August 21, 2010
The 2007 Federal Election was held three months before the end of the Labor government’s first term. It took place in the aftermath of upheaval in the government and the replacement of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd with Julia Gillard.
Rudd’s leadership was destroyed on the night of June 23, 2010. Gillard became prime minister the next day. Three weeks later on July 17, Gillard announced the election would be held on August 21.
Gillard faced a resurgent Liberal Party now led by Tony Abbott, who had overthrown Malcolm Turnbull the previous December.
After a campaign beset by mis-steps and leaks, the ALP lost its majority in the election. It suffered a net loss of 11 seats and finished with 72 in the 150-seat House of Representatives. The coalition parties won 73. Adam Bandt won Melbourne for the Greens from the ALP, whilst the independent Andrew Wilkie won Denison in Tasmania, also from the ALP. Bob Katter was re-elected in the Queensland electorate of Kennedy, as were the two NSW rural independents, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott.
After three weeks of negotiations, Gillard secured the agreement of the Greens, Wilkie, Windsor and Oakeshott, and formed a minority government with 76 votes to 73 in the House.
State of the Parties
This is the state of the parties in the House of Representatives, following the 2010 Federal Election.
House of Representatives Elections 2010 | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ALP | LIB | LNP | NPA | CLP | GREENS | OTHERS | Total | |
Election Statistics
- Federal Election Results 1901-2014 – a Parliamentary Library research paper with detailed statistics on elections since 1901.
- Seats Changing Hands at the 2010 Federal Election
- 2010 Federal Election Timetable
Election Analysis
How-To-Vote Cards
Archived Posts
- Jun 22, 2010: Galahs And Polls
- Jun 23, 2010: Kevin Rudd’s Leadership Under Challenge
- Jun 23, 2010: Rudd Announces ALP Caucus Leadership Ballot; Gillard To Challenge
- Jun 23, 2010: Lateline: Paul Howes Confirms AWU Has Ditched Rudd For Gillard
- Jun 24, 2010: Political History Made As Julia Gillard Becomes Australia’s First Woman Prime Minister
- Jun 24, 2010: Lindsay Tanner Announces His Retirement
- Jul 15, 2010: ‘Moving Forward’, Gillard Addresses Press Club; Laurie Oakes Steals The Show
- Jul 16, 2010: ALP Entering A Brave New Internet World
- Jul 17, 2010: Gillard Announces August 21 Federal Election
- Jul 17, 2010: Tony Abbott Says Gillard Cannot Be Trusted
- Jul 17, 2010: Game On: Gillard And Abbott Video Messages
- Jul 17, 2010: 2010 Federal Election Timetable
- Jul 19, 2010: Days 1-2: On Message As The Election Skirmish Begins
- Jul 20, 2010: Day 3: Oh My God, They Killed WorkChoices!
- Jul 21, 2010: Day 4: On Message
- Jul 22, 2010: Day 5: In The Arena
- Jul 23, 2010: Day 6: Little Actions Vibrate
- Jul 26, 2010: The Narrative: Week Two Begins
- Jul 27, 2010: Day 10: Rituals, Women And A Moment To Behold
- Jul 28, 2010: Day 11: With The Liberals in Deakin
- Jul 29, 2010: Day 12: Peril
- Jul 30, 2010: Day 13: All Politics Is Local
- Aug 02, 2010: The ALP Is Losing And They Know It
- Aug 03, 2010: Day 17 – Amusing Ourselves To Defeat
- Aug 04, 2010: Day 18: Bloggers Galore And Not A Swinging Voter In Sight
- Aug 05, 2010: Day 19: Return To Norwood
- Aug 06, 2010: Day 20: New Hope
- Aug 08, 2010: Tony Abbott’s Campaign Launch Speech
- Aug 09, 2010: Throwing The Switch To Burlesque
- Aug 10, 2010: Day 24: The Government Resurgent
- Aug 12, 2010: Day 26: The Conventional Wisdom Turns
- Aug 13, 2010: Day 27: What Are They Thinking?
- Aug 16, 2010: Melbourne: Two Kinds Of Politics
- Aug 16, 2010: Julia Gillard’s Campaign Launch Speech
- Aug 17, 2010: Day 31: Sound And Fury
- Aug 18, 2010: Day 32: Look, They’re Voting
- Aug 19, 2010: Day 33: The Dying Moments
- Aug 20, 2010: A Glorious Day Dawns Tomorrow
- Aug 20, 2010: ALP How-To-Vote Cards – 2010 Federal Election
- Aug 21, 2010: Tony Abbott’s Election Night Speech: 2010 Federal Election
- Aug 21, 2010: Hung Parliament: Julia Gillard’s Election Night Speech
- Aug 22, 2010: Politics Abhors A Vacuum
- Aug 24, 2010: Bob Katter Attacks the Media
- Aug 31, 2010: As Post-Election Negotiations Continue, Julia Gillard Addresses The National Press Club
- Sep 01, 2010: Greens Sign Agreement To Support Gillard
- Sep 01, 2010: Abbott Accuses Gillard Of Breaking Election Promise
- Sep 02, 2010: Andrew Wilkie To Support Minority Gillard Labor Government
- Sep 07, 2010: Katter Supports Coalition; Windsor-Oakeshott Decision Due Shortly
- Sep 07, 2010: Tony Windsor Supports Labor
- Sep 07, 2010: GILLARD PREVAILS; INDEPENDENTS BACK LABOR
- Sep 07, 2010: Bob Brown Comments On Election Of Gillard Minority Government
- Sep 07, 2010: Victorious Gillard Says Democracy Works
- Sep 07, 2010: Agreement To Form Government: The Windsor-Oakeshott-Gillard Deal
- Sep 15, 2010: The Second Gillard Government: Politics Is Personal
- Sep 22, 2010: The Twitter Election? Not Likely.
- Sep 30, 2010: Seats Changing Hands At The 2010 Federal Election
- Oct 07, 2010: The Real Julia: Is That It?
- Oct 21, 2010: Is It Time For The Liberals To Dispose Of Abbott?
- Oct 27, 2010: Kennett Savages Senator Helen Kroger Over Green Preferences
- Oct 29, 2010: Election Funding Payments: 2010 Federal Election
- Nov 04, 2010: Giving Substance To The Words
- Nov 09, 2010: Karl Bitar Analyses Result Of 2010 Federal Election (Sort Of…)
- Nov 10, 2010: Brian Loughnane Analyses Result Of 2010 Federal Election
- Nov 18, 2010: History Is Written By The Winners
- Nov 25, 2010: Lindsay Tanner in Conversation with George Megalogenis
- Dec 02, 2010: The March of Political Time
- Dec 09, 2010: Laurie Oakes Wins Gold Walkley For ALP Leaks Stories
- Jul 07, 2011: 2010 Federal Election Report Released
- Jul 18, 2011: Reith Review of Liberal Party Election Campaign Released
- Sep 07, 2011: Minority Government Anniversary
- Nov 14, 2011: Funding And Disclosure Report: 2010 Federal Election
- Feb 08, 2012: Balancing Act: The Australian Greens 2008-2011
- Jan 13, 2013: Gillard And Rudd: 935 Days Each As Prime Minister
- Jul 17, 2014: Federal Election Results 1901-2014
- Mar 01, 2015: Preferential Voting In Action: Denison 2010
- Apr 01, 2017: Who’s Left – The Surviving Members Of Every House Of Representatives Since 1949