In mid-2001 Labor was well ahead in the opinion polls and seemed set to win the election due at the end of the year , but in August the Tampa affair occurred when the Howard government refused to allow the , a Norwegian freighter , to set down on Australian soil at Christmas Island several hundred asylum seekers whom the crew had rescued from an unseaworthy boat in international waters . Beazley 's compromise stance was pilloried as wishy-washy . Beazley 's momentum was also stalled by the September 11 attacks . When the November 2001 election was announced , Howard had taken a commanding lead in the polls and seemed set for a huge victory . But Beazley 's dogged campaigning regained some of this ground and Labor suffered only a net loss of two seats to the Coalition
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Kim Beazley