Here is part one of my breakdown of the 2022 Australian Federal Election. This article will review the results and the numbers in Parliament (credit to ABC results page). Part two will examine more of the substantive ideas and issues that dominated the campaign.

Voting
There were 17, 228, 900 registered voters. There reflected a big 4.9% upswell in enrolment, particularly from young people.

To the relief of pollsters after the surprise result in 2019, the election result seemed to line up with poll predictions. The national Two-Party Preferred (2PP) was 52.1% for Labor to 47.9% for the Coalition, representing a +3.6% swing in favour of Labor.

On first preferences, the Coalition had a negative swing of -5.7% to 35.7%.

Labor also had a small negative swing of -0.8% to 32.6%. However, they received the bulk of preferences from independents and minor parties.

The Greens had a 1.8% positive swing to 12.2%, giving them their best result since 2010.

One Nation had 5.0%, with a swing of +1.9%, while UAP gained 4.1% with a +0.7% swing. However, given that One Nation ran candidates in 149 seats (up from around 59 in 2019) and the UAP spent another $100 million in advertising, these were rather modest gains.

House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is composed of members from 151 electorates across Australia, with 76 members required for a majority government.

Labor gained 9 seats to 77, enabling them to form a majority government. They can pass motions or legislation through the Lower House, though will likely still collaborate with the crossbench.

The Coalition lost 18 seats to 58. Since all the Nationals held their seats, the losses were taken entirely by the Liberals (or equivalent LNP members in Queensland).

The cross bench has been massively expanded from 6 to 16. The existing crossbenchers all retained their seats, including the Greens’ Adam Bandt (Melbourne), Rebekah Sharkie (Mayo), Bob Katter (Kennedy), Andrew Wilkie (Clark), Helen Haines (Indi) and Zali Steggall (Warringah).

Of the community-backed or “teal” independents, 5 of them defeated the Liberal incumbents. This includes Monique Ryan (Kooyong) and Zoe Daniel (Goldstein) in Victoria; Allegra Spender (Wentworth), Sophie Scamps (Mackellar), Kylea Tink (North Sydney) in New South Wales; and Kate Cheney (Curtin) in Western Australia.

Independent Dai Le also won the former Labor seat of Fowler.

Furthermore, the Greens celebrated a “Greensland” result in Queensland, gaining 3 neighbouring seats of Brisbane, Griffith and Ryan.

Senate
There are 76 members of the Senate, including 12 from each State and 2 from each Territory. The state Senators are elected for six-year terms, with six up for election each election. Territory Senators curiously only get three-year terms, hence there are 40 out of 76 seats available at each election.

Labor retains 26 Senators. This puts them 13 short of an absolute majority of 39 votes.

The Coalition have lost four, for a total of 31.

The Greens have gained three, for a record 12 senators.

Tammy Tyrell is elected in Tasmania, bringing the Jacqui Lambie Network to two.

There was a surge of support for Legalise Cannabis, even polling 5.1% in Queensland. However, Pauline Hanson still retains her Queensland seat, keeping One Nation at two.

Rugby player and environmentalist David Pocock also had an insurgent victory against Liberal Zed Seselja in the ACT.

In Victoria, a time-staking count delivered the final seat for the UAP’s Ralph Babet.

For the Labor Government to pass legislation or motions (without Opposition), they will need the support of the Greens and one more vote from either David Pocock, Jacquie Lambie Network or One Nation. This gives Labor some flexibility in what is shaping up to be a progressive Senate.

Image from the ABC.