At stake in the August 2010 elections were all 150 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 of the 70 seats in the Senate (see note). Elections were constitutionally due by November 2010. They were the first to be held under Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who had succeeded Mr. Kevin Rudd two months earlier.
In the previous elections held in November 2007, the Australian Labor Party (ALP) of Mr. Rudd - who had promised to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and cut carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 - took 83 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives and 18 of the 40 Senate seats up for renewal. The Liberal Party of the then Prime Minister John Howard took 55 and 15 seats respectively. In December, Mr. Rudd was sworn in as new Prime Minister alongside the Deputy Prime Minister, Ms. Gillard, who became the first woman to hold the post.
Mr. Rudd initially enjoyed high popularity. However, his popularity dwindled in April 2010 after he shelved plans for a carbon emissions trading scheme. In May 2010, he proposed a 40-per-cent tax on mining profits from July 2012. He argued that the tax would bring in AU$ 12 billion in the first two years, which would be necessary to provide a better welfare system for the country's ageing population. The mining companies criticized the tax plan, insisting that it would make them uncompetitive and result in job cuts.
Mr. Rudd's leadership was challenged within the ALP, and Ms. Gillard became party leader and acceded to the post of Prime Minister on 24 June 2010. She became the first woman Prime Minister of Australia. On 17 July, after only one month in office, she announced that the country would hold elections on 21 August. On 19 July, Governor-General Quentin Bryce dissolved the House of Representatives in view of the polls.
The 2010 elections were the first federal elections to be held under the new leaders of the ALP and the Liberal Party, Ms. Gillard and Mr. Abbott. The latter led the Liberal-National coalition comprising the Liberal Party, the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP, officially established in July 2008), the National Party and the County Liberal Party.
The major issues in 2010 were the budget, taxes and immigration.
Prime Minister Gillard (ALP) pledged to move the country forward "with budget surpluses and a stronger economy" by creating jobs, improving health care, tackling climate change and strengthening border protection. Liberal leader Abbott pledged to "stand up for Australia" and "for real action" so as to "end the waste, repay the debt, stop the new taxes and stop the boats".
The ALP promised a stimulus spending package of AU$ 54 billion, mostly on schools, roads, ports and railways. It promised to achieve budget surpluses of AU$ 3.5 billion in 2012-13 and AU$ 4.5 billion in 2013-2014. The Liberal-National coalition promised to cut the government debt by 35 per cent, or AU$ 30.2 billion, over four years, so as to produce an AU$ 6.2 billion budget surplus by 2012-13 and AU$ 7.3 billion the following year.
Regarding the mining tax, the ALP promised to introduce a 30-per-cent tax on coal and iron ore miners from 2012 to raise AU$ 10.5 billion whereas the Greens of Mr. Bob Brown advocated for a higher mining tax to raise AU$ 12.5 billion. The Liberal-National coalition, however, opposed the mining tax, arguing that it would make Australian companies uncompetitive.
The ALP pledged to reduce corporate tax from the current 30 per cent to 29 per cent from 2012 or 2013 for small firms and from 2013 or 2014 for big firms. The Liberal-National coalition proposed a 28.5 per cent tax for all firms starting from July 2013.
Both the ALP and the Liberal-National coalition promised to work on reducing the number of asylum-seekers reaching the country's shores. The ALP proposed to open a temporary regional asylum-processing centre in Timor-Leste, which the Liberal-National coalition qualified as unrealistic.
Due to the high popularity of the new Prime Minister, the ALP initially had a lead over the Liberal-National coalition. However, during the election campaign, several ALP members revealed that Ms. Gillard had opposed a pension rise and a paid parental leave scheme while she was Deputy Prime Minister. Those revelations reportedly triggered a sharp decline in her popularity and in the ALP's ratings in the run-up to the polls.
As voting is compulsory, turnout is traditionally high in Australia. In all, 93 per cent of the 14 million registered voters turned out at the polls.
The 2010 elections resulted in the first "hung parliament" since 1940, whereby no party secured a majority in the House of Representatives. The Liberal-National coalition took 73 seats, one more than the ALP. Four independent members were elected while the Greens took one seat. In the Senate race, the Liberal-National coalition took 18 seats, three more than the ALP, while the Greens took six seats. Once the newly elected senators are sworn in in July 2011, the Liberal-National coalition will hold 34 seats, three more than the ALP.
Neither the ALP nor the Liberal-National coalition conceded defeat. On 7 September, Ms. Gillard announced that her ALP would form a minority government with the support of the Greens and three independent members.
On 28 September, the newly elected House of Representatives held its first session and re-elected Mr. Harry Jenkins (ALP) as its Speaker.
On 4 July 2011, the newly elected Senators joined the remaining members whose terms were not up for the 2010 renewal. They re-elected Mr. John Hogg (ALP) as Senate President.
Note:
Elections were held for 36 state senators (six each for the country's six states) and four territory senators (two each from the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory), who will serve a six-year term from 1 July 2011. Their term commences on election day and expires the day before the next general elections to the House of Representatives. |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
