Seats Changing Hands At The 2016 Federal Election

A total of 19 seats changed hands at the 2016 House of Representatives elections.

The Coalition went into the election holding 90 seats and finished up with 76. It lost 17 (16 to the ALP and one to the Nick Xenophon Team). One seat moved from the Liberal Party to The Nationals. The Liberals won one seat from the ALP.

The ALP went into the election holding 55 seats and ended up with 69. It won 16 from the Coalition, lost one to the Liberals, and lost one to the redistribution in NSW.

As in 2013, there are 5 crossbenchers. The Greens and Katter’s Australian Party retained their seats, whilst the two independents (Wilkie and McGowan) increased their majorities. Clive Palmer did not contest Fairfax and it returned to the LNP. The Nick Xenophon Team took Mayo from the Liberal Party.

The 19 seats that changed hands represent 12.66% of the House. 131 seats (87.33%) did not change hands, demonstrating once again the stability and predictability of Australian voting habits and the narrow range of seats that change governments. In the 2013 election, 22 seats (14.66%) changed hands.

Summary of Seats Changing Hands – 2016 Federal Election
Party/Group	2010 Seats	2013 Total	Seats Won	Seats Lost	2016 Total
ALP	72	55	16	2	69
Coalition	73	90	1	15	76
Greens	1	1			1
Katter’s Australian Party	1	1			1
Palmer United Party		1		1	0
Nick Xenophon Team			1		1
Independent	3	2			2
TOTAL	150	150			150

Three seats won by the ALP in NSW were notionally ALP, following a redistribution. The seat of Barton, whilst held by the Liberal Party, was notionally Labor (4.4%). Dobell, whilst held by the Liberal Party, was nationally Labor (0.2%).Paterson, whilst held by the Liberal Party, was notionally Labor (0.4%).

In WA, the newly-created seat of Burt was notionally Liberal (6.1%). The ALP won this seat with a large swing.

Two former MPs have returned to the House. Mike Kelly, who held Eden-Monaro from 2007 until 2013, has regained the seat at this election. Steve Georganas has regained Hindmarsh, which he held between 2004-2013.

Australia’s youngest-ever MP and minister, Wyatt Roy, now 26, has lost Longman, after winning it in 2010 at the age of 20.

Linda Burney, the new ALP member for Barton, is the first indigenous woman to be elected to the House of Representatives. She was a member of the NSW Legislative Assembly (2003-2016) and a minister (2007-2011). She was Deputy Leader of the NSW Opposition (2011-2016).

At the 2013 election, 22 seats changed hands.

Seats Changing Hands In 2016 House of Representatives Elections
No.	Seat	Held By	Party	New Member	Party	% Swing to ALP
NEW SOUTH WALES
1.	Barton	Nickolas Varvaris	Liberal notionally ALP 4.4%	Linda Burney	ALP	3.91
2.	Dobell	Karen McNamara	Liberal notionally ALP 0.2%	Emma McBride	ALP	4.63
3.	Eden-Monaro	Peter Hendy	Liberal	Mike Kelly	ALP	5.84
4.	Lindsay	Fiona Scott	Liberal	Emma Husar	ALP	4.10
5.	Macarthur	Russell Matheson	Liberal	Mike Freelander	ALP	11.72
6.	Macquarie	Louise Markus	Liberal	Susan Templeman	ALP	6.67
7.	Paterson	Bob Baldwin (ret) Karen Howard	Liberal notionally ALP 0.4%	Meryl Swanson	ALP	10.47
VICTORIA
8.	Chisholm	Anna Burke (ret) Stefanie Perri	ALP	Julia Banks	Liberal	-2.84
9.	Murray	Sharman Stone (ret) Duncan McGauchie	Liberal	Damian Drum	Nationals	55.13 (Nats) -4.03 (ALP)
QUEENSLAND
10.	Herbert	Ewen Jones	Liberal National	Cathy O’Toole	ALP	6.19
11.	Longman	Wyatt Roy	Liberal National	Susan Lamb	ALP	7.71
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
12.	Burt	New Seat Matt O’Sullivan	notionally Liberal 6.1%	Matt Keogh	ALP	13.20
13.	Cowan	Luke Simpkins	Liberal	Anne Aly	ALP	5.20
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
14.	Hindmarsh	Matt Williams	Liberal	Steve Georganas	ALP	2.47
15.	Mayo	Jamie Briggs	Liberal	Rebekha Sharkie	Xenophon	55.13 (NXT) 7.16 (ALP)
TASMANIA
16.	Bass	Andrew Nikolic	Liberal	Ross Hart	ALP	10.13
17.	Braddon	Brett Whiteley	Liberal	Justine Keay	ALP	4.76
18.	Lyons	Eric Hutchinson	Liberal	Brian Mitchell	ALP	3.53
NORTHERN TERRITORY
19.	Solomon	Natasha Griggs	Country Liberal	Luke Gosling	ALP	7.40