ALP Wins Herbert By 37 Votes; Turnbull Government Re-Elected With Barest Majority Of 76 Seats

The ALP has won the seat of Herbert by 37 votes, following a recount that finished this morning.

O'Toole The ALP’s Cathy O’Toole (pictured) defeated sitting LNP member Ewen Jones, who has held the seat since 2010. O’Toole had 44,187 votes after preferences, to Jones’ 44,150. There was a swing of 6.19% to the ALP.

The ALP’s victory takes it to a final total of 69 seats in the House of Representatives. The Turnbull coalition will have 76 seats and there are 5 crossbenchers.

The 45th Parliament meets for the first time on August 30. After providing a Speaker, the government will have 75 votes on the floor of the House. The ALP and crossbenchers will have 74 votes. Three crossbenchers – Bob Katter, Cathy McGowan and Andrew Wilkie – have committed themselves to supporting the government on Supply and matters of confidence.

The government’s immediate difficulty lies not in its survival but in its ability to pass legislation in an environment where just one defection or abstention from its ranks could defeat a bill.

The Australian Electoral Commission says it will declare the result in Herbert this week. The LNP will then have 30 days in which to lodge a challenge to the result. This could happen due to allegations that Townsville-based soldiers missed out on lodging absentee votes and that some hospital patients were denied a vote. The details of these allegations are not known as yet.

House of Representatives – Undecided Seats
No.	Seat	Margin (26/7)	Margin (31/7)	Incumbent Party	2PP %	Main Opponent	2PP %	Swing %
QUEENSLAND
1.	Herbert	35	37	Ewen Jones (LNP)	49.98	Cathy O’Toole (ALP)	50.02	6.19 to ALP

The Final Outcome

This is the state-by-state breakdown of the House of Representatives, following the 2016 federal election.

House of Representatives Elections 2016
	ALP	LIB	LNP	NPA	CLP	GREENS	NXT (Xenophon)	OTHERS	Total
NSW	24	16	–	7	–	–	–	–	47
VIC	18	14	–	3	–	1	–	1	37
QLD	8	–	21	–	–	–	–	1	30
WA	5	11	–	–	–	–	–	–	16
SA	6	4	–	–	–	–	1	–	11
TAS	4	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	5
ACT	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2
NT	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2
Total	69	45	21	10	–	1	1	3	150

House of Representatives – Decided Seats
Party	Seats	Total
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY	NSW (24): Barton, Blaxland, Chifley, Cunningham, Dobell, Eden-Monaro, Fowler, Grayndler, Greenway, Hunter, Kingsford Smith, Lindsay, Macarthur, Macquarie, McMahon, Newcastle, Parramatta, Paterson, Richmond, Shortland, Sydney, Watson, Werriwa, Whitlam. VIC (18): Ballarat, Batman, Bendigo, Bruce, Calwell, Corio, Gellibrand, Gorton, Holt, Hotham, Isaacs, Jagajaga, Lalor, Maribyrnong, McEwen, Melbourne Ports, Scullin, Wills. QLD (8): Blair, Griffith, Herbert, Lilley, Longman, Moreton, Oxley, Rankin. WA (5): Brand, Burt, Cowan, Fremantle. Perth. SA (6): Adelaide, Hindmarsh, Kingston, Makin, Port Adelaide, Wakefield. TAS (4): Bass, Braddon, Franklin, Lyons. ACT (2): Canberra, Fenner. NT (2): Lingiari, Solomon.	69
The COALITION consists of the Liberal Party, Liberal National Party (Qld) and The Nationals. They are shown separately below. The Coalition has 76 seats.
LIBERAL	NSW (16): Banks, Bennelong, Berowra, Bradfield, Cook, Farrer, Gilmore, Hughes, Hume, Mackellar, Mitchell, North Sydney, Reid, Robertson, Warringah, Wentworth. VIC (14): Aston, Casey, Chisholm, Corangamite, Deakin, Dunkley, Flinders, Goldstein, Higgins, Kooyong, La Trobe, McMillan, Menzies, Wannon. WA (11): Canning, Curtin, Durack, Forrest, Hasluck, Moore, O’Connor, Pearce, Stirling, Swan, Tangney. SA (4): Barker, Boothby, Grey, Sturt.	45
LIBERAL NATIONAL (LNP-QLD)	QLD (21): Bonner, Bowman, Brisbane, Capricornia, Dawson, Dickson, Fadden, Fairfax, Fisher, Flynn, Forde, Groom, Hinkler, Leichhardt, Maranoa, McPherson, Moncrieff, Petrie, Ryan, Wide Bay, Wright	21
NATIONALS	NSW (7): Calare, Cowper, Lyne, New England, Page, Parkes, Riverina. VIC (3): Gippsland, Mallee, Murray.	10
GREENS	VIC (1): Melbourne.	1
NICK XENOPHON TEAM (NXT)	SA (1): Mayo.	1
INDEPENDENT	VIC (1): Indi. QLD (1): Kennedy. TAS (1): Denison.	3
TOTAL		150

Source: Australian Electoral Commission