toward the coalition after the "Tampa" controversy but before the 11 September attacks.
In fact, voter concern with terrorism in the aftermath of the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
was noted, with the rise in the combined primary votes of the major parties
from 79.61% at the previous election in 1998, to 81.17% at this election. There would be further increases in the combined major party primary vote in 2004 and 2007.
Another major issue was the collapse of the country's second-biggest airline
Ansett Australia
Ansett Australia was a major Australian airline group, based in Melbourne, Australia. The airline flew domestically within Australia and from the 1990s to destinations in Asia. After operating for 65 years, the airline was placed into admin ...
and the question of whether it should be given a
bailout
A bailout is the provision of financial help to a corporation or country which otherwise would be on the brink of bankruptcy.
A bailout differs from the term ''bail-in'' (coined in 2010) under which the bondholders or depositors of global sys ...
. The Coalition was opposed to any bailout because the collapse was not the government's fault. However, Labor supported 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, a move which had caused Ansett's failure. Although the two-party preferred result was reasonably close, the ALP recorded its lowest primary vote since 1934.
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 monopolised the media's attention. The election was depicted as a horse-race between Howard and Beazley, with Howard running ahead and therefore being given more coverage than his Labor rival.
The election-eve
Newspoll forecast that the Liberal/National Coalition would get 53 percent of the
two-party-preferred vote.
Results
House of Representatives results
Senate results
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
)
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, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, Western Australia, South Australia,
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
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 also includes the new seat of
Hasluck (retained by Labor); the abolished
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
, which was divided into
Lingiari (retained by Labor) and
Solomon
Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...
(retained by the
CLP); and
Paterson, a Labor seat made Liberal by the redistribution
See also
*
Candidates of the 2001 Australian federal election
*
Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 2001–2004
*
Members of the Australian Senate, 2002–2005
Notes
References
External links
Australian Electoral Commission ResultsUniversity of WA election results in Australia since 1890
AustralianPolitics.com election details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Federal Election, 2001
Federal elections in Australia
2001 elections in Australia
Articles containing video clips
November 2001 events in Australia