P&L11 - Democracy and the Rule of Law/Representation & Justice: Electoral & Voting Systems in Australia

In a Westminster parliamentary democracy, such as Australia, organised political parties are seen as fulfilling a number of important functions.

This Background Note provides a narrative account of the issues, dynamics and outcomes of the 2013 Western Australian (WA) state election. It draws extensively on newspaper and electronic media coverage of the election campaign, and information and data provided by the Western Australian Electoral Commission (WAEC).

The Coalition was returned to government with 77 seats out of 151, in a surprise victory after polls had predicted a Labor win. The Coalition won 51.57 per cent of the national two-party preferred vote, an increase of 1.21 per cent on the 2016 election. The election saw record levels of early voting, and a slight decline in postal voting since 2016.

The federal election, held on 7 September 2013, brought to a conclusion what had been a tumultuous three years—largely animated by the tensions of a hung parliament, highly partisan parliamentary politics, leadership struggles within the Labor Party, and controversies associated with Speaker Peter Slipper. The demise of Australia’s first female Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and the return of Kevin Rudd to the Labor leadership intensified the electoral contest between the major parties. A record number of parties and candidates contested the election, which delivered a Coalition Government and a Senate comprising members of the two major parties a mix of other parties and an independent.