Elections were held in the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

on 10 February 2001 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and all 34 members to the Legislative Council. The two-term

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

–

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

coalition government, led by Premier

Richard Court Richard Fairfax Court (born 27 September 1947) is a former Australian politician and diplomat. He served as Premier of Western Australia from 1993 to 2001 and as Australian Ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2020. A member of the Liberal Party, ...

, was defeated by the Labor Party, led by

Opposition Leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

Dr Geoff Gallop. The election produced the biggest change of seats at any election since 1911, with Labor winning 14 seats from the Coalition as well as an Independent-held seat, while losing the seat of Kalgoorlie for the first time since 1923 to Liberal candidate

Matt Birney Matthew John Birney (born 10 June 1969) was an Australian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2008, serving as Leader of the Opposition from 2005 to 2006. Birney was born in Sydney but ...

. Meanwhile, a minister in the outgoing Government,

Doug Shave Douglas James Shave (4 January 1947 – 5 August 2017) was an Australian politician. He was born in Perth and was a hotel and business proprietor before entering politics. In 1989 he was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly ...

, lost his seat of Alfred Cove to Independent candidate Dr

Janet Woollard Janet May Woollard (born 13 February 1955) is an Australian former politician who served as a member for the seat of Alfred Cove in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2013. Woollard successfully contested the seat in the ...

, who was also a member of the

Liberals for Forests Liberals for Forests was an Australian political minor party. It contested both state and federal elections between 2002 and 2008, but only ever achieved one elected representative – Janet Woollard (elected as an Independent) in Western Aust ...

party. This was the first election in Western Australian history where the

Australian Greens Party The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and th ...

overtook the National Party in its share of the state vote.

Results

Legislative Assembly

Notes: : At the 1996 election, Labor Party member Larry Graham won the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a g ...

seat. He resigned from the party during the term of parliament, and won his seat as an independent in 2001. The retirement of Labor independent Ernie Bridge, whose seat of Kimberley was subsequently won at the election by Labor candidate Carol Martin, and Woollard's defeat of Shave in Alfred Cove kept the numbers of Independents at four.

Legislative Council

Notes: : At the 1996 election, the Liberals and Nationals ran a combined ticket in two regions, ran separately in a third, and the Liberals ran alone in the remaining three. The two parties received a combined vote of 46.45%. As such, the swing against the Coalition in the Legislative Council was 10.09%.

Seats changing hands

* Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election.

Post-election pendulum

References