Major parties shunned; crossbench set to dominate Australia’s 47th Parliament
After six weeks on the hustings, the Federal Election campaign has come to an end and Australia has voted to change the government for only the 10th time since 1930.
In an historic night, the Coalition was comprehensively beaten, but voters hadn’t just placed their vote with Labor – an incoming Albanese Government will preside over an inflated crossbench as Liberal seats across the country fell to teal independents and the Greens.
As it stands, Labor has yet to secure the 76 seats required to form majority government with a host of seats too close to call. It will take days to confirm results in some of the closest battles.
Here are some of the key takeaways from last night.
The major parties are struggling with low primary vote
Voters turned away from the major parties in record numbers this election, instead placing their first vote with minor parties or independents. Labor will form government having secured the votes of only a third of Australians.
Minor parties on both the left and right of politics attracted voters, and preference flows were unpredictable. Counting continues in several seats that are still too close to call, and record levels of postal and early votes will determine the outcome of many.
There was no consistent, national swing to Labor
Nationally, Labor’s primary vote worsened since the 2019 election – so they were not delivered government off the back of a significant swing to the Party across Australia.
Coalition seats such as Herbert (QLD – LNP), Gippsland (VIC – NAT), Bass (TAS – LIB) and Braddon (TAS – LIB) saw swings towards the incumbents, while some MPs in safe Labor seats suffered swings against them.
The large swings to the Greens in Brisbane and the teal independents in Sydney and Melbourne also indicated voters were not so keen on electing a Labor Government as they were booting out a Coalition one.
High profile casualties on both sides as voters back minor parties
The highest-profile casualty for the Coalition was Deputy Liberal Leader and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, whose seat fell to teal independent Monique Ryan (although he is yet to formally concede).
The Liberals’ moderate faction was dramatically culled as traditionally-safe Liberal seats Wentworth, North Sydney, Mackellar, Goldstein and Curtin fell to the teals.
Labor has lost two cabinet ministers in Kristina Keneally (Fowler – NSW) and Terri Butler (Griffith – QLD). Keneally was overwhelmingly shunned by voters after being parachuted into the previously safe Labor seat by Albanese and lost to a Liberal-aligned independent. Butler had a shocking performance in the Brisbane seat she’s held since 2014, even falling behind the LNP candidate on first preference in what could be one of three inner city seats picked up by the Greens.
Liberals searching for new leader
After a tight battle to win his Brisbane seat, former Defence Minister Peter Dutton looks set to take over the Liberal leadership after Scott Morrison stood aside last night.
Former Energy Minister Angus Taylor, former Trade Minister Dan Tehan and former Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews have all declined to confirm their interest in running, but most suspect only the conservative Dutton has the numbers to secure majority support of the Liberal party room in the wake of significant losses in the moderates.