October – The AEC declares Clive Palmer the winner of the seat of Fairfax, after two recounts, by a margin of 53 votes. Palmer claims the result vindicates his decision to challenge more than half the ballot papers cast. 4 November – The AEC declares the result of the WA Senate recount, awarding the last two seats to the Greens and Australian Sports Party, instead of the ALP and Palmer United Party. 15 November – The AEC disputes its own declaration of the WA Senate result, by lodging a petition with the Court of Disputed Returns, asking that the WA Senate result be declared null and void. January 2014 – Justice Kenneth Hayne, in the Court of Disputed Returns, hears submissions from the AEC and political parties. On 30 January 2014, Hayne reserved his decision. 20 February 2014 – The Court of Disputed Returns voids the results of the WA Senate election. 21 February 2014 – Electoral Commissioner Ed Killesteyn announces his resignation, to take effect on 4 July 2014. Campaign The incumbent Labor-led government argued for a need for a "safe pair of hands" to manage an economic shift from mining-oriented growth to something else; while the opposition said that it would prevent a recession that could be caused by a budget deficit. The Sydney Morning Herald suggested both arguments hedged on the mining boom going bust. Rudd officially began the campaign season on 1 September in his hometown of Brisbane. At the rally, he promised tax breaks for small businesses and more work for local contractors on infrastructure projects. He said: "In this election, we are now engaged in the fight of our lives. It is a fight about the values that underpin Australia's future, a fight about our vision for Australia's future. It's a fight about how we go about building Australia's future, a future for the many, not just for the few." He also dismissed the opinion polls that showed him trailing to Abbott in gaining a parliamentary plurality. Opinion polls Newspaper endorsements The press overwhelmingly favoured the Coalition over Labor, with all of News Corp's publications endorsing Tony Abbott's opposition over Kevin Rudd's government, as well as Fairfax's publications such as The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times, backing the Coalition over Labor. Fairfax's newspapers, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times both considered the need for political stability a primary