Commonwealth of Australia July to December 2016

Abstract

For the second time in the last three federal elections Australia had to wait many agonising days before the outcome became somewhat apparent; indeed, the final seat to be determined, the Queensland seat of Herbert won by Labor’s candidate Cathy O’Toole by just thirty-seven votes, was not finally decided until 31 July — fully twenty-nine days after the poll. The election, which many commentators and most electors considered a predictable affair, turned on a knife’s edge with the Coalition losing a swathe of seats on election night and six other seats, considered safe for the Coalition, remaining in doubt as counting went on. Indeed, immediately after the booth count many pundits predicted the Labor Party was most likely to win, returning to minority government status (see Inside Canberra, Vol. 69, 42). Nevertheless, a rueful Malcolm Turnbull announced on 9 July his government would be returned, claiming around seventy-four seats but having secured the support of three conservative Independents; Cathy McGowan, Bob Katter and Andrew Wilkie. At that stage it was not clear whether Turnbull would be in a position to form a minority or majority government — hence the disdainful headline posted by the Australian Financial Review on 10 July in the by-line above. On Wednesday 13 July, Turnbull was able to confirm that the Coalition could form a majority government with seventy-six seats with the one North Queensland seat remaining in doubt. For some weeks after the declaration of the polls it remained unclear whether the LNP would challenge the wafer-thin result in Herbert in the court of disputed returns, as some Army personnel had been on exercises in South Australia when the poll was held — but no challenge emanated