As an interim ministry is appointed we look at the result, including a ready reckoner of who won what from whom, and we ask what the election tells us and where it was won.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been sworn in by the Governor-General.
Interim Ministry
Along with the Prime Minister, four Ministers have been sworn in as an interim Ministry to allow the new Government to hit the ground running.
These are, Mr Richard Marles as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Employment, Dr Jim Chalmers as Treasurer, Senator Penny Wong as Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Senator Katy Gallagher as Minister for Finance and Attorney-General.
Mr Albanese and Senator Wong then headed to Tokyo to take part in the important Quad meeting with the US President, and the Prime Ministers of Japan and India.
Swearing in the Full Ministry Next Week
The full ALP caucus will meet next Tuesday and the full Ministry will be sworn in and meet next Wednesday.
The Result
In line with our prediction, the ALP is in a position to form a majority Government with 77 or 78 seats looking likely. Outcomes in a number of seats won’t be known until postal and absentee ballot counts are completed.
ALP confirmed gains include the seats of Reid and Robertson in New South Wales, Chisholm and Higgins in Victoria, Boothby in South Australia, and Swan, Tagney, Pearce and Hasluck in Western Australia.
Labor is close to picking up Bennelong in NSW. Also close but likely to go to Labor are Lingiari in the Northern Territory and McNamara in Victoria. Deakin in Victoria and Brisbane in Queensland will depend on postal ballot counts.
Gilmore is looking likely to be won by Liberal former NSW Transport Minister, Mr Andrew Constance. Labor has lost Griffith to the Greens in Queensland and Fowler to an Independent in NSW.
Result Ready Reckoner
Here is a list of key outcomes which may help place the result in context:
The Teal Independents won 7 seats from the Liberal Party - all previously safe Liberal seats, held by some of the party's best and brightest.
An Independent won a seat from Labor.
All other Independents retained their seats.
The Greens won one seat from Labor and one from the LNP - both inner-Brisbane electorates.
The seat of Brisbane has been lost by the Liberals and will most likely be won by Labor, but the Greens remain in the hunt. Counting will likely go on for days.
Labor has gained 9 seats from the Liberals.
The Liberals won one seat from Labor.
The Nationals retained all of their 16 seats.
Labor and Liberal primary votes have dropped well below 2019 numbers.
What did the election tell us?
The well-known dislike for Mr Morrison clearly made a very great impact on the electorate.
On the government's broken commitment to introduce an independent integrity commission, and its treatment of women, the Liberal Party suffered many self-inflicted injuries, particularly in its heartland.
Climate Change and energy transition are existential challenges facing Australian communities. These challenges can be viewed as opportunities or as disasters. As occurred in 2007, the Australian people voted for action on climate change. It is however a much more nuanced and complicated picture in 2022.
Where was it won?
Labor
In Western Australia, the Labor team worked to build and reinforce the narrative that Mr Morrison was out of touch with the State and has been willing to place its people at risk during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The State Mr Morrison referred to as the “Hermit Kingdom”, rose up against him. Swings against the Liberals were greater than 10% were in all but two seats.
The ALP gained four seats, while the jewel in the Crown of the WA Liberal Party, Curtin has been won by a Teal Independent.
Labor also made handy, majority building gains in NSW, Victoria and South Australia in traditional contests against the Liberal Party.
Teal Independents
In wealthy, leafy suburbs, voters enjoying gorgeous views of Sydney harbour and living in Melbourne’s mansion neighbourhoods, were given a palatable choice. People who would never contemplate the Labor Party, were given the opportunity to vote for successful, vibrant female candidates whose values mirrored their own.
Liberal voters had been concerned about the climate and corruption, but the Liberal Party had stopped listening, enthralled and controlled by Mr Morrison and his factional allies. Mr Morrison had laos made his own choice that his pathway to victory was through the outer-metropolitan reaches of the country and that only gave the “Teal train” more momentum.
Greens
Elsewhere, the Greens benefited from a surge in support, probably motivated by the same concerns about Climate Change. The bushfires of 2019/20 were horrific. The South East Queensland and Northern NSW floods of 2022 directly impacted the seats of Griffith, Ryan and Brisbane. As they made their electoral choice, voters in these electorates knew climate change to be a real and present danger because they were experiencing it. Perhaps many reasoned that voting Labor was not making enough of a difference and that a more extreme choice was required.
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