2016 Australian federal election
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The 2016 Australian federal election was a double dissolution election held on Saturday 2 July to elect all 226 members of the 45th Parliament of Australia, after an extended eight-week official campaign period. It was the first double dissolution election since the 1987 election and the first under a new voting system for the Senate that replaced group voting tickets with optional preferential voting.

Unusually, the outcome could not be predicted the day after the election, with many close seats in doubt. After a week of vote counting, no party had won enough seats in the House of Representatives to form a majority government. Neither the Liberal/National Coalition's incumbent Turnbull Government nor the Australian Labor Party's Shorten Opposition were in a position to claim victory. During the uncertain week following the election, contradicting his earlier statements, Turnbull negotiated with the crossbench. He secured confidence and supply support from Bob Katter, Andrew Wilkie and Cathy McGowan in the event of a hung parliament and resulting minority government, as seen in 2010. On 10 July, Shorten conceded defeat, acknowledging that the Coalition had enough seats to form either minority or majority government. Turnbull claimed victory later that day. In the closest federal majority result since 1961, the ABC declared on 11 July that the Coalition could form a one-seat majority government.

In the 150-seat House of Representatives, the one-term incumbent Coalition government was reelected with a reduced 76 seats, marking the first time since 2004 that a government had been reelected with an absolute majority. Labor picked up a significant number of previously government-held seats for a total of 69 seats, recovering much of what it had lost in its severe defeat of 2013. On the crossbench, the Greens, the Nick Xenophon Team, Katter's Australian Party, and independents Wilkie and McGowan won a seat each. For the first time since federation, the post-election opposition won more seats than the post-election government in the two most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria. One re-count was held by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) for the Division of Herbert, confirming that Labor won the seat by 37 votes.

The final outcome in the 76-seat Senate took over four weeks to complete despite significant voting changes. Announced on 4 August, it revealed a reduced plurality of 30 seats for the Coalition, 26 for Labor, and a record 20 for crossbenchers including 9 Greens, 4 from One Nation and 3 from the Xenophon Team. Former broadcaster and Justice Party founder Derryn Hinch won a seat, while Jacqui Lambie, Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm and Family First's Bob Day retained theirs. The Coalition will require nine additional votes for a Senate majority, an increase of three. Both major parties agreed to allocate six-year terms to the first six senators elected in each state, while the last six would serve three-year terms. Labor and the Coalition each gained a six-year Senator at the expense of Hinch and the Greens, who criticised the major parties for rejecting the "recount" method despite supporting it in two bipartisan senate resolutions in 1998 and 2010.

A number of initially-elected senators were declared ineligible a result of the 2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis, and replaced after recounts.
Q5300018
double dissolution
Concept
Q39057922
45th
EVE
Q382118
Parliament of Australia
MEDIA
Q1357787
1987 election
Concept
Q783330
Senate
MEDIA
Q5611276
group voting tickets
UNK
Q7099021
optional preferential voting
UNK
Q783401
House of Representatives
MEDIA
Q2455328
majority government
Concept
Q241149
Liberal
ORG
Q946040
National
ORG
Q1065320
Coalition
Concept
Q927550
Turnbull
PER
Q56273917
Government
ORG
Q216082
Australian Labor Party
Concept
Q17055084
Shorten
UNK
Q7098620
Opposition
UNK
Q125047
crossbench
Concept
Q21406588
confidence and supply
Concept
Q4932983
Bob Katter
PER
Q4758919
Andrew Wilkie
PER
Q16185462
Cathy McGowan
PER
Q1394879
hung parliament
UNK
Q114793
minority government
Concept
Q665929
2010
Concept
Q3586896
1961
Concept
Q781365
ABC
ORG
Q2052932
2004
Concept
Q3915375
2013
Concept
Q781486
Greens
ORG
Q19876280
Nick Xenophon Team
ORG
Q6378340
Katter's Australian Party
ORG
Q3586876
federation
Concept
Q28429638
the post-election opposition won more seats than the post-election government
UNK
Q25352259
New South Wales
UNK
Q25352526
Victoria
UNK
Q1658569
Australian Electoral Commission
ORG
Q2973647
Division of Herbert
LOC
Q28429608
The final outcome
UNK
Q1585274
One Nation
ORG
Q947873
broadcaster
Concept
Q24190773
Justice Party
ORG
Q5263246
Derryn Hinch
PER
Q22079682
Jacqui Lambie
ORG
Q6540624
Liberal Democrat
ORG
Q16149378
David Leyonhjelm
PER
Q1395400
Family First
ORG
Q4932238
Bob Day
PER
Q28000395
agreed to allocate
UNK
None
gained a six-year Senator at the expense of
UNK
None
supporting it in two bipartisan senate resolutions
UNK
Q39058672
2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis
Concept
Q17016874
2016 Australian federal election
Concept
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