November 29, 2023
Nearly two weeks after polling day, counting continues for all electorates in the House of Representatives, with absentee, postal and declaration votes trickling in.
The Australian Electoral Commission now has the ALP on 80 seats, the Liberals 50, The Nationals 10, and independents 2.
There are 8 seats still in doubt.
La Trobe is no longer regarded as doubtful, retained by the Liberal member, Jason Wood, by 889 votes.
After a 27-year parliamentary career, Kim Beazley delivered his valedictory speech to the House of Representatives on September 20, 2007.
Beazley’s political career began in 1980, when he was elected as the member for Swan, in Western Australia. He was appointed Minister for Aviation in Bob Hawke’s first government in 1983. In 1984, he became Minister for Defence. He served in a variety of portfolios throughout the entire duration of the Hawke and Keating governments, including Transport, Employment, and Finance. He was Deputy Prime Minister in the final years of the Keating government.
In 1996, Beazley became ALP leader and Leader of the Opposition. Despite securing a 4.61% swing and 50.98% of the two-party-preferred vote at the 1998 federal election, and winning 18 seats from the Howard government, Beazley failed to win office. He also lost the 2001 election and relinquished the leadership to Simon Crean.