One Nation doubles Senate seats after surprise win in NSW, success in WA
One Nation will double its presence in the Senate after beating out Labor to the last seats in Western Australia and New South Wales.
Just days after her daughter Lee missed out on election in Tasmania, Pauline Hanson’s party was the major winner when the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) announced the final upper house results this morning and yesterday.
Incumbent Malcolm Roberts was re-elected in Queensland, and newcomer Tyron Whitten narrowly edged out Labor’s third candidate, Deep Singh, for the sixth and final seat in Western Australia.
But the major surprise came in NSW, where One Nation’s Warwick Stacey defeated the ALP’s Emilija Beljic for the final seat.
In both states, Labor led One Nation for the initial count only to lose the sixth seats on preferences.
It leaves Hanson’s party with four senators this term, up from its previous two, while Labor will enter the upper house with 28 seats.
That’s a gain of three seats, giving it a bigger presence in the Senate than the Coalition for the first time since the 1980s.
The Liberal Party and Nationals have lost a combined five seats to fall to 27, while the Greens (11) and independents Jacqui Lambie and David Pocock each retained their pre-election positions.
That leaves the Greens holding the balance of power in the upper house should the government require crossbench support to pass legislation.
