2013 Australian federal election

2013 Australian federal election

← 2010 7 September 2013 2016 →

All 150 seats in the House of Representatives
76 seats were needed for a majority
40 (of the 76) seats in the Senate
Opinion polls
Registered14,723,385 Increase 4.52%
Turnout13,726,070 (93.23%)
(Increase0.01 pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Prime Minister Tony Abbott.jpg
The Hon. Kevin Rudd.jpg
Christine_Milne_profile.jpg
Leader Tony Abbott Kevin Rudd Christine Milne
Party Liberal/National coalition Labor Greens
Leader since 1 December 2009 (2009-12-01) 26 June 2013 (2013-06-26) 13 March 2012 (2012-03-13)
Leader's seat Warringah (NSW) Griffith (Qld.) Senator for Tasmania
Last election 72 seats, 43.32% 72 seats, 37.99% 1 seat, 11.76%
Seats won 90 55 1
Seat change Increase 18 Decrease 17 Steady
First preference vote 5,882,818 4,311,365 1,116,918
Percentage 45.55% 33.38% 8.65%
Swing Increase 1.93 Decrease 4.61 Decrease 3.11
TPP 53.49% 46.51%
TPP swing Increase 3.61 Decrease 3.61

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Clive Palmer Aug15 crop.jpg
Bob Katter.jpg
IND
Leader Clive Palmer Bob Katter N/A
Party Palmer United Katter's Australian Independents
Leader since 1 April 2013 (2013-04-01) 3 June 2011 (2011-06-03) N/A
Leader's seat Fairfax (Qld.)
(won seat)
Kennedy (Qld.) N/A
Last election new party new party 4 seats
Seats won 1 1 2 seats
Seat change Increase 1 Increase 1 Decrease 2
First preference vote 709,035 134,226 177,217
Percentage 5.49% 1.04% 1.37%
Swing Increase 5.49 Increase 1.04 Decrease -0.84

Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.

Prime Minister before election

Kevin Rudd
Labor

Subsequent Prime Minister

Tony Abbott
Liberal/National coalition

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 Liberal/National Coalition opposition led by Opposition leader Tony Abbott of the Liberal Party of Australia and Coalition partner the National Party of Australia, led by Warren Truss, defeated the incumbent centre-left Labor Party government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in a landslide. It was also the third time in history that a party won 90 or more seats at an Australian election. Labor had been in government for six years since being elected in the 2007 election. This election marked the end of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Labor government and the start of the 9 year long Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Liberal-National Coalition government. Abbott was sworn in by the Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, as Australia's new prime minister on 18 September 2013, along with the Abbott Ministry. The 44th Parliament of Australia opened on 12 November 2013, with the members of the House of Representatives and territory senators sworn in.[1] The state senators were sworn in by the next Governor-General Peter Cosgrove on 7 July 2014, with their six-year terms commencing on 1 July.[2]

The proclamation dissolving the House of Representatives and formally beginning the election period had been issued by Governor-General Bryce on 5 August 2013. The writs of election were subsequently issued by Bryce for the election of members of the House of Representatives and territory senators, and by the state governors for the senators for each state.[3]

Voting in Australia's federal elections has been compulsory since 1925. For the House of Representatives, a preferential ballot system has been in use since 1919, in single-member seats. For the Senate—the proportionally representative upper house—a single transferable vote system has been in use since 1949, with optional group voting tickets since 1984. Elections are conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).

A special half-Senate election was conducted on 5 April 2014 in Western Australia as a result of 1,375 lost ballot papers.[4]

  1. ^ "Senate - Official Hansard - No. 1, 2013" (PDF). Parliament of Australia. 12 November 2013. p. 1,2. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  2. ^ "2013 Federal Election Finally Complete". Australianpolitics.com. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Documents relating to the calling of the election for 7 September 2013" (PDF). Governor-General of Australia. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  4. ^ "WA Senate election to be held on 5 April". News.com.au. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2018.