2001 Australian Federal Election

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. Future Opposition Leader Peter Dutton entered parliament at this election. As of 2023 this was the most recent federal election to have a rematch in 11 years, and the most recent repeated election when Howard beat Beazley just 3 years earlier and until 2013 to have both major party leaders running in previous federal elections as major party leaders when in 2013 (Kevin Rudd didn't became labor leader nor prime minister in the 2010 the same election when Tony Abbott was in his first as Liberal leader), and the last for both major party leaders to appear in consecutive federal elections in 24 years.

2001 Australian federal election

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All 150 seats in the House of Representatives 76 seats were needed for a majority in the House 40 (of the 76) seats in the Senate
Registered	12,708,837 4.56%
Turnout	12,054,664 (94.85%) (0.14 pp)
First party Second party   Leader John Howard Kim Beazley Party Liberal/National coalition Labor Leader since 30 January 1995 (1995-01-30) 19 March 1996 (1996-03-19) Leader's seat Bennelong (NSW) Brand (WA) Last election 80 seats 67 seats Seats won 82 seats 65 seats Seat change 2 2 First preference vote 4,934,959 4,341,420 Percentage 42.92% 37.84% Swing 3.41% 2.26% TPP 51.03% 48.97% TPP swing 2.01 2.01
Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
Prime Minister before election John Howard Liberal/National coalition Subsequent Prime Minister John Howard Liberal/National coalition

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.^{[citation needed]} The opposition Australian Labor Party 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 and coming close in Aston.

However following the September 11 attacks, 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 in the United States 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 and the question of whether it should be given a bailout. The Coalition was opposed to any bailout because the collapse was not the government's fault.^{[citation needed]} 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^[who?] 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.

House of Representatives results

 

 

 

House of Reps (IRV) — 2001–04 – Turnout 94.85% (CV) — Informal 4.82% 

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
		Liberal	4,254,072	37.08	+3.19	68	4
		National	643,926	5.61	+0.32	13	3
		Country Liberal	36,961	0.32	–0.00	1	1
	Liberal–National coalition		4,934,959	42.92	+3.41	82	2
	Labor		4,341,420	37.84	−2.26	65	2
	Democrats		620,197	5.41	+0.28	0
	Greens		569,074	4.96	+2.82	0
	One Nation		498,032	4.34	−4.09	0
	Independents		332,118	2.89	+1.00	3	2
	Others		178,274	1.64		0
Total			11,474,074			150	2
Two-party-preferred vote
	Coalition		5,655,791	51.03	+2.01	82	2
	Labor		5,427,569	48.97	−2.01	65	2
Invalid/blank votes			580,362	4.81	+1.04
Turnout			12,054,455	95.39
Registered voters			12,636,631
Source: AEC Tally Room

Independents: Peter Andren, Tony Windsor, Bob Katter

Senate results

 

Senate (STV GV) — Turnout 95.20% (CV) — Informal 3.89% 

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Total seats	Change
	Liberal/National Coalition
		Liberal/National joint ticket	2,776,052	23.87	+2.00	6	11
		Liberal	1,824,745	15.69	+2.06	12	22
		National	222,860	1.92	+0.06	1	1
		Country Liberal	40,680	0.35	+0.03	1	1
	Coalition total		4,863,337	41.83	+4.15	20	35
	Labor		3,990,997	34.32	-2.99	14	28
	Democrats		843,130	7.25	-1.20	4	8	1
	One Nation		644,364	5.54	-3.44	0	1
	Greens		574,543	4.94	+2.22	2	2	1
	Others		630,600	5.44	+0.22	0	2
Total			11,627,529			40	76
Invalid/blank votes			470,515	3.9
Turnout			12,098,320	95.7
Registered voters			12,636,631
Source: Federal Elections 1998

• 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%).

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, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania 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, which was divided into Lingiari (retained by Labor) and Solomon (retained by the CLP); and Paterson, a Labor seat made Liberal by the redistribution

• Candidates of the 2001 Australian federal election
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 2001–2004
• Members of the Australian Senate, 2002–2005