The 2022 Australian Federal Election: Results and Policies

The 2022 Federal Australian Election was held on the 21st of May, 2022. The Australian Labor Party was elected into government under leader Anthony Albanese, defeating the incumbent Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. While not yet confirmed by the Australian Electoral Commission, it is likely that Labor will be able to form a majority government. The Labor Party last held government in 2013 and has not held a majority in the Lower House since 2010. 

Anthony Albanese will be sworn in as Prime Minister today, the 23rd of May, enabling him to attend the QUAD summit to be held in Tokyo on May 24. The Prime Minister will be accompanied in Tokyo by Penny Wong who will be appointed as Minister for Foreign Affairs this morning. 

Richard Marles will be sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister, allowing him to serve as acting prime minister while Anthony Albanese takes part in the Quad security meeting. Jim Chalmers and Katy Gallagher will also be sworn in today as treasurer and finance minister respectively. The Ministers will be given temporary responsibility for all other portfolios- including health, education and social services – until a full ministry is appointed. As required under party rules, The Labor caucus is expected to meet on May 30 to elect ministers with a swearing-in of the full ministry later that week.

The House of Representatives 

There are 151 seats in the lower house (House of Representatives) and a party requires 76 seats to govern in their own right. At the time of publication, Labor has secured 72 seats in the House of Representatives. The Coalition has won 52 seats. 

Bob Katter (Katter’s Australian Party) and Rebekha Sharkie (Centre Alliance) will retain their seats of Kennedy and Mayo respectively. 

At the time of publication, 10 independents have been elected onto the crossbench. Andrew Wilkie, Zali Steggall and Dr Helen Haines were re-elected and will be joined by 7 newly elected female MP’s. 

With the exception of the seat of Fowler, the “TEAL” candidates have ousted sitting Liberal Members and have listed action on climate change and a national integrity commission as their top priorities. 

The Green’s primary vote increased nationally by 1.5% and for the first time in the Australian Parliament, they have won 3 seats in the lower house.

Party	2022 Election	Previous Government
ALP	72	69
LNP	52	76
Independents	10	3
Minority Party	5	3
In doubt	12

Currently, Labor has won 32.8% of the primary vote, representing an 0.5% primary vote swing against the party across the nation. 

The following table depicts the House of Assembly seats that have been confirmed as changing parties. 

The following table depicts the House of Representatives seats that are still in doubt. The party listed as the “Challenging Party” is the party currently in front in that seat.

The Senate 

There are 76 Senators in the Australian Senate. Six senate seats from each state and two senate seats from each of the Territories, totalling 40 senate seats, are elected at each election. 

In the 2022 election, the Coalition needs to win 20 senate spots and Labor needs to win 24 senate spots to hold a majority in the Senate. 

While the final count is unlikely to be known for a few weeks, at the time of publication, the senate seats which have been confirmed are:

While the AEC has not formally confirmed the final senate results, it is likely that every state in Australia will elect two LNP senators, two Labor senators and a Greens Senator. The sixth senate seat in each state remains undecided. 

In the Northern Territory, both the Australian Labor Party and the Country Liberal Party have won a senate seat each. In the ACT, Labor’s Katy Gallagher has retained her senate spot. For the first time in ACT’s history, an independent senate candidate (David Pocock) is likely to defeat the Liberal senate candidate (Zed Seselija). 

Election and Policy Commitments 

The Albanese Government’s policy commitments will have a net aggregate impact of $7.4 billion over the forward estimates compared to the underlying cash balance outlined in the 2022 PEFO. The Government has committed to releasing a federal budget by the end of the year and the Labor Party’s election costings are available here.

A key priority for the Government will be establishing an independent National Anti-Corruption Commission, stating that the Commission will be well-resourced with the authority to investigate government ministers and bureaucrats. 

Labor’s other priority commitments include:

Health

• $2.5 billion 5-point plan to rectify and improve the aged care sector. 
• $750 million to Strengthen the Medicare Taskforce and deliver to deliver the outcomes suggested by the Taskforce 
• $135 million for 50 new bulk-billed Urgent Care Clinics 
• Establish a medical manufacturing fund to ensure that Australia has an adequate supply of medical supplies and vaccines 
• $220 million in grants for upgrades in local GP practices 
• $765 million to subsidise the cost of medications 
• Increase the number of seniors eligible for a Seniors Health Card 
• $38.4 million to deliver a better national newborn screening program
• $31 million for investment into telehealth mental health 
• Cut the cost of Medicare-funded assisted reproductive technology services, subsidise the storage costs of preserving embryos and deliver perinatal mental health services. 
• $6.5 million for three new Shepherd Centers to address a gap in services for children with hearing loss 
• $23 million for the National Nurse and Midwife Health Service
• $14.8 million investment over the forward estimates for Melanoma nurses
• A Children’s Development Centre at Campbelltown Hospital 
• $400 million to expand Flinders Medical Centre 
• $45 million for better renal services 
• $13.5 million to help eradicate rheumatic heart disease. 

Energy and Climate Change

Labor launched its Powering Australia Plan in December 2021 to address climate change. The plan contains a suite of policy measures aimed at creating 604,000 jobs and reducing Australia’s emissions by 43% by 2030 and net-zero by 2050. 

The Labor Government has committed: 

• $200 million to build 400 community batteries across the country.
  • A battery manufacturing hub will be built in Gladstone 
• To invest $20 billion to rebuild and modernise the grid 
• To allocate up to $3 billion from Labor’s National Reconstruction Fund to invest in green metals (steel, alumina and aluminium); clean energy component manufacturing; hydrogen electrolysers and fuel switching; agricultural methane reduction and waste reduction. 
• Reducing the Australian Public Service’s own emissions to net-zero by 2030. 
• $251 million for an Electric Car Discount. Labor will also exclude electric cars from import tariffs and fringe benefits tax.  
• $100 million to support 10,000 New Energy Apprenticeships. 
• Restoring the role of the Climate Change Authority. 

Hawker Britton’s brief on Labor’s Powering Australia Plan can be found here. 

Education 

• 465,000 Fee Free TAFE places, including 45,000 new TAFE places. This will be targeted at rebuilding industries hardest hit by the pandemic, such as hospitality and tourism, and meeting skills needs in the care economy.  
• A $50 million TAFE Technology Fund to improve IT facilities, workshops, laboratories and telehealth simulators. 
• 20,000 new university places. These will be targeted for jobs in engineering, nursing, tech, and teaching. Places will be prioritised for universities offering more opportunities for under-represented groups to get a tertiary education. 
• $146.5 million to address teacher shortages by providing 5000 students who achieve an ATAR of or above 80 will receive a bursary of up to $12,000 to study teaching
• Introducing the Startup Year Program. This program will aim to create 2,000 new firms by linking universities with the startup community and providing financial assistance for participation in accelerator programs.

$440 million for schools to address the impacts of COVID through better ventilation, building upgrades, and mental health support. This includes:

• A $240 million Schools Upgrade Fund to improve air quality, build more outdoor classrooms, buy air purifiers and replace boarded-up windows and doors. The fund will also provide grants to schools for upgrades to heating and air conditioning systems.  
• A one-off $200 million Student Wellbeing Boost in 2022 to help schools pay for extra mental health professionals, camps, excursions, as well as sporting and social activities. The average school will receive $20,000. 

Manufacturing 

The Albanese Government has committed to:

• Establishing a Future Made in Australia office, located within the Department of Finance. The office will drive a whole-of-government approach by ensuring that Commonwealth Procurement Rules better support local industry purchases.  
• Prioritising Australian companies for defence contracts. 
• Investing in local manufacturing in the renewable energy infrastructure.
• Ensuring that more trains, trams, and ferries are built in Australia. 
• Guaranteeing that 1 in 10 workers on federally funded projects will be an apprentice, trainee or cadet.  
• Establishing an independent agency, Jobs and Skills Australia, to research industry trends and provide advice on what skills are needed now and in the future.  

To find out more about Labor’s Buy Australian Plan and A Future Made in Australia, view Hawker Britton’s brief here. 

Cost of Living & The Economy

• Support for a wage increase that compenstates for inflation 
• $10 billion to build 30,000 new social and affordable housing properties 
• An increase in the low-and-middle income tax offset by $420 

Labor’s cost-saving measures include:

• Tackling multinational tax avoidance by supporting the OECD’s Two-Pillar Solution for a global 15 per cent minimum tax, limiting debt-related deductions by multinationals at 30 per cent of profits and introducing transparency measures 
• $500 million reinvestment into the public service to reduce the reliance on consultants 

Job Security 

An Albanese led Labor Government will: 

• Make job security an object of the Fair Work Act 2009 so that it becomes a core focus for the Fair Work Commission’s decisions
• Extend the powers of the Fair Work Commission to include “employee-like” forms of work, allowing it to better protect people in new forms of work, like app-based gig work, from exploitation and dangerous working conditions; 
• Limit the number of consecutive fixed-term contracts an employer can offer for the same role, with an overall cap of 24 months

• Ensure that workers employed through labour-hire companies receive no less than workers employed directly.
• $15.2 million to The Y Australia to establish Y Care Careers to create secure employment for younger Australians in the care economy.

Gender Equality 

To promote equality the Government will:

• Implement all 55 recommendations of The Respect@Work Report which was released in March 2020
•  Establish 10 days of paid domestic violence leave
• Build an additional 4000 units of social housing for women and children experiencing family violence and older women on lower incomes.
• Employ additional 500 community workers to help women that escape violence 
• Work towards rectifying the Gender Pay Gap by prohibiting secrecy clauses and strengthening the ability and capacity of the Fair Work Commission

First Nations 

• Implement the Uluru Statement in full – Voice, Treaty and Truth. The Commission’s oversight of Treaty would include developing a framework for federal treaty-making, taking into account existing state and territory processes. 
• Appoint a First Nations ambassador 
• Work towards Closing the Gap. 
• Abolish the Community Development Program. 
• $79 million to expand justice reinvestment initiatives
• Abolish the Cashless Debit Card.
• $52.9 million for a First Nations Health Worker Traineeship Program

National Security 

Albanese committed to increasing Defence spending, stating that it would be targeted and focused on:

• Delivering a more self-reliant and ambitious foreign policy through deepening Australia’s engagement with its closest neighbours, forging new arrangements, such as AUKUS and continuing the Quadrilateral consultations with India, Japan and the United States. 
• Taking stock of Australia’s forces through a Defence Force Posture Review.
• Committing to strengthening the global multilateral system, especially on climate change and trade through working with Australia’s pacific neighbours to fix the defence challenges that arise with climate change. 
• Supporting defence personnel through supporting the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide and Cutting waiting times for claims
• $470 million South-East Asia foreign aid package over the forward estimates 

Major Infrastructure Commitments 

• $2.2 Billion to Victoria’s suburban rail loop
• $500 million in the first budget to start corridor acquisition, planning and early works for high-speed rail connections between Sydney, the Central Coast and New Castle 
• $250 million to upgrade roads across regional and peri-urban Australia.
• $210 million to improve the safety of the Kuranda Range Road 
• $200 million to widen the Bruce Highway from Dohles Rocks Road to Anzac Avenue
• $20m to the City of Melbourne for the Greenline project
• $540 million to upgrade Tasmania’s key road corridors, including the Bass Highway and Tasman Highway.

Community 

The Government has committed:

• Task the Productivity Commission with conducting a comprehensive review of the child care system, with the aim of implementing a universal 90 per cent subsidy for all families. Labor will invest approximately $5.4 billion to make child care cheaper, starting from July 2023.
• Strengthening the Modern Slavery Act
• $200 million a year for disaster mitigation projects 
• Establish a Royal Commission into Robodebt by the end of the year 
• To Develop Cultural Centers:
  • $50 million to an Aboriginal Cultural Centre in Perth 
  • $3.5 million for an ‘India House’ cultural centre in Queensland 
• $194.5 million in reef protection programs with a total investment of $1.2 billion by 2030 
• $24.8 million to eradicate the highly damaging yellow crazy ants in FNQ
• Reverse the Coalition’s $83.7 million cuts to the ABC 

For more information, please contact Hawker Britton’s Managing Director Simon Banks on +61 419 648 587.