National Party in the Legislative Council. The 2002 election saw a major landslide victory for the Labor government at the expense of both the Liberal and National Parties. There was a swing to Labor in almost every seat in the state, with numerous MPs losing their seats. Hall, however, was the only exception in the Legislative Council, slightly improving his vote despite the party's poor statewide result. After the election, he maintained his position as leader in the Legislative Council, despite the sacking of his Liberal counterpart, Bill Forwood. While usually orthodox in his support for National Party policies, Hall was one of a group of prominent National Party figures – including key senators Barnaby Joyce and Fiona Nash to express concern about the federal party's support for the policy of voluntary student unionism. Hall in particular expressed concern about the effect it would have on rural universities and towns within his electorate, most notably surrounding the Churchill campus of Monash University. Hall also attracted much displeasure within the National Party's conservative base after he voted for the Abortion Law Reform Act and a failed euthanasia bill in 2008. After the Bracks Labor Government reformed the Legislative Council prior to the 2006 election, the new quota system was thought to enhance the chances of minor parties such as the Greens and Family First winning seats. However, a statewide swing to the National Party, including localised gains in Gippsland lower house electorates, the running of candidates in new seats such as Gembrook and Hastings, and adroit preference deals, saw Hall win the final Eastern Region seat ahead of the Greens candidate. When the Liberal/National Coalition won the 2010 Victorian state election, Hall was commissioned as Minister for Higher Education and Skills, and Minister for the Teaching Profession. In May 2012 he caused some surprise, and anger within the government, by declaring in a letter to leaders of TAFE institutions his "shock, incredulity, disbelief and anger" at the big funding cuts to the sector in the state budget. This later led to speculation that he would be dropped from the state cabinet in a reshuffle. On 24 February 2014, Hall announced he would not be contesting the 2014 state election, and would retire after 25 years in politics. On 12 March, Hall announced that he would be resigning from politics nine months before the election, and would deliver his valedictory speech on