2001 Centre Party Leadership Election

The January 2001 Centre Party Leadership Election was called following the resignation of Anthony Brittain as Leader of the Centre Party in December 2000. There were three candidates and all members of the party were ballotted using the Alternative Vote preference system. The election was won by Gregg Rosen, who served as leader until his resignation in 2017.

The chief issue in the election was the direction of the party, which had suffered its worst electoral defeat in history at the 1995 federal election and had undergone a change of leadership three times since. The front-runners, Gregg Rosen and Ann Main, argued that the party needed a change of direction if it were to recover from the 1995 federal election and this had to involve shifting to the left in order to compete with the Liberal Party. Michael Ballard, on the other hand, was the strongest supporter of outgoing party leader Anthony Brittain and argued that the party should remain in the centre ground. The campaign was almost entirely free of bitterness and outspoken comments. In the first round, Ballard was eliminated, which suggested that the majority of party members supported a change in direction of the party. In the final round, Gregg Rosen narrowly defeated Ann Main with 53.44% of the popular vote. Ann Main was subsequently appointed Deputy Leader of the Centre Party.

Gregg Rosen
Supporters included:

MAs: Bernice Canavan MA

Senators: Richard Amesbury MS, Sebastian Alcock MS, June Baker MS, Rosemary Braithewaite MS, Lee Campion MS (Campaign Manager), Alan Casey MS, Andrew Conroy MS, Robert Cook MS, Alwyn Davey MS, Stuart Dawes MS

Other: Bill Nicholson (former party leader and chancellor)

Ann Main
Supporters included:

Senators: Craig Denman MS, Keith Drewett MS (Campaign Manager), Wendy Elson MS

Other: Lynette Gillie (former chair of the Centre Party)

Michael Ballard
Supporters included:

Senators: David Rutter MS, Malcolm Nugent MS

Other: Anthony Brittain (outgoing party leader)

Results
As a result of the first round, Ballard was eliminated. Those of his votes that includes further preferences were redistributed (transferred) to the remaining two candidates.