Although he has been our second-longest serving PM, the Liberal Party under John Howard has never won an election other than by default.

In '96 Keating, with his buffoonery and arrogance made himself unre-electable (if that's a real word).
Beazley is not a politician and was never going to win national elections in '98 & '01, even though he held the Labor Party together and rebuilt it virtually single-handedly.
In '04 What's'isname was a monkey's arsehole and no-one ever votes for them.

This is the first time Howard has faced a real opposition leader in control of a reasonably orderly Labor Party.

I do not however have a great deal of faith in the Australian electorate.