Australian general election, 1998
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Federal elections were held in Australia on 3 October 1998. All 148 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 Tim Fischer defeated the opposition Australian Labor Party led by Kim Beazley.
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| Australian Labor Party | 4,454,306 | 40.10 | +1.34 | 67 | +18 | |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 3,800,721 | 34.21 | -4.83 | 64 | -11 | |
| One Nation Party | 936,621 | 8.43 | * | 0 | 0 | |
| National Party of Australia | 588,088 | 5.29 | -2.91 | 16 | -3 | |
| Australian Democrats | 569,935 | 5.13 | -1.63 | 0 | 0 | |
| Australian Greens | 238,035 | 2.14 | * | 0 | 0 | |
| Independents | 212,522 | 1.91 | -0.42 | 1 | -4 | |
| Other | 308,835 | 2.78 | +0.79 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 11,109,063 | 148 | ||||
| LPA/NAT coalition | WIN | 49.02 | -4.61 | 80 | -14 | |
| Australian Labor Party | 50.98 | +4.61 | 67 | +18 |
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats Won | Seats Held | |
| Australian Labor Party | 4,182,963 | 37.31 | +1.16 | 17 | 29 | |
| Liberal/National (Joint Ticket) | 2,452,407 | 21.87 | -2.62 | 5 | ||
| Liberal Party of Australia | 1,528,730 | 13.63 | -2.61 | 11 | 31 | |
| One Nation Party | 1,007,439 | 8.99 | * | 1 | 1 | |
| Australian Democrats | 947,940 | 8.45 | -2.37 | 4 | 9 | |
| Australian Greens | 305,228 | 2.72 | +0.32 | 0 | 1 | |
| National Party of Australia | 208,536 | 1.86 | -1.01 | 0 | 3 | |
| Country Liberal Party | 36,063 | 0.32 | -0.05 | 1 | 1 | |
| Harradine Group | 24,254 | 0.22 | * | 1 | 1 | |
| Other | 518,343 | 4.62 | -1.26 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 11,211,903 | 40 | 76 |
Contents |
The election chose the Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1998-2001 and half of the Members of the Australian Senate, 1999-2002.
Despite gaining almost 51 percent of the two party preferred vote, the Australian Labor Party fell short of forming government by 8 seats. The government was re-elected with 49.02% of the two-party-preferred vote, compared to 50.98% for the Australian Labor Party.
The election on 3 October 1998 was held six months earlier than required by the Constitution. Prime Minister John Howard made the announcement following the launch of the coalition's Goods and Services Tax (GST) policy launch and a 5-week advertising campaign. The ensuing election was almost entirely dominated by the proposed 10% GST and proposed income tax cuts.
In reaction to One Nation's policies, the other significant parties all agreed to preference against One Nation. One Nation won no lower house seats, with its founder and leader Pauline Hanson defeated on preferences by the Liberal candidate in the Queensland electorate of Blair. In Queensland, One Nation polled 14.83% of the Senate vote, sufficient to elect one senator without the need for preferences.[1] The seat initially went to Heather Hill, but she was subsequently disqualified under Section 44 of the Constitution, and replaced by Len Harris.
The ALP made the single biggest gain by an Opposition party following an election defeat. The swing was sufficient in all states to deliver government to the party, but the uneven nature of the swing denied Kim Beazley the extra few seats necessary to command a majority in the House.
[edit] Trivia
The 1998 election included the first publicised incident of online electoral conflict when the Liberal website was allegedly cracked by supporters of the Labor party. At the time both major parties had their sites hosted with the same ISP, but this aspect had been kept from the media at the time.
[edit] References
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Australian general elections
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