October 9, 2004
The 2004 Federal Election saw the Liberal-National coalition government led by Prime Minister John Howard returned for a fourth term.
The election win enabled Howard to become the second longest-serving prime minister in Australia’s history. However, it would be the government’s last term.
In 1996, Howard had defeated the Labor government led by Paul Keating. In 1998 and 2001, he defeated the Labor opposition led by Kim Beazley.
Beazley stood down after the 2001 election and was replaced by Simon Crean. In 2003, Crean succumbed to leadership turmoil in the ALP and was replaced by Mark Latham. Initially, Latham had some successes against Howard and the two sides appeared to be competitive.
Howard framed the election campaign around the issue of trust and built his message around the concepts of economic security and national security. The election resulted in the second consecutive decline in support for the ALP and a further increase in the coalition’s majority. The ALP’s primary vote fell to its lowest level in 80 years.
State of the Parties
This table shows the final state of the parties in the House of Representatives following the election.
| House of Representatives Elections 2004 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALP | LIB | NPA | CLP | IND | Total | |
Election Statistics
- May 31, 2004: Seat and Notional Seat Status – AEC Electoral Newsfile showing the seat status of each electorate prior to the 2004 election
- Aug 29, 2004: Federal Election Timetable
- Oct 31, 2004: Seats Changing Hands at the 2004 Federal Election
- Dec 01, 2004: 2004 Primary Vote Winners, Preference Vote Losers
- Dec 15, 2004: Election Pendulum Following the 2004 Election
- Jul 17, 2014: Federal Election Results 1901-2014 – a Parliamentary Library research paper with detailed statistics on elections since 1901.
Election Moments
- Aug 30, 2004: Howard Announces October 9 Election
- Aug 30, 2004: Latham Responds to Election Announcement
- Aug 30, 2004: Parties Haggle Over Rules For Leaders’ Debate
- Sep 12, 2004: Howard and Latham Meet In Leaders’ Election Debate
- Sep 29, 2004: Mark Latham’s ALP Campaign Launch Speech
- Oct 08, 2004: The Latham-Howard Handshake
Newspaper Editorials
- Oct 03, 2004: On Polling Day, Trust Only Your Judgement – (Sunday Age, Vic)
- Oct 03, 2004: Mr Howard’s Team Deserves A Fourth Term – (Sunday Telegraph, NSW)
- Oct 03, 2004: The Fight For Our Future – (Sunday Herald-Sun, Vic)
- Oct 03, 2004: Now Is Not The Time To Change – (Sunday Mail, SA)
Election Analysis
- Oct 27, 2004: Liberal: Brian Loughnane’s Address to the National Press Club
- Oct 30, 2004: Latham: Positive Approach Failed Labor In Election
- Nov 10, 2004: ALP: Tim Gartrell’s Address to the National Press Club
Election Literature
Liberal
Election Advertisements
- Oct 06, 2004: 2004 Federal Election: AEC How-To-Vote Advertisements
- Oct 07, 2004: Liberal Party Election Advertisements: 2004 Federal Election
- Oct 07, 2004: ALP Television Advertisements: 2004 Federal Election
- Oct 07, 2004: ALP Election Advertisements: 2004 Federal Election
- Oct 07, 2004: Liberal Party TV Advertisements – 2004 Federal Election
Archived Posts
- Jan 23, 2004: Latham Announces Labor’s Border Protection Policy
- Jan 24, 2004: Australia’s Defence Well Prepared, But ALP Would Make Us Vulnerable: Hill
- Jan 24, 2004: Howard Attacks Latham As ‘Weak’ On Border Protection
- Jan 29, 2004: Opportunity For All: Mark Latham Addresses ALP National Conference
- Jan 31, 2004: Mark Latham Announces Early Childhood Policy
- Feb 10, 2004: Latham Announces Policy To Restrict Parliamentary Superannuation
- Apr 07, 2004: Howard Announces (And Re-Announces) Funds For Child And Family Services
- May 31, 2004: 2004 Seat And Notional Seat Status: AEC
- Aug 29, 2004: Howard Announces Election For October 9
- Aug 29, 2004: 2004 Federal Election: The Choice Of October 9
- Aug 29, 2004: Ladder Of Opportunity: Latham Responds To Election Announcement
- Aug 29, 2004: Greens Welcome Spring Election
- Aug 29, 2004: 2004 Federal Election Timetable
- Aug 30, 2004: Parties Haggle Over Rules For Leaders’ Debate
- Sep 01, 2004: Treasurer Peter Costello’s Press Conference On The Economy
- Sep 06, 2004: Howard Announces Medicare Rebate Extension
- Sep 06, 2004: Mark Latham Health Policy Announcement
- Sep 07, 2004: Howard And Latham Address RSL Annual Conference
- Sep 07, 2004: Latham Launches ALP Taxation Policy: ‘Ease The Squeeze’
- Sep 09, 2004: Howard Announces Tax Breaks For Aged Workers
- Sep 09, 2004: Mark Latham Daily Press Conference
- Sep 09, 2004: Jakarta Australian Embassy Bombing: Party Leaders React
- Sep 10, 2004: Parties Debate Final Budget Outcome Figures
- Sep 10, 2004: John Howard Press Conference On The Jakarta Embassy Bombing
- Sep 11, 2004: Jakarta Embassy Bombing: Howard And Latham Briefings
- Sep 12, 2004: Howard And Latham Meet In Election Debate
- Sep 13, 2004: Howard And Anderson Release Coalition’s Water Policy
- Sep 16, 2004: Securing The North-West Shelf: Beazley Questions Coalition Policy
- Sep 20, 2004: John Howard’s Darwin Press Conference
- Sep 20, 2004: Latham And Beazley Launch ALP’s Defence Policy
- Sep 22, 2004: Costello And Crean Debate Economy At National Press Club
- Sep 23, 2004: Howard And Latham: Daily Election Campaign Press Conferences
- Sep 26, 2004: John Howard’s 2004 Election Policy Speech
- Sep 28, 2004: Democrats Leader Andrew Bartlett Addresses The National Press Club
- Sep 28, 2004: Anglican And Catholic Archbishops Attack ALP’s Schools Policy
- Sep 29, 2004: Beattie: Howard Is The Past, Latham Is The Future
- Sep 29, 2004: Mark Latham’s 2004 ALP Campaign Launch Speech
- Oct 01, 2004: Labor In Opposition: Liberal Party 2004 Election Booklet
- Oct 01, 2004: Labor’s Record In Government: Liberal 2004 Election Booklet
- Oct 03, 2004: The Fight For Our Future: Sunday Herald-Sun
- Oct 03, 2004: Mr Howard’s Team Deserves A Fourth Term: Sunday Telegraph
- Oct 03, 2004: On Polling Day, Trust Only Your Judgement: The Age
- Oct 03, 2004: Now Is Not The Time For Change: Sunday Mail
- Oct 06, 2004: 2004 Federal Election: AEC How-To-Vote Advertisements
- Oct 07, 2004: Liberal Party Election Advertisements: 2004 Federal Election
- Oct 07, 2004: ALP Television Advertisements: 2004 Federal Election
- Oct 07, 2004: ALP Election Advertisements: 2004 Federal Election
- Oct 07, 2004: Liberal Party TV Advertisements – 2004 Federal Election
- Oct 08, 2004: Election Eve: Hockey And Rudd Make Final Pitches
- Oct 08, 2004: Senator Len Harris – One Nation How-To-Vote
- Oct 08, 2004: The Latham-Howard Handshake
- Oct 27, 2004: Brian Loughnane: Liberal Party’s 2004 Federal Election Analysis
- Oct 30, 2004: Latham: Positive Approach Failed Labor In 2004 Election
- Oct 31, 2004: Seats Changing Hands At The 2004 Federal Election
- Nov 10, 2004: Tim Gartrell: 2004 Election Analysis
- Nov 16, 2004: Governor-General’s Address Opening The 41st Parliament
- Nov 17, 2004: Steve Georganas (ALP-Hindmarsh) – Maiden Speech
- Nov 17, 2004: Louise Markus (Lib-Greenway) – Maiden Speech
- Nov 17, 2004: Steve Fielding, Family First Senator-Elect, Addresses National Press Club
- Dec 01, 2004: 2004 Primary Vote Winners, Preference Vote Losers
- Dec 01, 2004: Report On ABC Coverage Of The 2004 Federal Election
- Dec 01, 2004: ABC 2004 Election Coverage Review Released
- Dec 09, 2004: Mark Latham’s Final Parliamentary Speech
- Dec 09, 2004: Election Funding Payments: 2004 Federal Election
- Dec 15, 2004: Federal Election Pendulum Following The 2004 Election
- Jun 29, 2005: John Faulkner Launches “Loner”, New Book On Mark Latham
- Oct 15, 2005: Informal Voting In The 2004 Federal Election
- Jul 17, 2014: Federal Election Results 1901-2014
- Apr 01, 2017: Who’s Left – The Surviving Members Of Every House Of Representatives Since 1949
