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
- Galahs And Polls June 22, 2010
- Kevin Rudd’s Leadership Under Challenge June 23, 2010
- Rudd Announces ALP Caucus Leadership Ballot; Gillard To Challenge June 23, 2010
- Lateline: Paul Howes Confirms AWU Has Ditched Rudd For Gillard June 23, 2010
- Political History Made As Julia Gillard Becomes Australia’s First Woman Prime Minister June 24, 2010
- Lindsay Tanner Announces His Retirement June 24, 2010
- ‘Moving Forward’, Gillard Addresses Press Club; Laurie Oakes Steals The Show July 15, 2010
- ALP Entering A Brave New Internet World July 16, 2010
- Gillard Announces August 21 Federal Election July 17, 2010
- Tony Abbott Says Gillard Cannot Be Trusted July 17, 2010
- Game On: Gillard And Abbott Video Messages July 17, 2010
- 2010 Federal Election Timetable July 17, 2010
- Days 1-2: On Message As The Election Skirmish Begins July 19, 2010
- Day 3: Oh My God, They Killed WorkChoices! July 20, 2010
- Day 4: On Message July 21, 2010
- Day 5: In The Arena July 22, 2010
- Day 6: Little Actions Vibrate July 23, 2010
- The Narrative: Week Two Begins July 26, 2010
- Day 10: Rituals, Women And A Moment To Behold July 27, 2010
- Day 11: With The Liberals in Deakin July 28, 2010
- Day 12: Peril July 29, 2010
- Day 13: All Politics Is Local July 30, 2010
- The ALP Is Losing And They Know It August 2, 2010
- Day 17 – Amusing Ourselves To Defeat August 3, 2010
- Day 18: Bloggers Galore And Not A Swinging Voter In Sight August 4, 2010
- Day 19: Return To Norwood August 5, 2010
- Day 20: New Hope August 6, 2010
- Tony Abbott’s Campaign Launch Speech August 8, 2010
- Throwing The Switch To Burlesque August 9, 2010
- Day 24: The Government Resurgent August 10, 2010
- Day 26: The Conventional Wisdom Turns August 12, 2010
- Day 27: What Are They Thinking? August 13, 2010
- Melbourne: Two Kinds Of Politics August 16, 2010
- Julia Gillard’s Campaign Launch Speech August 16, 2010
- Day 31: Sound And Fury August 17, 2010
- Day 32: Look, They’re Voting August 18, 2010
- Day 33: The Dying Moments August 19, 2010
- A Glorious Day Dawns Tomorrow August 20, 2010
- ALP How-To-Vote Cards – 2010 Federal Election August 20, 2010
- Tony Abbott’s Election Night Speech: 2010 Federal Election August 21, 2010
- Hung Parliament: Julia Gillard’s Election Night Speech August 21, 2010
- Politics Abhors A Vacuum August 22, 2010
- Bob Katter Attacks the Media August 24, 2010
- As Post-Election Negotiations Continue, Julia Gillard Addresses The National Press Club August 31, 2010
- Greens Sign Agreement To Support Gillard September 1, 2010
- Abbott Accuses Gillard Of Breaking Election Promise September 1, 2010
- Andrew Wilkie To Support Minority Gillard Labor Government September 2, 2010
- Katter Supports Coalition; Windsor-Oakeshott Decision Due Shortly September 7, 2010
- Tony Windsor Supports Labor September 7, 2010
- GILLARD PREVAILS; INDEPENDENTS BACK LABOR September 7, 2010
- Bob Brown Comments On Election Of Gillard Minority Government September 7, 2010
- Victorious Gillard Says Democracy Works September 7, 2010
- Agreement To Form Government: The Windsor-Oakeshott-Gillard Deal September 7, 2010
- The Second Gillard Government: Politics Is Personal September 15, 2010
- The Twitter Election? Not Likely. September 22, 2010
- Seats Changing Hands At The 2010 Federal Election September 30, 2010
- The Real Julia: Is That It? October 7, 2010
- Is It Time For The Liberals To Dispose Of Abbott? October 21, 2010
- Kennett Savages Senator Helen Kroger Over Green Preferences October 27, 2010
- Election Funding Payments: 2010 Federal Election October 29, 2010
- Giving Substance To The Words November 4, 2010
- Karl Bitar Analyses Result Of 2010 Federal Election (Sort Of…) November 9, 2010
- Brian Loughnane Analyses Result Of 2010 Federal Election November 10, 2010
- History Is Written By The Winners November 18, 2010
- Lindsay Tanner in Conversation with George Megalogenis November 25, 2010
- The March of Political Time December 2, 2010
- Laurie Oakes Wins Gold Walkley For ALP Leaks Stories December 9, 2010
- 2010 Federal Election Report Released July 7, 2011
- Reith Review of Liberal Party Election Campaign Released July 18, 2011
- Minority Government Anniversary September 7, 2011
- Funding And Disclosure Report: 2010 Federal Election November 14, 2011
- Balancing Act: The Australian Greens 2008-2011 February 8, 2012
- Gillard And Rudd: 935 Days Each As Prime Minister January 13, 2013
- Federal Election Results 1901-2014 July 17, 2014
- Preferential Voting In Action: Denison 2010 March 1, 2015
- Who’s Left – The Surviving Members Of Every House Of Representatives Since 1949 April 1, 2017