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The 2016 Australian federal election was a
double dissolution A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks in the bicameral Parliament of Australia between the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). A double dissolutio ...
election held on Saturday, 2 July 2016, to elect all 226 members of the 45th
Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the Monarchy of Australia, monarch of Australia (repr ...
, after an extended eight-week official campaign period. It was the first double dissolution election since the 1987 election and the first under a new voting system for the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
that replaced group voting tickets with
optional preferential voting One of the ways in which ranked voting systems vary is whether an individual vote must express a minimum number of preferences to avoid being considered invalid ("spoiled" or "informal" or "rejected"). Possibilities are: * Full preferential vot ...
. In the 150-seat House of Representatives, the one-term incumbent Coalition government was reelected with a reduced 76 seats, marking the first time since
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
that a government had been reelected with an absolute majority. Labor picked up a significant number of previously government-held seats for a total of 69 seats, recovering much of what it had lost in its severe defeat of
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
. On the crossbench, the Greens, the Nick Xenophon Team, Katter's Australian Party, and independents Wilkie and McGowan won a seat each. For the first time since
federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
, a party managed to form government without winning a plurality of seats in the two most populous states,
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
and Victoria. One re-count was held by the
Australian Electoral Commission The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for the management and oversight of Australian federal elections, plebiscites, referendums and some trade union A ...
(AEC) for the Division of Herbert, confirming that Labor won the seat by 37 votes. The final outcome in the 76-seat Senate took over four weeks to complete. Announced on 4 August, the results revealed a reduced plurality of 30 seats for the Coalition, 26 for Labor, and a record 20 for crossbenchers including 9 Greens, 4 from One Nation and 3 from the Xenophon Team. Former broadcaster and Justice Party founder Derryn Hinch won a seat, while
Jacqui Lambie Jacquiline Louise Lambie (born 26 February 1971) is an Australian politician who is the leader and founder of the Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN). She is a Australian Senate, Senator for Tasmania since 2019, and was previously a Senator from 2014 to ...
, Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm and Family First's Bob Day retained theirs. The Coalition will require nine additional votes for a Senate majority, an increase of three. Both major parties agreed to allocate six-year terms to the first six senators elected in each state, while the last six would serve three-year terms. Labor and the Coalition each gained a six-year Senator at the expense of Hinch and the Greens, who criticised the major parties for rejecting the "recount" method despite supporting it in two bipartisan senate resolutions in 1998 and 2010. A number of initially-elected senators were declared ineligible a result of the
2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis Starting in July 2017, the eligibility of several members of the Parliament of Australia was questioned. Referred to by some as a "constitutional crisis", fifteen sitting politicians were ruled ineligible by the High Court of Australia (sittin ...
, and replaced after recounts. As of 2025 this is the most recent federal election for both of the major parties to have new leaders when Shorten replaced
Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...
after the
2013 Australian federal election The 2013 Australian federal election to elect the members of the 44th Parliament of Australia took place on Saturday, 7 September 2013. The centre-right Coalition (Australia), Liberal/National Coalition Opposition (Australia), opposition led by ...
, loss for the latter, as Labor leader after beating
Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been the Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Leader, leader of the Labor Party si ...
in the October 2013 Australian Labor Party leadership election a month later, and Turnbull replaced
Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...
as Liberal leader and prime minister on 14 September 2015 after a leadership challenge win in the September 2015 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill ten months prior.


Electoral system

Elections in Australia Elections in Australia take place periodically to elect the legislature of the Commonwealth of Australia, as well as for each Australian states and territories, Australian state and territory and for local government councils. Elections in all ...
use a full-preferential system in one vote, one value single-member seats for the 150-member
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
(
lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...
) and in time for this election changed from full-preferential group voting tickets to an optional-preferential
single transferable vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...
system of
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...
in the 76-member
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
(
upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...
). Voting is compulsory but subject to
constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...
constraints. The decision as to the type of election and its date is for the Prime Minister, who advises the Governor-General to set the process in motion by dissolving the lower or both houses and issuing writs for election. File:Victorian-senate-paper-folded-01.png, Senate ballot paper used in Victoria. File:2016-ballot-paper-Higgins.png, House of Representatives ballot paper used in the
Division of Higgins The Division of Higgins was an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian Electoral Division in Victoria, Australia, Victoria for the Australian House of Representatives from 1949 until 2025. At the time of its abolition in ...
.


Election date

Section 13 of the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
requires that in half-Senate elections the election of state senators must take place within one year before the places become vacant. Since the normal terms of half the senators would have ended on 30 June 2017, the writs for a half-Senate election could not be issued earlier than 1 July 2016, and the earliest possible date for a simultaneous House/half-Senate election would have been 6 August 2016. There is no constitutional requirement for simultaneous elections for the Senate and the House of Representatives, and there are precedents for separate elections; however, governments and the electorate have long preferred that elections for the two Houses take place simultaneously. A House-only election can be called at any time during a parliamentary term. Whether held simultaneously with a Senate election or separately, an election for the House of Representatives was required to have been held on or before 14 January 2017, which is calculated under provisions of the constitution and the
Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 The ''Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918'' is an Act of the Australian Parliament which continues to be the core legislation governing the conduct of elections in Australia, having been amended on numerous occasions since 1918. The Act was introdu ...
(CEA). Section 28 of the Constitution of Australia provides that the term of a House expires three years from the first sitting of the House, unless it is dissolved earlier. The previous federal election was held on 7 September 2013. The 44th Parliament of Australia opened on 12 November 2013 and its term would have expired on 11 November 2016. Writs for an election can be issued up to ten days after a dissolution or expiry of the House. Up to 27 days can be allowed for nominations, and the actual election can be set for a maximum of 31 days after close of nominations, resulting in the latest possible House of Representatives election date of Saturday, 14 January 2017. A double dissolution cannot take place within six months before the date of the expiry of the House of Representatives. That meant that a double dissolution could not be granted after 11 May 2016. Allowing for the same stages indicated above, the last possible date for a double dissolution election was 16 July 2016. On 2 November 2015, Prime Minister Turnbull stated: "I would say around September–October 016is when you should expect the next election to be." However, in December 2015, ABC News reported that some "senior Liberal MPs" had been seeking an election as early as March 2016. An election held at this time would have required a separate half-Senate election to be held in late 2016 or early 2017. On 21 March 2016, Turnbull announced that the parliament would be recalled for both houses to sit on 18 April to consider for a third time the bills to reinstate the
Australian Building and Construction Commission The Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) was an independent, statutory authority of the Australian Government, responsible for promoting understanding and enforcing workplace relations compliance in the Australian building and ...
(ABCC). Turnbull also said that if the Senate failed to pass the bill, then there would be a double dissolution of parliament and an election would be held on 2 July. The delivery of the federal budget was also brought forward from 10 May to 3 May. On 18 April, the Senate once again rejected the bills to reinstate the ABCC. On 8 May Malcolm Turnbull attended Government House to advise the Governor-General to issue the writs for a double dissolution on 9 May. This confirmed the date of the election; 2 July 2016. In the weeks after 8 May, there were 132,000 additions to the electoral roll, and a total of 687,000 enrolment transactions, and it was estimated that 95% of eligible Australians were enrolled for the election, with a participation rate of those under 24 of 86.7%.


Double dissolution triggers

By 18 April 2016 there were four bills that met the requirements of Section 57 of the constitution for a double dissolution. On 19 April the Prime Minister confirmed that, following the 2016 federal budget set for 3 May, he would advise the Governor-General to call a double dissolution election on Saturday 2 July. Any or all of these four bills could have been cited in his advice. On Sunday 8 May 2016, Turnbull visited Government House and formally advised Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove to dissolve both Houses of Parliament and issue the writs for a double dissolution election to be held on 2 July 2016. The advice was based on Parliament's inability to pass the following three bills: * ''Building and Construction Industry (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2013'' * ''Building and Construction Industry (Improving Productivity) Bill 2013'' * ''Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment Bill 2014''. The Governor-General accepted the advice and dissolved both houses of the Parliament the following day, 9 May 2016.


Constitutional and legal provisions

The constitutional and legal provisions which impacted on the choice of election dates include: * Section 12 of the Constitution provides that: "The Governor of any State may cause writs to be issued for the election of Senators for the State". * Section 13 of the Constitution provides that the election of Senators shall be held in the period of twelve months before the places become vacant. *Section 28 of the Constitution provides that: "Every House of Representatives shall continue for three years from the first sitting of the House, and no longer, but may be sooner dissolved by the Governor-General." Since the 44th Parliament opened on 12 November 2013, it would have expired on 11 November 2016. * Section 32 of the Constitution provides that: "The writs shall be issued within ten days from the expiry of a House of Representatives or from the proclamation of a dissolution thereof." Ten days after 11 November 2016 is 21 November 2016. *Section 156 (1) of the
Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 The ''Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918'' is an Act of the Australian Parliament which continues to be the core legislation governing the conduct of elections in Australia, having been amended on numerous occasions since 1918. The Act was introdu ...
(CEA) provides that: "The date fixed for the nomination of the candidates shall not be less than 10 days nor more than 27 days after the date of the writ". Twenty-seven days after 21 November 2016 is 18 December 2016. *Section 157 of the CEA provides that: "The date fixed for the polling shall not be less than 23 days nor more than 31 days after the date of nomination". Thirty-one days after 18 December 2016 is 18 January 2017, a Wednesday. *Section 158 of the CEA provides that: "The day fixed for the polling shall be a Saturday". The Saturday before 18 January 2017 is 14 January 2017. This was therefore the latest possible date for the election. However, it was unlikely that an election would have been called for this date, as schools would be closed for summer holidays at this time. Governments tend to avoid holding elections during school holidays, since schools are often used as polling places.


Election timeline

On 8 May 2016, the office of the Governor-General released documents relating to the calling of the election. The documents set out a timeline of key dates for the election. * 9 May – Dissolution of both houses of the Parliament of Australia * 16 May – Issue of writs * 23 May – Close of electoral rolls * 9 June – Close of candidate nominations * 2 July – Polling day * 8 August – Return of writs (last day)


Background

The Coalition won the 2013 federal election with 90 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives, on a swing of 17 seats or 3.6 points on a two-party basis, defeating the six-year Labor government. Labor held 55 seats, and
crossbencher A crossbencher is a minor party or independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. They take their name fr ...
s held the remaining five. The
Abbott government The Abbott government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 28th Prime Minister Tony Abbott. The government was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition. The Leader of The Nationals, Warren Truss, served ...
was sworn into office on 18 September 2013.
Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...
resigned as Labor's leader following the defeat of the party. Chris Bowen became the interim leader in the approach to a leadership election. Two candidates,
Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been the Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Leader, leader of the Labor Party si ...
and Bill Shorten, declared their candidacy; Shorten was declared the winner on 13 October 2013. As a result of lost ballot papers, on 18 February 2014 the
High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...
, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, ordered a new half-Senate election for Western Australia, which was held on 5 April 2014. Senator John Madigan resigned from the Democratic Labour Party and became an
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
Senator in September 2014, citing long-term internal party tensions. On 24 November 2014, Tasmanian Senator
Jacqui Lambie Jacquiline Louise Lambie (born 26 February 1971) is an Australian politician who is the leader and founder of the Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN). She is a Australian Senate, Senator for Tasmania since 2019, and was previously a Senator from 2014 to ...
resigned from the
Palmer United Party The United Australia Party (UAP), formerly known as Clive Palmer's United Australia Party and the Palmer United Party (PUP), is an Australian political party formed by mining magnate Clive Palmer in April 2013. The party was deregistered by ...
and on 13 March 2015, Queensland Senator
Glenn Lazarus Glenn Patrick Lazarus (born 11 December 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, and a former Australian Senator. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative , Lazarus won premi ...
also announced his resignation from the Palmer United Party; both then sat as independents. On 14 September 2015, the incumbent Prime Minister,
Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...
, was challenged for the leadership of the Liberal Party and thus the prime ministership by Malcolm Turnbull, the Minister for Communications. Turnbull won the vote 54–44 and on 15 September was sworn in as prime minister, starting the Turnbull government. On 11 February 2016
Warren Truss In structural engineering, a Warren truss or equilateral truss is a type of truss employing a weight-saving design based upon Triangle, equilateral triangles. It is named after the British engineer James Warren (engineer), James Warren, who pat ...
, the
Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...
, announced his decision to retire from politics at the 2016 federal election and immediately stood aside as Leader of the Nationals. Barnaby Joyce was elected as Leader and was sworn as the Deputy Prime Minister, and Fiona Nash was elected as Deputy Leader of the Nationals. Truss also resigned from the Turnbull Ministry. Ian Macfarlane attempted to defect from the Liberal to the National party room with accompanying demands for additional Nationals cabinet representation, and the Mal BroughJames Ashby diary controversy deepened in the last week of the campaign. Along with the unexpected by-election swing and Turnbull's significantly lessened personal ratings in the concurrent December Newspoll, some
News Corp Australia News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp. The group's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television prod ...
journalists claimed that Turnbull's honeymoon was over. The Nick Xenophon Team (NXT) listed many candidates throughout Australia, with ABC psephologist
Antony Green Antony John Green (born 2 March 1960) is an Australian Psephology, psephologist, Data science, data scientist, journalist, and commentator. He was the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's chief election analyst until his retirement from the r ...
indicating NXT had a "strong chance of winning lower house seats and three or four Senate seats". Liberal Senator Michael Ronaldson announced on 18 December 2015 that he would leave parliament before the next election, after moving from the outer ministry in the Abbott government to the backbench in the Turnbull government. He resigned on 28 February 2016, and the
casual vacancy ''The Casual Vacancy'' is a novel written by British author J. K. Rowling, published worldwide by the Little, Brown Book Group on 27 September 2012. It was Rowling's first publication since the ''Harry Potter'' series, her first novel apart fr ...
was filled by James Paterson on 9 March 2016. Labor Senator Joe Bullock announced on 1 March 2016 that he would be resigning from the Senate after the autumn sittings of parliament, citing—among other reasons—his opposition to
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
being at odds with the Labor Party's platform to bind its members in a supporting vote after 2019. Bullock tendered his resignation to Senate President Stephen Parry on 13 April 2016. The casual vacancy was filled by Pat Dodson on 28 April 2016. Palmer United Party leader
Clive Palmer Clive Frederick Palmer (born 26 March 1954) is an Australian billionaire businessman and politician. He has iron ore, nickel, and coal holdings. Palmer owns many businesses such as Mineralogy, Waratah Coal, Queensland Nickel at Townsville, t ...
announced on 4 May 2016 that he would not recontest his seat of Fairfax at the election. On 23 May he also ruled out running for a Senate seat. In the lower house seat of
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
, both the Liberal-National and Labor candidates were openly gay; a first in Australian federal political history.


By-elections

In the 44th Parliament, there were three by-elections. Rudd resigned from Parliament on 22 November 2013, triggering the
2014 Griffith by-election A by-election for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Division of Griffith, Griffith occurred on Saturday 8 February 2014. Terri Butler retained the seat for Australian Labor Party, Labor with a 51.8 (−1.2) percent Two-party-prefer ...
, which was held on 8 February, with Terri Butler retaining the seat for Labor. On 21 July 2015, Liberal Don Randall died, triggering the 2015 Canning by-election, which was held on 19 September. Andrew Hastie retained the seat for the Liberal Party, having to rely on preferences after suffering a substantial swing to the Labor candidate.
Joe Hockey Joseph Benedict Hockey (born 2 August 1965) is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was the Member of Parliament for Division of North Sydney, North Sydney from 1996 Australian federal election, 1996 until 2015. He was the Treasurer ...
was not retained as Treasurer in the Turnbull Ministry, and announced his resignation from Parliament shortly afterwards, triggering the 2015 North Sydney by-election which was held on 5 December. The seat was retained for the Liberal Party by Trent Zimmerman. Zimmerman won with 48.2% of the primary vote after a larger-than-predicted 12.8-point swing against the Turnbull Coalition government. This was only the second time in North Sydney since federation that the successful Liberal candidate failed to obtain a majority of the primary vote and had to rely on preferences. Zimmerman faced a double-digit primary vote swing—more than triple that of the 2015 Canning by-election—despite the absence of a Labor candidate. Labor has never been successful in the safe Liberal seat. The Liberal two-candidate vote of 60.2% against independent Stephen Ruff compares with the previous election vote of 65.9% against Labor. The reduction of 5.7 points cannot be considered a "two-party/candidate preferred swing"—when a major party is absent, preference flows to both major parties do not take place, resulting in asymmetric preference flows.


Redistributions and name changes

In November 2014 the Australian Electoral Commission announced that a redistribution of electoral boundaries in New South Wales and Western Australia would be undertaken before the next election. A determination of the states' membership entitlements under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 meant that Western Australia's entitlement increased from 15 to 16 seats, and New South Wales' decreased from 48 to 47 seats. A redistribution also occurred in the Australian Capital Territory, as seven years had elapsed since the last time the ACT's boundaries were reviewed. On 16 November 2015, the AEC announced that a redistribution of electoral boundaries in Tasmania would be deferred until after the election, as the Electoral Act provides that a redistribution shall not commence where there is less than a year until the expiry of the House of Representatives (i.e., 11 November 2016). In October 2015, the AEC announced plans to abolish the seat of Hunter. Electors in the north of Hunter would have joined
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
, while the roughly 40% remainder would have become part of Paterson, where the Liberal margin would have been reduced from a fairly safe 9.8 points to an extremely marginal 0.5 point as a result. Hunter was first contested at the inaugural 1901 federal election; the AEC's naming guidelines require it to make "every effort" to preserve the names of the original federal divisions. The Commission proposed renaming Charlton to Hunter, and in honour of deceased Prime Minister
Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being ...
, renaming Throsby to Whitlam. The final proposal, however, saw Charlton abolished, with Hunter moving slightly eastward to take in much of Charlton's territory. Additionally, Paterson was made more compact and pushed well to the south, taking in some heavily Labor territory that had previously been in Hunter and
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
. This had the effect of erasing the Liberals' majority in Paterson; Labor now had a notional majority of 0.5 per cent. The new seat created in Western Australia was the Division of Burt, named after the Burt family, specifically Sir Archibald Burt, Septimus Burt and Sir Francis Burt and centred on the south-east areas of metropolitan Perth. The Division of Fraser in the ACT was renamed
Division of Fenner The Division of Fenner is an Australian Electoral Division in the Australian Capital Territory and the Jervis Bay Territory. As of the 2018 redistribution, it includes Gungahlin and the part of Belconnen north of Belconnen Way and west of E ...
, to honour the late scientist Frank Fenner. The AEC announced that the name Fraser would be used for a future division in Victoria, named in honour of
Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and is the fourth List of ...
, a former Prime Minister.


Senate voting changes

Following the previous election, the Abbott government announced it would investigate changing the electoral system for the Senate. On 22 February 2016, the Turnbull government announced several proposed changes. In the Senate, the changes had the support of the Liberal/National Coalition, the Australian Greens, and Nick Xenophon. The legislation passed both houses of the Parliament of Australia on 18 March 2016 after the Senate sat all night debating the bill. The changes abolished
group voting ticket A group voting ticket (GVT) is a shortcut for voters in a Ranked voting systems, preferential voting system, where a voter can indicate support for a list of candidates instead of marking preferences for individual candidates. For multi-member ele ...
s (GVTs) and introduced ''optional'' preferential voting, along with party logos on the ballot paper. The ballot paper continues to have a box for each party above a heavy line, with each party's candidates in a column below that party's box below the solid line. Previously, a voter could either mark a single box ''above the line'', which triggered the party's group voting ticket (a pre-assigned sequence of preferences), or place a number in every box ''below the line'' to assign their own preferences. As a result of the changes, voters may assign their preferences for parties above the line (numbering as many boxes as they wish), or individual candidates below the line, and are not required to fill all of the boxes. Both above and below the line voting are now
optional preferential voting One of the ways in which ranked voting systems vary is whether an individual vote must express a minimum number of preferences to avoid being considered invalid ("spoiled" or "informal" or "rejected"). Possibilities are: * Full preferential vot ...
. For above the line, voters will be instructed to write at least their first six preferences; however, a "savings provision" will still count the ballot if less than six were given. As a result, fewer votes are expected to be classed as informal; however, more ballots will "exhaust" as a result (i.e. some votes are not counted towards electing any candidate). For below the line, voters will be required to number at least their first 12 preferences. Voters will be free to continue numbering as many preferences as they like beyond the minimum number specified. Another savings provision will allow ballot papers with at least 6 below the line preferences to be formal, catering for people who confuse the above and below the line instructions. Antony Green, a psephologist for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, wrote several publications on various aspects of the proposed Senate changes. As with every double dissolution election the entire Senate is re-elected (12 seats per state rather than the usual half Senate election of six seats per state). Consequently, the number of votes required to earn a seat (the "quota") is halved. Due to the abolition of GVTs, it is no longer possible to create "calculators" that assess, with reasonable accuracy, the eventual senate election outcome. Therefore, according to Antony Green, "my working guide is that if a party has more than 0.5 of a quota, it will be in the race for one of the final seats." His calculation of the percentage of primary-vote required for the first six full- and half-quotas at this election is as follows:


Campaign events

* 9 May – The House of Representatives and Senate are dissolved and the government enters caretaker mode. * 11 May – The Labor Party announces it will disendorse its candidate for
Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...
, Chris Brown, after it is revealed that he did not disclose two convictions dating back to the 1980s. * 13 May – The first televised people's forum involving Turnbull and Shorten is held in the Sydney suburb of South Windsor. * 17 May – ** Immigration minister Peter Dutton makes controversial comments about refugees during an interview on Sky News, stating that "many... won't be numerate or literate in their own language let alone English", that they "would be taking Australian jobs" and that "they would languish in unemployment queues and on Medicare". ** Labor MP for
Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
, David Feeney, admits that he had not declared his ownership of a $2.3 million house in Northcote, and that the house was negatively-geared—a scheme that the Labor Party had promised to wind back if elected. * 19 May – ** Labor candidate for Moore David Leith steps down after social media posts from 2015 are revealed in which he called Australia's immigration detention centres "gulags". **The
Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal Federal police, federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government responsible for investigating Crime in Australia, crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth ...
conducts raids on the Melbourne offices of Labor senator
Stephen Conroy Stephen or Steven is an English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the firs ...
and the home of a Labor advisor, over the alleged leak of documents regarding the status of the National Broadband Network. * 20 May – **Treasury and the Department of Finance release the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Outlook (PEFO). **Liberal candidate for Fremantle, Sherry Sufi, withdraws from nomination following controversy over his past comments on same-sex marriage and indigenous constitutional recognition, as well as a video of him mocking WA Speaker Michael Sutherland. * 24 May – **Treasurer
Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party and was ...
and finance minister
Mathias Cormann Mathias Hubert Paul Cormann (; ; born 20 September 1970) is a Belgian-born Australian politician and diplomat who serves as Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation a ...
hold a press conference in which they announce that their costing of Labor's policies has revealed a $67 billion "black hole". Under media questioning, Morrison replies that while they had made some assumptions to arrive at the figure, it is up to Labor to clarify its policies. The Opposition responds, calling the announcement a "ridiculous scare campaign" that was "riddled with a litany of errors". **Labor Senator
Nova Peris Nova Maree Peris (born 25 February 1971) is an Aboriginal Australian athlete and former politician. As part of the Australian women's field hockey ( Hockeyroos) team at the 1996 Olympic Games, she was the first Aboriginal Australian to win a ...
announces she will not nominate to contest her Northern Territory Senate seat at the election. *25 May – ** Liberal candidate for Whitlam, Dr Carolyn Currie, withdraws from nomination citing a lack of support from the party's branch and factional leaders. ** A regional leaders' debate between Nationals leader and Deputy Prime Minister
Barnaby Joyce Barnaby Thomas Gerard Joyce (born 17 April 1967) is an Australian politician who was the leader of the National Party of Australia from 2016 to 2018 and again from 2021 to 2022. Joyce was the 17th deputy prime minister of Australia during both ...
, Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon, and Greens leader Richard Di Natale is held in
Goulburn, New South Wales Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, approximately south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters patent by Queen Victor ...
. The debate is moderated by Chris Uhlmann and broadcast on the ABC. During the debate, Joyce makes comments apparently linking a ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia with an increase in asylum seeker boats under the Gillard government. * 29 May – A leaders debate between Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten is held at the National Press Club in Canberra. * 9 June – Candidate nominations close. * 11 June – Liberal candidate for Calwell, John Hsu, resigns and is disendorsed. The deadline for nominations having closed results in the Liberals not running a candidate in that seat. However, Hsu's name continues to be on the ballot paper and he continues to run as an independent. * 14 June – Pre-poll voting opens. * 17 June – A third leaders debate between Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten. * 19 June – Official launch of the ALP campaign. * 20 June – Labor candidate for Farrer, Christian Kunde, resigns and is disendorsed.


Newspaper endorsements

In its pre-election editorial endorsements, the press overwhelmingly backed the Coalition over Labor—only the Sunday edition of the Melbourne ''
Age Age or AGE may refer to: Time and its effects * Age, the amount of time someone has been alive or something has existed ** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1 * Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older ...
'' endorsed the Labor Opposition.


Sunday editions

Among the Sunday papers, Turnbull was preferred by Sydney's ''Sun-Herald'' and ''Sunday Telegraph'', Melbourne's ''Sunday Herald Sun'', the ''Sunday Mail'' in Brisbane, the ''Sunday Times'' in Perth and the ''Sunday Mail'' in Adelaide. Labor won the endorsement of only the ''Sunday Age'' in Melbourne. The ''Sunday Tasmanian'' and ''Sunday Territorian'' did not publish endorsements prior to this election. Labor's close ties to the union movement were of concern to many papers, even to the supportive ''Sunday Age'', which described the issue as "vexed" and unresolved. Others went further, fearful that Shorten would not "free Labor from the union shackles that too often oppose sensible reforms," in the words of the ''Sun-Herald''. "Mr Shorten still remains more union boss than potential prime minister," concluded the ''Sunday Telegraph''. Shorten, the ''Sunday Herald Sun'' concurred, "is not a man to stand up to militant unions." On the economy, there was general concern about the sustainability of Labor's approach to public spending. "Even an economic illiterate could see horten's10-year economic "plan" was forged in fantasy land," opined the ''Sunday Times'', "On this dangerous policy alone, Labor should not be given the opportunity to govern." The ''Sunday Age'', however, took the view that increased taxation, and with it increased spending on education, should take priority: "a smarter society will be more productive." Though the ''Sun-Herald'' was supportive of some Labor policies, it said Shorten had failed to make "a compelling case that Australia needs a new government." Invoking the instability of Australian politics since 2010, the paper was unenthusiastic about electing "our sixth prime minister in six years." Turnbull, the ''Sun-Herald'' concluded, deserved "a chance to establish his own mandate." The need for political stability was emphasised by the Perth ''Sunday Times'' and Adelaide ''Sunday Mail'': at that time both states faced an uncertain future due to recent downturns in mining, steelmaking and shipbuilding. The expectation that any Labor government would govern in minority gave the ''Mail'' pause. Australia, it wrote, "needs stability ... this country has suffered enough through balance-of-power ... politicians". Both backed the Coalition as the best alternative to, in the ''Times'' words, "steer us through these turbulent times." The Brisbane ''Sunday Mail'' summed up the general view among the papers of Turnbull: "yet to fulfil his promise as Prime Minister." Though the ''Sunday Telegraph'' agreed his government had been "timid", it concluded "We are fortunate to have as Prime Minister a man of integrity, decency and undoubted intellect."


National dailies

''
The Australian Financial Review The ''Australian Financial Review'' (''AFR'') is an Australian compact daily newspaper with a focus on business, politics and economic affairs. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and has been published continuously since its foun ...
'' endorsed the Coalition two days before polling day, in particular its plans to balance the federal budget, and boost economic growth by cutting company tax. Although the editorial viewed Turnbull's performance in office as "too timid", it concluded that "there is no alternative" but to support his re-election. The newspaper acknowledged Shorten's effectiveness as a campaigner, but it was scathing of the Opposition Leader's platform and tactics. His "resort to crass populism and the outdated politics of class comes from a once-reforming centre-left party which has refused to free itself from ... trade union and factional control," the editorial ran. "Mr Shorten's populist pitch echoes some of the global political phenomenon represented by Brexit and Donald Trump by exciting a squabble over shares of a declining income pie." ''
The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...
'' endorsed the Coalition the following day, highlighting the Government's budget discipline. Turnbull's "stolid pitch on frugality ... provided the contrast against which the Labor opposition could be judged," the editorial ran. Though it rated the Coalition's economic plan as "adequate at best," ''The Australian'' contrasted this with "an unthinkable Labor alternative that, even after the overblown GFC stimulus of the RuddGillardRudd years, would respond to current challenges by spending more, taxing more and taking the nation deeper into debt."


Metropolitan dailies

The metropolitan dailies backed the Coalition without exception. Turnbull's personal qualities and platform appealed more to the editors than his short record in office. ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' spoke for many in concluding that "Mr Turnbull deserves the chance to deliver". ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' praised the Prime Minister's "consistency ... He has stuck fast on addressing Australia's debt and deficit problems." Newspapers particularly highlighted, in the words of the '' West Australian'', the Coalition's "better understanding of what is needed to run the economy and rein in debt." ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
'' welcomed the Coalition's curbs on superannuation tax breaks and offered qualified support for company tax cuts ("Businesses, small and large, create jobs.") ''The Age'' endorsed the super changes and company tax cut, but was critical of the Coalition's "shamefully harsh" border protection policies and planned same-sex marriage plebiscite. ''
The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in 1 ...
'' gave the Coalition "credit for recognising the necessity for cuts in public-sector spending" and reforming super. The ''
Courier-Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner norther ...
'' backed Turnbull's 'jobs and growth' agenda as "a more coherent prescription in an era that demands experience, stability and certainty." The ''Courier-Mail'', ''Canberra Times'', ''Age'' and Adelaide '' Advertiser'' acknowledged Shorten's strengths on the campaign trail. The ''Advertiser'' spoke of a "revitalised performance from Bill Shorten ... The Opposition is now in with a fighting chance." The ''Age'' welcomed its plans on negative gearing and capital gains tax; the ''Herald'' backed the case for Labor's higher increases in education funding. However, for almost every paper, this was outweighed by the party's service of union interests and its unsustainable profligacy. "There is no sign at all that Mr Shorten will force Labor to remove the disproportionate influence of unions and their money on his party," the ''Herald'' wrote, regretting that despite the reforming instincts of Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen, as a whole "Labor baulks at progress that affects the public service and unions." For the ''NT News'', "the party's policy positions are incoherent. The sheer breadth of spending promises show Labor is not ready for government." The ''
Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a Conservatism, conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the American Rupert Murdoch, Murd ...
'' agreed that in Labor's "
DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...
is an inclination to spend ... That Australia must learn to live within its means is a lesson Labor still fails to grasp." The ''Herald'' chided Shorten for the dishonesty of his Medicare scare campaign ("his judgement was found wanting") as did the ''Courier-Mail'' ("hysteria"). The ''Daily Telegraph'' also highlighted Labor's record on border protection—50,000 illegal maritime arrivals and perhaps 1,000 deaths at sea—and noted the widespread desire of many Labor candidates and the Greens to "attempt this deadly experiment again." Local issues and candidates also played a role in the endorsements. Expecting a Coalition victory, the '' NT News'' argued that
Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...
Country Liberal MP Natasha Griggs should be returned on the grounds that Darwin was better off having a Government member as its representative. Victoria's ''Herald Sun'' highlighted the Country Fire Authority dispute—"a window into the relationship between Labor and the union movement" and "a game changer in how many Victorians will vote." The Hobart ''Mercury'' concluded that although the nation would be "best served" by a Coalition government, Denison independent MP
Andrew Wilkie Andrew Damien Wilkie (born 8 November 1961) is an Australian politician and independent federal member for Division of Clark, Clark (previously Division of Denison, Denison). Before entering politics Wilkie was an infantry officer in the Austr ...
and Franklin Labor MP Julie Collins deserved to be re-elected as well. The ''Advertiser'' welcomed Turnbull's decision to build 12 new submarines in South Australia. The ''West Australian'' reminded voters to separate their judgement of Turnbull from their judgment of the less popular Liberal state government.


Campaign advertising

Campaign advertising began in February, with the Government airing taxpayer-funded commercials for its Innovation and Science Agenda that echoed Turnbull's catchphrase "exciting time". The ads were criticised by the Opposition, which referred the matter to the Auditor-General for investigation. The first negative shots in the campaign's television advertising war were fired in April, as the Government worked to obtain its second trigger for a double dissolution. * "If Malcolm Turnbull gets his way" was created by the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union. The ad depicted a drug dealer and a construction worker in police interview rooms, and claimed that if the ABCC was re-established as the Coalition intended, "a worker will have less rights than an
ice Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...
dealer." * "Bob Hawke speaks out for Medicare" (Labor). This attack ad, released on 11 June, featured former Prime Minister Bob Hawke claiming that Turnbull would "privatise" Medicare. Hawke, making his first appearance in a campaign ad since
1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
, referred to a "Medicare privatisation taskforce" established by the Coalition. Hawke's claims were rejected by the Government, the Australian Medical Association and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Though Turnbull labelled it the "biggest lie" of the campaign, the government cancelled plans to outsource management of the Medicare card-related electronic payments system. * "Labor's war on the economy" (Liberal). This attack ad, released on 19 June, featured a supposed tradesman warning of what he characterised as Labor's desire to "go to war" with banks, mining companies and people with investment properties. Labor, union officials and many on social media initially dismissed the tradesman as "Fake Tradie". * "Not this time, Tony" (The Nationals). The Nationals faced a strong challenge in their leader's seat of
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
from independent former MP
Tony Windsor Antony Harold Curties Windsor, (born 2 September 1950) is a former Australian politician. Windsor was an Independent (politician), independent member for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of electoral district of Tamworth, Tamworth ...
. The party released an attack ad on 25 June that the previously conservative Windsor had supported the minority Labor government from 2010–13. The ad used the metaphor of an unfaithful ex-boyfriend asking for a second chance—with the woman replying by text message 'Not this time, Tony'. Windsor claimed the ad accused him of sexual infidelity, a suggestion rejected by the Nationals. * Member for Kennedy Bob Katter posted a video to YouTube on 14 June showing two people labelled 'Labor' and 'Liberal' putting up a 'For Sale' sign on Australia before cutting to a shot of the two lying on the ground while Katter himself held a gun facing the camera. Although Katter claimed the video was humorous, it attracted controversy as it was aired a few days after the Orlando nightclub shooting. The ad was created with the help of the writers of satirical newspaper website '' The Betoota Advocate''. In addition to the major political parties, other organisations aired their own issue ads. These included the
Australian Council of Trade Unions The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated trade union, unions and eight t ...
, the
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Ro ...
, Master Builders Australia and The Australia Institute. In Australian federal elections, a "blackout" of campaign ads on radio and television applies from midnight on the Wednesday before polling day. On the eve of the blackout in 2016, commercial television stations, media analysts and some politicians called for this rule to be reviewed in the light of declining audience share for traditional broadcasters, and the growing role of the internet in campaigning.


Retiring members


Labor

* Anna Burke MP ( Chisholm, Vic) – announced retirement 16 December 2015 * Laurie Ferguson MP ( Werriwa, NSW) – announced retirement 12 August 2014 * Gary Gray MP (
Brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...
, WA) – announced retirement 16 February 2016 * Alan Griffin MP ( Bruce, Vic) – announced retirement 10 February 2015 * Jill Hall MP ( Shortland, NSW) announced retirement 28 February 2016 * Alannah MacTiernan MP (
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
, WA) – announced retirement 12 February 2016 * Melissa Parke MP (
Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...
, WA) – announced retirement 22 January 2016 * Bernie Ripoll MP ( Oxley, Qld) – announced retirement 14 April 2015 * Kelvin Thomson MP ( Wills, Vic) – announced retirement 10 November 2015 * Senator Joe Ludwig (Qld) – announced retirement 9 March 2015 * Senator Jan McLucas (Qld) – announced retirement 5 April 2015 * Senator
Nova Peris Nova Maree Peris (born 25 February 1971) is an Aboriginal Australian athlete and former politician. As part of the Australian women's field hockey ( Hockeyroos) team at the 1996 Olympic Games, she was the first Aboriginal Australian to win a ...
(NT) – announced retirement 24 May 2016


Liberal

* Bob Baldwin MP ( Paterson, NSW) – announced retirement 16 April 2016 * Bruce Billson MP ( Dunkley, Vic) – announced retirement 24 November 2015 * Bronwyn Bishop MP ( Mackellar, NSW) – lost preselection 16 April 2016, delivered valedictory speech 4 May 2016 * Mal Brough MP ( Fisher, Qld) – announced retirement 26 February 2016 * Teresa Gambaro MP (
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
, Qld) – announced retirement 9 March 2016 * Ian Macfarlane MP (
Groom A bridegroom (often shortened to groom) is a man who is about to be married or who is newlywed. When marrying, the bridegroom's future spouse is usually referred to as the bride. A bridegroom is typically attended by a best man and Groomsman, ...
, Qld) – announced retirement 15 February 2016 * Andrew Robb MP ( Goldstein, Vic) – announced retirement 10 February 2016 * Philip Ruddock MP ( Berowra, NSW) – announced retirement 8 February 2016 * Andrew Southcott MP ( Boothby, SA) – announced retirement 4 September 2015 * Sharman Stone MP ( Murray, Vic) – announced retirement 26 March 2016 * Senator
Bill Heffernan William Daniel Heffernan (born 3 March 1943), is an Australian former politician who was a Liberal Party member of the Senate representing the state of New South Wales from September 1996 to May 2016. Early life and background Heffernan was bo ...
(NSW) – announced retirement 19 February 2016


National

* John Cobb MP ( Calare, NSW) – announced retirement 27 February 2016 * Bruce Scott MP ( Maranoa, Qld) – announced retirement 3 August 2015 *
Warren Truss In structural engineering, a Warren truss or equilateral truss is a type of truss employing a weight-saving design based upon Triangle, equilateral triangles. It is named after the British engineer James Warren (engineer), James Warren, who pat ...
MP ( Wide Bay, Qld) – announced retirement 11 February 2016


Palmer United

*
Clive Palmer Clive Frederick Palmer (born 26 March 1954) is an Australian billionaire businessman and politician. He has iron ore, nickel, and coal holdings. Palmer owns many businesses such as Mineralogy, Waratah Coal, Queensland Nickel at Townsville, t ...
MP ( Fairfax, Qld) – announced retirement 4 May 2016, ruled out Senate candidacy 23 May 2016


Opinion polls


Candidates

At the close of nominations on 9 June 2016, there were 1,625 candidates in total—994 for the House of Representatives and 631 for the Senate. The number of Senate candidates was the highest ever at an Australian election, increased from 529 in 2013.


Marginal seat pendulum

Based on the post-election pendulum for the 2013 Australian federal election, this
Mackerras pendulum The Mackerras pendulum was devised by the Australian psephologist Malcolm Mackerras as a way of predicting the outcome of an election contested between two major parties in a Westminster style lower house legislature such as the Australian House ...
was updated to include new notional margin estimates due to redistributions in New South Wales, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. The net effect of the redistributions reduced the Liberal/ National
Coalition A coalition is 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, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...
from 90 to a notional 88 seats and increased Labor from 55 to a notional 57 seats. While every federal election after 1961 has been won by those that also won the majority of federal seats in New South Wales, unusually nearly half of all marginal government seats are in New South Wales at this election, of which nearly half are in Western Sydney and the other half in rural and regional areas, and with no more than a few seats each in every other state. Assuming a theoretical uniform swing, for the Labor opposition to get to 76 seats and
majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. Such a government can consist of one party that holds a majority on its own, or be a coalition government of multi ...
would require Labor with 50.5 per cent of the two-party vote from a 4.0-point two-party swing or greater, while for the incumbent Coalition to lose majority government would require the Coalition with 50.2 per cent of the two-party vote from a 3.3-point two-party swing or greater. :''Members in italics retired at the election'' Though the seats of O'Connor and Durack are marginal Liberal seats, margins are based on the two-candidate preferred result against the National Party of Australia (WA) rather than the two-party preferred result against Labor, on which all other marginal seats are based. O'Connor and Durack are not included for Labor majority calculation but are included for Coalition loss of majority calculation. Though the seats of Dobell, Paterson and Barton were Liberal wins at the previous election, redistributions changed them to notionally marginal Labor seats.
Pat Conroy Donald Patrick Conroy (October 26, 1945 – March 4, 2016) was an American author who wrote several acclaimed novels and memoirs; his books ''The Water Is Wide (book), The Water is Wide'', ''The Lords of Discipline'', ''The Prince of Tides (no ...
is the current MP for the Division of Charlton which is being renamed the Division of Hunter at the next election.


Results


House of Representatives

Unusually, the outcome could not be predicted the day after the election, with many close seats in doubt. After a week of vote counting, no party had won enough seats in the
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
to form a
majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. Such a government can consist of one party that holds a majority on its own, or be a coalition government of multi ...
. Neither the Liberal/ National
Coalition A coalition is 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, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...
's incumbent Turnbull
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
nor the
Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...
's Shorten Opposition were in a position to claim victory. During the uncertain week following the election, contradicting his earlier statements, Turnbull negotiated with the
crossbench A crossbencher is a minor party or independent politician, independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. ...
. He secured
confidence and supply In parliamentary system, parliamentary democracies based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply is an arrangement under which a minority government (one which does not control a majority in the legislature) receives the support of one ...
support from Bob Katter,
Andrew Wilkie Andrew Damien Wilkie (born 8 November 1961) is an Australian politician and independent federal member for Division of Clark, Clark (previously Division of Denison, Denison). Before entering politics Wilkie was an infantry officer in the Austr ...
and Cathy McGowan in the event of a
hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system (typically employing Majoritarian representation, majoritarian electoral systems) to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing ...
and resulting
minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...
, as seen in
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
. On 10 July, Shorten conceded defeat, acknowledging that the Coalition had enough seats to form either minority or majority government. Turnbull claimed victory later that day. In the closest federal majority result since 1961, the ABC declared on 11 July that the Coalition could form a one-seat majority government.


Senate

The final
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
result was announced on 4 August. The incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government won 30 seats, a net loss of three—the Coalition lost four Senators, one each from New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia, but gained a Senator in Victoria. The Coalition later lost South Australian Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi, who quit to form the Australian Conservatives party and thus join the Crossbench. The Labor opposition won 26 seats, a gain of one—a Senator in Western Australia. The number of
crossbencher A crossbencher is a minor party or independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. They take their name fr ...
s increased by two to a record 20. The Liberal/National Coalition required at least ten additional votes to reach a Senate majority, an increase of four.


Seats changing hands

Members in italics did not re-contest their House of Representatives seats at this election.


See also

*
2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis Starting in July 2017, the eligibility of several members of the Parliament of Australia was questioned. Referred to by some as a "constitutional crisis", fifteen sitting politicians were ruled ineligible by the High Court of Australia (sittin ...
*
Elections in Australia Elections in Australia take place periodically to elect the legislature of the Commonwealth of Australia, as well as for each Australian states and territories, Australian state and territory and for local government councils. Elections in all ...
* 2019 Australian federal election


Notes


References


Further reading

*


External links


Australian Electoral Commission: 2016 federal electionABC Elections: 2016 Federal Election Guide
{{Australian elections Federal Federal election Federal elections in Australia