Australian general election, 2001

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Federal election major party leaders
< 1998 2001 2004 >
Liberal John Howard Prime Minister Parliament: 27 years Leader since: 1995 Division: Bennelong
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. Simon Crean replaced Beazley following the election.

**House of Reps — 2001-04 — Turnout 94.85% — 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
LPA/NAT coalition	WIN	50.95	+1.93	82	+2
Australian Labor Party		49.05	-1.93	65	-2

**Senate — 2001-04 — Turnout 95.20% — 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

1 Issues
2 References

[edit] Issues

The September 11 terrorist attacks and the MS Tampa were strong influences in the minds of voters at this election, focusing debate around the issues of asylum seekers and national security. The Howard Government also alleged during the campaign that asylum seekers had thrown persons overboard from one of their vessels; a Senate inquiry subsequently found that these alleged events did not occur and that the government knew this to be the case before the election (see the children overboard affair).

The following quote is from australianpolitics.com[1]:

The election campaign was fought in the context of a tide of support for the Australian Labor Party over the preceding three years. The ALP had won office in Tasmania in 1998, won a majority of the votes in the 1998 federal election (although not a majority of the seats), was re-elected in NSW in 1999, snatched government from the coalition in Victoria in 1999, was re-elected in a landslide in Queensland in February 2001, and won office in Western Australia, also in February 2001. Subsequently, the ALP won a traditional Liberal Party electorate, Ryan in Queensland, in a by-election. Whilst retaining the Victorian electorate of Aston in a July 2001 by-election, the coalition suffered a 4% swing against it. In August 2001, the ALP unexpectedly won office for the first time ever in the Northern Territory. During the federal campaign, the ALP won office in the Australian Capital Territory.

That John Howard was able to take his government to victory in these circumstances will be the subject of much discussion in the years ahead, but two events stand out as being vital to the outcome. The first of these was the controversy over refugees and asylum-seekers. The rescue of distressed asylum-seekers by the Norwegian cargo ship, the Tampa, in late August 2001, fuelled a frenzy of debate over refugee policy, led to a parliamentary confrontation between the Government and the Opposition, and remained the dominant campaign issue right up until the day of the election. The centrepiece of the coalition campaign was an emphasis on the leadership of John Howard and the assertion that "We will decide who comes to this country and under what circumstances". The second event was the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in the United States on September 11, 2001. Throughout the campaign, the US-led attacks on the Taliban regime in Afghanistan dominated the news and was often linked to the refugee issue.

The ALP recorded its lowest primary vote since 1934. The Australian Greens recorded a big increase in their vote and Senate representation.

[edit] References

University of WA election results in Australia since 1890
AEC 2PP vote
AustralianPolitics.com election details

Australian general elections

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