OneFiftyOne

2016

Australia’s first double dissolution election since 1987 was an almost-rerun of the 2010 election as the Coalition, now led by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, narrowly retained government by defeating a resurgent Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. On a state and territory-level, the Labor Party swept the territories and won all but one seat in Tasmania while the Coalition won 32 in Queensland and Western Australia. New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia produced narrow results with Labor winning one-seat majorities in all three states.

The Coalition was reduced to 76 seats, a loss of 14, while the Labor Party won 69 seats and the crossbench remained at five.

As a result of the whole Senate being up for election, the Senate crossbench grew from eighteen members to twenty members.

2013

Three years of hung parliament came to a close as the Coalition, still led by Tony Abbott, dramatically swept the six-year Labor government, now led by Kevin Rudd (again), from power. The Coalition won 90 seats, a gain of eighteen, while Labor was reduced to 55 while the crossbench contracted to just five.

The election was perhaps notable for the massive eighteen-member Senate crossbench that was elected after micro-parties took advantage of the group-ticket voting system. The Senate election was further complicated in Western Australia when, during a recount, the AEC lost 1,375 ballots and the Court of Disputed Returns ordered an unprecedented special election to occur in April 2014.

2010

The closest election in Australian history saw the Labor Party, now led by Prime Minister Julia Gillard, lose the majority in won in 2007 as it drew even with the Coalition, now led by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott. Both Labor and the Coalition won 72 seats apiece while the crossbench expanded to six members.

2007

The Labor Party, led by Kevin Rudd, won government for the first time in eleven years with a resounding victory that also sees John Howard become only the second Prime Minister to be defeated in his own seat. Labor won 83 seats, a gain of 22 from 2004, while the Coalition was reduced to 65 with the remaining two seats being won by independents.