Winners and losers: The MPs who lost their seats in Labor's election bloodbath

News.com.au

04-05-2025

Labor's surprise electoral landslide has left a trail of ruined political careers in its wake.
It was a wild night that saw seats fly to the Labor Party that weren't even on the ALP's radar.
In one case, in the seat of Petrie in Queensland, the party had to be convinced to buy the candidate corflutes because they believed she had no chance of winning her seat.
Here are the 2025 election's biggest losers.
DICKSON – Liberal MP Peter Dutton
In the biggest upset of the night, former journalist Ali France won the seat of Dickson.
It has long been a marginal seat. Indeed Mr Dutton tried to bail on it in 2009 and move to another seat, but got beaten by a woman, Karen Andrews.
The Liberal Party repeatedly dismissed the Prime Minister's constant claim the seat was in play. It was all 'mind games', Liberal strategists said, scoffing at the possibility.
To be fair, even the Labor Party had it at the bottom of a list of seats it hoped to grab in Queensland.
It was a list that started with Brisbane, held by the Greens, and Bonner and Longman. Dickson was, as mentioned, at the bottom.
Disability advocate Ali France's life changed in 2011 when she was pinned by a car in a shopping centre car park while with one of her sons. It resulted in one of her legs being amputated above the knee.
Last year, she lost her eldest son, Henry, to leukaemia. And the father of her children, Clive France, lost his battle with cancer in 2023.
'I'm a single mother, I have a disability, I have a mortgage, I'm struggling with the cost of living,' she said.
BANKS – Liberal MP David Coleman
Liberal MP David Coleman was parachuted into the foreign affairs portfolio despite the fact the Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley, who had the right to choose her own portfolio, wanted the job. Peter Dutton overruled her and now both men have lost their jobs and their place in parliament. Banks fell to Labor with a 4.9 per cent swing.
The seat was won by Zhi Soon, a lifelong local, father, respected education policy adviser and former Australian diplomat in Afghanistan.
Zhi was named Young Australian of the Year in the ACT in 2008.
BASS – Liberal MP Bridget Archer
One of the last Liberal moderates standing, Bridget Archer was hit by a wild 10 per cent swing.
The rebel Liberal MP crossed the floor to support elements of Labor's 2030 emissions reduction target, endorsed Labor housing policies and voted with the government in a censure motion against the former prime minister Scott Morrison over his multiple ministries.
'I do not accept any of the explanations put forward by the former prime minister for his actions, and I'm deeply disappointed by the lack of genuine apology or, more importantly, understanding of the impact of these decisions,' the Tasmanian Liberal said during a debate over the censure motion.
BONNER – Liberal MP Ross Vasta
It was a similar story in the seat of Bonner in Queensland where Ross Vasta copped a whopping 10 per cent swing. First elected in 2004, he lost his seat in the 2007 Ruddslide before returning to fight another day.
DEAKIN – Liberal MP Michael Sukkar
Liberal MP Michael Sukkar was the architect of the Coalition's housing portfolio to connect with voters in the outer suburbs. Instead, they booted him out in a savage swing. He would have expected a promotion if he had survived, but now he's out of parliament.
PETRIE – Liberal MP Luke Howarth
In the Queensland seat of Petrie, the ALP believed it had no chance against the Liberals' Luke Howarth. So much so that the party had to be convinced to pay for corflutes, the posters that appear on fences and poles all over the electorate.
The candidate, former army officer cadet Emma Comer, was parachuted in six weeks before the election. She worked in the office of Anthony Albanese.
'As a renter living in Kippa-Ring, Emma knows that the cost of living is putting pressure on everyone's budget. She will always stand up for our community to ensure we have a government that looks out for us,'' the ALP's promotional material said.
'Labor's number one priority has been delivering cost of living relief with bigger tax cuts for every taxpayer, 20% off student debt, energy bill relief, cheaper childcare, strengthening Medicare, and cheaper medicines.'
BRADDON – Liberal MP Gavin Pearce
It was a Liberal Party wipeout in Tasmania with a stunning 15 per cent swing in the electorate of Braddon.
Labor Senator Anne Urquhart took on a lesser-known Liberal candidate Mal Hingston and won.
BRISBANE AND GRIFFITH
The Labor Party believed it had a good chance to win one Greens seat back: the seat of Brisbane, held by Stephen Bates.
Max Chandler-Mather, the Greens' housing spokesman, was thought to have a stronger chance of holding his seat. But instead they both fell like dominoes.
Other victims of election night were Liberal Jeremy Neal in Leichhardt, Liberal James Stevens in Sturt, Liberal Vince Connelly in Moore and Liberal Jenny Ware in Hughes.